Education Nation represents NBC News' year-round commitment to education reporting on-line, on-air, and in person. The initiative culminates every September in a 3-day live Summit event at Rockefeller Center that brings together Educators, Students, Parents, Elected officials, industry and thought leaders for a solutions-focused conversation about Education.
The entire event is webcast live on EducationNation.com where an interactive community of users from around the world were able to interact with over 30 panel discussions, town hall events, keynotes, interactive exhibits, and much more. The entire event is archived below, and the community continues to flourish as Education Nation continues to travel the country hosting local conversations and gearing up for the 2012 Summit in September!
Teacher Town Hall
On September 25, 2011, NBC News brought together teachers from across the country for the second-annual nationally televised "Teacher Town Hall."
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News," moderated the discussion with help from MSNBC's Tamron Hall, who facilitated questions from the audience. During the broadcast, NBC News' Chief Education Correspondent Rehema Ellis reported on the online conversation happening on Twitter, Facebook, and at the teachers-only live chat in EducationNation.com's "Teacher Lounge."
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 the Teacher Town Hall.
Summit Sessions
Opening Session
NBC News President Steve Capus and NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw address the 2011 Education Nation Summit at Rockefeller Plaza. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, also delivers welcome remarks to the audience.
Spotlight interview with Melinda Gates and Warren and Susie Buffett
Warren Buffett and Melinda Gates are joined by Susie Buffett on the main stage at the Education Nation Summit for a special Spotlight Interview with Tom Brokaw. Warren Buffett discusses his thoughts about the state of U.S. education today, and Susie Buffett talks about her commitment to supporting early childhood learning initiatives. The audience also hears from Melinda Gates, who delivers the latest news from the work on teacher effectiveness supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Watch the interview here!
Brain Power: Why Early Learning Matters
All children start with one thing in common: opportunity. And that's where the Education Nation Summit begins - with a journey into the science of brain development and early learning showing how children's formative years impact their academic achievement all the way through college... and their entire lives. During this session, four leading experts deliver presentations on key early stages of child development.
Presenters:
- Dr. Kuhl and Dr. Meltzoff, co-directors of the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences
Watch the presentation here!
Presenter:
- Dr. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley
Watch the presentation here!
Presenter:
- Dr. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
Watch the presentation here!
Panel:
Following the presentations, Dr. Nancy Snyderman moderates a panel on what the latest science means for policy, home and school.
Watch the panel here!
Classrooms In Action: A Window On Great Teaching
Education Nation takes a live look into three classrooms around the country to see firsthand what effective teaching truly looks like. Summit participants watch highly effective teachers at work through teaching demonstrations. Then, the Summit gets the chance to go live into the classrooms to interact with the teachers and students. Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education, Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach for America, and Dennis Van Roekel, President of the NEA, each selected a teacher and a classroom, and they join Ann Curry on stage to talk about their selections and the power of great teaching.
Watch the session here!
Spotlight Interview on Akron Schools with LeBron James
The Education Nation Summit's focus on the classroom continues with basketball superstar LeBron James, whose Wheels for Education program focuses on helping children in Akron Public Schools who are struggling with reading to catch up in the summer before they start 3rd grade. LeBron James and Akron After School's Desiree Bolden show Summit participants why third grade matters so much.
Watch the interview here!
Motor City On A Mission: Taking The Driver's Seat In Education
In the past few years, Detroit stunned the nation with the auto industry's historic turnaround. Now, the Motor City is taking aim at a crisis of equal proportions - its failing schools - with an unprecedented gamble on school leadership. The Summit's discussion, moderated by Tamron Hall, focuses on leadership at all levels, starting with a spotlight on Detroit, followed by education leaders from across the nation providing their perspectives on how leadership can make it possible for schools to beat the odds.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
The Changing Face of Education
More than 1 in 5 students in the nation's public schools are Latino - constituting the largest and fastest growing minority group in our education system. But Latinos also have the lowest student achievement levels - with less access to early childhood programs, lower reading and math scores, a higher chance of dropping out of high school and worse odds of attending college than any other group. Meanwhile, with Latinos expected to represent 60% of the nation's population growth over the next four decades, the country's economic future depends on ensuring that Latinos are prepared for college and 21st century careers. Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart moderates this discussion at the Education Nation Summit.
Watch the session here!
The State of Education: The Governor's Perspective
At the largest gathering of Governors to focus on education, 10 state Chief Executives discuss education and economic competiveness - from pre-k to higher education. How are governors tackling the tough issues to ensure that students have the skills to compete in the innovation-driven economy, including college readiness, state budgets, early childhood education, college affordability and completion, teacher effectiveness, charters, online learning and the role of the federal government. The assembled governors also field questions from their education constituents: teachers, principals, parents, and students. Brian Williams moderates.
Watch the session here!
Stepping Up: The Power of a Parent Advocate
Whether they're advocating for more time for arts and music in their local school or for major changes in state law, parent involvement often gets started based on just one thing: the needs of their individual child. Across the country, parents are leading the charge for "trigger" laws to overhaul failing schools, to scale back highstakes testing - and everything in between. Now some are even asking: Do parents need a union of their own? Natalie Morales moderates this discussion.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Who's Getting Graded: Putting Accountability to the Test
Dozens of states are changing the way they evaluate teachers in order to factor in student achievement - and the nation's largest teachers' union voted this summer to endorse linking teacher evaluation to student learning. Meanwhile, the National Academies of Science says that test-based accountability hasn't improved student learning over the last decade, and some argue that the focus on testing is having the unintended consequence of holding back students' creativity and problem-solving skills. What does it all mean, and where do we go from here? NBC News Chief Education Correspondent Rehema Ellis moderates this session.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Job One: Preparing America To Compete In The Global Economy
Top business executives, civic leaders and educators participate in a conversation on the current state of the labor market, the skills and knowledge required of the 21st century workforce and the importance of educating America's students to compete in a global economy. NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw sits down for a one-on-one with Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast, to kick off the event. The panel is followed with a discussion between Brokaw and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Newsmaker Hour with CNBC's Squawk Box, MSNBC's Morning Joe, & TODAY
The biggest TV shows in morning news interview some of the nation's most prominent voices in education
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera interviews Walter Isaacson and Nancy Peretsman for CNBC's Squawk BoxJoe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski interview Jeb Bush and Cory Booker for Morning JoeAnn Curry interviews Laura Bush for TODAY
Watch Squawk Box!
