WNET's 7th Annual Celebration of Teaching & Learning Honors Educators, Elevates Teaching to the World's Stage

NEW YORK, March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For six years, WNET, parent company of New York's public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, has gathered educators from across the country to celebrate educators and elevate the teaching profession. In its seventh year, the Celebration of Teaching & Learning, happening March 16-17, 2012 at the Hilton New York, will expand to a global conference, hosting officials, advocates, experts and newsmakers from across the globe to find innovative solutions to the most pressing issues in American education.

During the two days before the Celebration, March 14-15, 2012, WNET once again partnered with the U.S. Department of Education, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Education International (EI), as well as the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and Asia Society to host the second International Summit on the Teaching Profession.

At the Summit, education leaders from 23 high-performing and rapidly-improving countries and regions worldwide convened to share common challenges and best practices for training and supporting teachers and school leaders. Participants engaged in extensive discussion around policies and methods for successfully developing school leaders, preparing teachers to deliver 21st century learning skills, and matching supply with demand in placing principals and teachers in areas where they are needed the most.

These conversations will continue through the weekend at the Celebration. On Friday, Jane Williams, host of Bloomberg EDU, will moderate a panel discussion with key participants from the Summit, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford professor and award-winning author; Marguerite Izzo, former New York State Teacher of the Year; Summit Facilitator Tony Mackay, Executive Director, Center for Strategic Education; Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; Joanne Weiss, Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Education; Gene Wilhoit, President, Council of Chief State School Officers; and Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association. The group will provide educators from across the nation with a rare opportunity to hear directly from Summit participants on how representatives of the world's top education systems regard the landscape of global education. The panel will discuss how international successes in education can best be adapted for American classrooms and how U.S. practices may provide value to students and teachers abroad.

"WNET is committed to elevating the teaching profession to the global level," said WNET's Acting Director of Education, Jon Rubin.  "We're proud to once again be partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to produce the International Summit on the Teaching Profession and to host the Celebration of Teaching & Learning this week. Together, these events mark an unprecedented gathering of educational leadership and expertise, and provide the rare opportunity to learn and share with our international counterparts as well as our peers here in the U.S." 

Friday afternoon, Chelsea Clinton will moderate a panel to discuss new findings from Primary Sources: America's Teachers on the Teaching Profession, a survey from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Scholastic in which 10,000 educators offered their views on student and teacher performance and how performance should be evaluated.

Later in the day Friday, Beth Fertig, education reporter for WNYC radio and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, will moderate a panel of experts to discuss MetLife's Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy, released only a few days ago. The survey examines the perspectives of teachers, students, and parents about the current status of the teaching profession and parent and community engagement in schools, and the effects of the economy on families and schools.

In addition, Celebration 2012 will ensure these important discussions lead to action by enabling even more pathways for collaboration on core issues including: the Arts, English Language Arts, Awareness, Health & Wellness, Instructional Technology, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), Social Studies, Special Education and Whole School Issues.Through six plenary sessions, nearly 60 featured speaker sessions, over 100 hands-on "In the Classroom" workshops, and two filled exhibitor halls, inspiration and information will lead to implementation.

Over the course of two days, attendees will also hear from a dynamic list of internationally acclaimed speakers, including: Andres A. Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools; Charlotte Danielson, an internationally-recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness; Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard professor and host of the PBS series "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr."; Allan Golston, President, United States Program, Gates Foundation; John Herrington, the first and only Native American astronaut and crewmember of the Space Shuttle Endeavour; Sal Khan, Founder, Khan Academy; Yul Kwon, winner of CBS' "Survivor" and host of the PBS series "America Revealed"; Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore; Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation of Teachers; Pedro Noguera, NYU professor and author; Michael J. Sandel, Harvard professor and author; Steve Spangler, the "Science Guy" from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"; Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association;  Dennis Walcott, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools; Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; and Henry Winkler, star of "Happy Days" and acclaimed author of children's books, including Ghost Buddy: Zero to Hero.

"Bringing a global perspective to the teaching profession is essential for our nation and for the education community as a whole right now," noted Neal Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer of WNET. "Once again, WNET provides educators with an exceptional professional development conference, focusing on sharing lessons from our global partners. This newfound knowledge is translated to the classroom, developing our next generation of citizens and leaders. We're proud to bring the Celebration to our community for the sixth year."

The Celebration of Teaching & Learning is made possible by the support of Lead Sponsors: MetLife, National Education Association, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Premier Sponsors: Adobe Youth Voices, American Federation of Teachers, CSA-ELI, Deloitte, Friends of Thirteen, Inc., National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, NYSUT, Pearson Foundation, SMART Technologies/TEQ, United Federation of Teachers; Major Sponsors: Fordham University Graduate School of Education, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Hilton New York, NJEA, Simons Foundation; Presenting Sponsors: ASME Foundation, DELL, Inc., Mercy College, Microsoft, Scholastic Inc.; Event Sponsors: Barnes & Noble, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, The College Board, CEA, Disneynature, ETS, NYSSAC, Teachers College Columbia University; Media Sponsor: Education Week.

For more information on the Celebration of Teaching & Learning, please visit www.thirteencelebration.org where educators can still register for the event and stay up to date on the latest Celebration announcements.  Visitors are also encouraged to engage with the Celebration on Twitter (@The_Celebration), Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

About WNET
New York's WNET is America's flagship public media outlet, bringing quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. The parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Need to Know, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Noah Comprende and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJ Today and the new online newsmagazine MetroFocus.

SOURCE WNET