Focus on Education Foundation Garners Fortune 500 Support for “21st Century Education – The Real and

Microsoft, IBM, join scholars, educators, and government officials in major national education conference in Denver

[ClickPress, Tue Jul 03 2007] Focus on Education Foundation today announced that IBM, Microsoft, and Dell have become principle corporate sponsors of Education Summit 2007 “21st Century Education - The Real and the Ideal” , a conference focused on “what's next” in the social/cultural, methodological, and technological dimensions of education, to be held on October 9-10, 2007 at The Grand Hyatt in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Phil Farley of IBM, Dr. Randy Guthrie of Microsoft, and Karen Bruett of Dell Corporation will be speaking at the conference, joining other notable persons such as former Colorado Govenor Richard Lamm and Dr. Matt Gianeschi, Senior Education Policy Advisor/Analyst to Govenor Bill Ritter.
“Education is fundamental to every aspect of our society, as the enthusiastic support by these major companies and the importance of our speakers indicate,” said Dr. Reid Cornwell, Director of the Focus on Education Foundation and chief organizer of the conference. “But while our lead sponsors are technology companies, the focus of this conference is to find solutions that are rooted in both sound social science and technology.”
The conference theme - specifically, “the real and the ideal” - highlights the need for both a realistic appraisal of the state of education and reform efforts, and well informed speculation about what every one of us needs from education, as individuals and as a society. In recent months, for example, controversial new research on high school drop-out rates indicate that previous, official estimates were too low and obscured by variations across school systems in how such data was gathering and tracked. Said Dr. Cornwell, “One purpose of this conference is look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in education without flinching. Afterall, we can't fix what we can't measure or realistically understand. Furthermore, our reseach shows that schools are overloaded already with one reform after another. This, in part, is where technology comes in: finding efficiencies in the education environment for both teachers and learners that can provide the room for powerful changes in education to take root. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Dell will be critical in finding a way to make technology truly effective in the classroom.”
Education Summit 2007 “21st Century Education - The Real and the Ideal” will be held at The Grand Hyatt in Denver, Colorado, October 9-10, 2007.


The Focus on Education Foundatation is a Colorado-based 501(C) 3 non-profit organization founded in 1997.


Dr. W. Reid Cornwell
wrc@tcfir.org
720.212.0719

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