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera interviews Ted Mitchell and Nancy Peretsman for CNBC's Squawk Box at the Education Nation Summit.
Watch Morning Joe!
Fmr. Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and Mayor Cory Booker, D-Newark, N.J., join Morning Joe to discuss education reform in the U.S.
Watch Today!
The former first lady, who herself was a teacher and school librarian, visits the Education Nation tent at Rockefeller Plaza and speaks with Ann Curry about the importance of training and recruiting excellent school principals.
Squaring off On Education Reform
Diane Ravitch and Geoffrey Canada debate on the questions at the heart of improving the nation's education system: Does the school reform movement hold the keys to increasing student achievement? Or does it miss the real problems facing our schools and risk undermining the very notion of public education? David Gregory moderates this discussion, then leads a roundtable conversation with reporters and commentators to discuss the major developments they see shaping the future of education in America.
Watch the session here!
What's In A ZIP Code? A Look At Inequality Across Our Public Schools
President Obama has said that education is the civil rights issue of our time. Schools face unprecedented pressure to increase achievement for the most disadvantaged students, but is it possible to fix education without first fixing poverty? A national movement has coalesced around the idea that effective teaching trumps all, while many prominent educators say that even the best schools can't overcome basic issues like poor health and poverty, pointing to stark inequities in the system. NBC News' Brian Williams moderates this panel at the Education Nation Summit.
Watch the session here!
A Matter of Degrees: Measuring the Value of Higher Ed
More than ever before, job openings are requiring workers with at least some college education. But even though more students are entering college than ever before, the nation is a long way from meeting the "preparation gap" for the future workforce. This session, moderated by MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, takes a complete look at the scope of the college completion crisis - why so many students drop out and what to do about it and the value of higher education in today's economy.
Watch the session here!
Going Local: What A City Can Do For Its Schools
Mayors understand that improving their local economies requires a well-prepared workforce - and that the buck stops with them. For some, that means tackling issues like health, hunger, homelessness and safety. For others, it means involving the entire community in expanding access to college. Participating mayors join education and community leaders to discuss how they're addressing education and workforce challenges - and the partnerships they're forming to get students all the way from pre-K to college graduation. NBC News' Lester Holt moderates.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Global Influence: What Can We Learn?
Compared to the rest of the world, U.S. high school students rank 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math - at or below the international average in all three subjects - and the country has fallen from leading the world to now ranking 9th when it comes to young adults who complete college. To have a globally competitive economy and workforce, what should America be learning from the leading nations? And with new research suggesting that we're not heeding the lessons from these countries, will the U.S. rise to the challenge? NBC News' Chief Education Correspondent Rehema Ellis moderates.
Watch the session here!
Voices of a Generation: Students Speak Out
Students talk about their own experiences with education and what they think needs to be done to ensure that every student receives a world-class education. In a panel moderated by Ann Curry, these students and former students discuss how they're overcoming challenges to find their own path to success...and what the nation's government, business, media and education leaders attending the Summit can learn from their experiences with the education system.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Closing Session of Education Nation
Former President Bill Clinton joins Brian Williams onstage to close out NBC News' 2011 Education Nation Summit. President Clinton gives an update on the education commitments made through the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), and Williams provides an overview of the major headlines and key learnings to come out of the three days of events and panel sessions focused on various challenges and potential solutions spanning today's education landscape.
Watch Part 1 & Part 2 of the session!
Special Programming at Education Nation
A Discussion of the film "American Teacher"
The feature-length documentary American Teacher made its world premiere at the 2011 Education Nation Summit in New York City. Following on the heels of the second-annual national Teacher Town Hall, this film premiere continued the discussion by illustrating firsthand the day-to-day lives and careers of a unique set of teachers working in disparate urban and rural areas of the country. After the film, NBC News hosted a panel discussion that includes the film's producers and directors, teachers and a parent from the film, as well as additional voices from the education field.
Watch the discussion here!
The Innovation Challenge
The Innovation Challenge was a multi-day competition that took place as part of the 2011 NBC News Education Nation Summit. The Challenge pit three teams of young innovators from across the U.S. against each other in a series of trials, culminating in a pitch competition at the 2011 Summit. Education Nation Summit participants got to see it all in action as NBC News cameras followed the teams in the days leading up to the final competition. NBC News Correspondents Peter Alexander and Jenna Wolfe guided the teams through their challenges, offering tips and advice along the way. The grand prize was a $100,000 Citi Innovation in Education Prize to help make their innovation a reality, as well as a year of ongoing technical assistance from Citi and NewSchools Venture Fund to help grow their business.
Meet the Innovators & Innovation Spotlight: Sal Khan, Founder, Khan Academy
Watch the spotlight here!
Innovator Update & Innovation Spotlight: John Hunter, Teacher & Creator, World Peace Game
Watch the spotlight here!
Pitch Competition
Watch the competition here!
Conclusion & Winner Announcement
Watch the competition here!
