FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Nov. 18, 2005
Contact:
Dave
Wellman, Director of Communications, (304)
696-7153
Public forum at Marshall allows West Virginia
middle school students
to speak out about the achievement gap
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A public forum titled “West Virginia Middle School Students Speak Out About The Achievement Gap” will be conducted on Marshall University’s Huntington campus Monday, Nov. 28.
The event, which takes place in the Memorial Student Center’s Shawkey Room, begins at 7 p.m. and is free to the public. It is presented by The Education Alliance, and is sponsored by The Huntington Black Ministerial Alliance, the Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP, Cabell County Schools and the Marshall University Division of Multicultural Affairs.
Dr. Betty Cleckley, vice president for multicultural affairs at Marshall, said the forum is the result of a study launched by Dr. Hazel K. Palmer, President/CEO of The Education Alliance. The goal of the study was to determine what actions administrators of West Virginia’s middle schools can take to raise student achievement and close the achievement gap between middle-class white students and African-American or economically disadvantaged white students.
The Education Alliance is a nonprofit organization serving schools in West Virginia by promoting business and community involvement in public schools
Results of the study will be the subject of a roundtable discussion at Marshall’s public forum. Roundtable participants include Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp; Rosalyn Templeton, dean of Marshall’s College of Education and Human Services; Bill Smith, superintendent of Cabell County Schools and a member of Marshall’s Board of Governors; Samuel R. Moore, president of the Huntington-Cabell Branch of the NAACP and a teacher; Joe Williams, a former member of MU’s Board of Governors, parent Feon Smith and two local middle school students.
The audience will be invited to participate in the roundtable discussion.
“The achievement gap is a big issue, which we need all citizens involved in solving,” Cleckley said. “That is what the public forum is all about. We expect to hear a variety of opinions about the role of schools, higher education and the public to provide all children a quality education.”
For more information, persons may contact Marshall’s Multicultural Affairs at (304) 696-4677.
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