No Longer at Risk: A National in Peril — Summary of Proceedings

This report summarizes the central issues addressed at the National Summit on Academic Rigor and Relevance, hosted by the State Scholars Initiative on April 29-30, 2008, in Boston, Massachusetts. The summit brought together almost 300 participants: business leaders, policymakers, educators, administrators, and others. Participants were asked to examine the role and effectiveness of the business community in driving national education reform conversations; and to discuss policy reform efforts to increase academic rigor and improve academic relevance in high school. Thirty-six states and territories were represented. Speakers included: Phyllis Hudecki, executive director of the Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition; Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development and SSI Advisory Board member; Leon Lederman, Nobel laureate in physics, resident scholar at the Illinois Math and Science Academy, and SSI Advisory Board member; Mark Milliron, CEO of Catalyze Learning International; Lorena Riffo Jenson, chairwoman of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and superintendent of the Los Angeles; David Longanecker, WICHE President; Troy Justesen, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; and Belle Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.