Contact: Greg Johnston, 277-1816

November 20, 2003 UNM/APS COLLABORATION RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION A partnership between the University Of New Mexico College Of Education, the UNM College of Arts and Sciences and Albuquerque Public Schools has been accepted for membership into the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER), a Seattle-based group focused on national educational reform. With the inclusion of the Albuquerque partnership, NNER has expanded to 23 national settings. The goal of NNER is to form partnerships to simultaneously improve the quality of education for students and the quality of preparation for educators. Recognition and acceptance of the UNM/APS partnership means local educators will play a leading role in helping to shape national educational reform. To be accepted into NNER, the application process requires that educational partnerships demonstrate evidence of extensive collaborative work. College of Education Dean Viola Florez says the partnership is well established, not only with APS but with other Middle Rio Grande School districts including Bernalillo and Belen. "We've done this for quite some time, long before I got here," Florez said. "This professional exchange of services has been long and we have good evidence of working together. Now we're going to be part of a national organization and participate in the sharing of that information." Partnership members in NNER must also engage in extensive professional development to familiarize themselves with the guiding principals called the Agenda for Education in a Democracy. The agenda is derived from a large scale study of schools and teacher preparation by John I. Goodlad, a Seattle-based researcher. To ensure that students have access to quality teachers, NNER requires that participating collaborations promote educational renewal in their respective organizations. "New Mexico has been going through a tremendous amount of educational reform efforts," said Florez. "We don't call it reform. We call it renewal. It's not bringing new things in. It's looking at what we've done before and maybe doing it differently. We're excited to be connected to a national network of other partnerships across the country that are also struggling and trying different kinds of initiatives that help children succeed in school." Reed Dasenbrock, dean, College of Arts and Sciences, said UNM is strongly committed to educational outreach to enhance student learning in New Mexico. "Membership in NNER is important because this is a group that is dedicated to this kind of work across the country. It is also significant because it recognizes UNM as having a strong collaboration between the schools of Education and Arts and Sciences." Beth Everitt, superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools, says she is delighted to continue the relationship with UNM. "Our partnership over numerous years has produced many successes, including programs for teacher recruitment, retention and professional development," she said. "Through the NNER work, we will tackle the tough issues together and improve education in New Mexico," she said. "The challenges of urban education are too big for one institution to solve." # # #

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