Listening to Students
An Invitation to:
‘Listening to Students—What They Want from Education’
A Three-Year Activity in Recognition of the 125th Anniversary of NEASC
In 2010, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges will celebrate its 125th Anniversary. As a preamble to and signature event for that celebration, the 125th Anniversary Committee is inviting member institutions to have their students help launch the beginning of this celebration.
Students in each member institution are invited to participate in Listening to Students – an extended conversation with students about their views on the purposes of education. The committee invites member institutions to have all or some of their students engage in a conversation that will begin in the fall of 2008 and extend until the fall of 2010, the anniversary year.
The three-part series will focus on what students think education should accomplish and how educational institutions should be assessed. The Anniversary Committee will provide an opportunity for students or their representatives to share the results of those conversations with each other and with other NEASC constituents at an annual fall event involving their peers as participants and presenters and adult educators as the listeners. Student teams working on the questions will be encouraged to share ideas on the NEASC website with other groups in preparation for the annual forums, and groups may wish to organize smaller meetings that are regionally or locally based. The framing questions for this extended conversation will be:
| 2008: |
What do you want education to provide for you? |
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| 2009: | Given what you want education to do for you, what are the standards by which institutions should be judged? |
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| 2010: | What do you think students from other countries will think about your position on the purposes of education and standards by which schools and/or postsecondary institutions should be judged? |
Initial plans at this time are to host an event each fall where students can share ideas and prepare a summary briefing for the Annual meeting. Each occasion would ideally include educators from the Commissions, their staffs, NEASC members, and invited public local, state and national figures. Student teams working on the questions will be encouraged to share ideas on the committee website for the annual gathering as well as smaller, regional or local meetings organized by groups of schools.
Your institution is invited to participate by completing the attached Registration Form and returning by facsimile transmission (781. 271-0950), or mail (NEASC, 125th Anniversary Committee, 209 Burlington Road, Bedford, MA 01730-1433, USA).
Comments and suggestions are welcome and may be sent by emailing the Committee at 125@neasc.org or contacting Dr. Eva Kampits in the Executive Office (kampits@neasc.org).