FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	Date: March 8, 2002
	Contact: Kim Sharpe, 303-299-3680
	e-Mail: ksharpe@ecs.org
	FAX: 303-296-8332
	ECS Web Site: www.ecs.org

Arkansas Decisionmakers Seek Ideas from Other States in Their Efforts To Improve Teacher Quality Denver, CO — According to the recent Title II report submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by the Arkansas Department of Education, state decisionmakers are doing good things to improve the quality of teaching in Arkansas, including passing a new state law requiring that all teachers be fully licensed in the field in which they are teaching by the year 2006 and putting in place a mentoring program for all new teachers. The passage of the new federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, however, encourages Arkansas, like all states, to do even more. The Education Commission of the States (ECS), Arkansas ' Office of the Governor and the Arkansas Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant will co-host a one-day, invitational workshop on Thursday, March 14, about successful teacher-quality improvement strategies, including those used by other states. The Arkansas Teaching Quality Forum: “State Policy for High Quality Teaching” will bring together about 150 legislators; K-12 educators; college and university presidents, chancellors, arts and sciences deans, and education deans; and state education agency directors and deputies to learn how other states are working to improve teacher quality. Workshop participants also will be challenged to take necessary action to improve the quality of teaching in Arkansas schools. The workshop will be held at the Hilton Hotel-Riverfront in North Little Rock, Arkansas, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This workshop, thanks to a Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds grant to ECS, is part of a national dialogue. Arkansas Governor Huckabee will give the opening remarks. Charles Coble, University School Programs vice president at the University of North Carolina, and Pamela Tackett, who recently retired as the executive director of the Texas State Board of Educator Certification will be the keynote speakers. Michael Allen, program director for the Education Commission of the States, also will address the gathering. ### The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a national, nonprofit organization that helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. A nonpartisan organization, ECS was formed in 1965 and is located in Denver, Colorado. The Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds invests in programs designed to foster fundamental improvement in the quality of educational and career development opportunities for all school-age youth, and to increase access to these improved services for young people in low-income communities.