National Partnership for Educational Access Conference

Posted by The Steppingstone Foundation on September 22, 2014

Save the Date for the Seventh Annual
National Partnership for Educational Access Conference
April 16-17, 2015 Ÿ- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Improving Outcomes: 360° Perspectives on Educational Access

The field of educational access is continuously changing and evolving with new resources, policies, trends, and research. The recent White House efforts to increase FAFSA completion, support young men of color, and encourage greater commitment to supporting underrepresented students have highlighted a national focus on access and success. As professionals, it is essential we have a robust understanding of all aspects of the field and are well poised to positively impact student achievement and improve outcomes. Understanding the issues affecting our students, organizations, and schools from multiple perspectives will help broaden our views, encourage us to incorporate new and innovative practices, and ensure students and families are on a successful path to college and beyond.

The 7th annual NPEA conference presents a unique opportunity for committed professionals and thought leaders from a range of settings across the K-16 pipeline to discuss and share best practices for supporting underrepresented students on their path to and through college. Whether addressing college affordability, undermatching, education policy, research and evaluation, or program sustainability, together we will take a 360° view of the educational access and success field and map a course for the future.

Of those who attended the 2014 conference in Minneapolis:

• 97% found the conference valuable or very valuable
• 97% found opportunities to exchange best practices with others valuable or very valuable
• 92% indicated meeting new colleagues was an important or very important reason they attended

Confirmed keynote speakers
Joshua Aronson, Associate Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, will address his research on stereotype threat and race and gender gaps in educational achievement. Dr. Aronson has authored
numerous publications, including several with Claude Steele, and has received a number of awards for his research and contributions to the field.

Wil Haygood, a first generation college graduate, Washington Post journalist, and author of The Butler: A Witness to History, will deliver the closing keynote address. Through his book and in the recent award-winning movie, Mr. Haygood tells the story of Eugene Allen, a butler who
worked in the White House for eight presidents. Mr. Haygood was raised in a single parent household, was the first in his family to graduate from college, and through perseverance and opportunities such as Upward Bound, was able to successfully navigate the college path.

Laura Perna, James S. Riepe Professor and founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (Penn AHEAD) at the University of Pennsylvania, will address her research that examines the ways social structures, educational practices, and public policies promote and limit college access and success particularly for individuals from lower-income families and racial/ethnic minority groups.

For more information, please contact
Karin Elliott, Executive Director of NPEA
kelliott@tsf.org or 617-423-6300 x284.