Co-Chair Carrie Besnette, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Metropolitan State College of Denver

The College Board Western Regional Forum 2009 will take place Feb. 22-24 in Denver, Colo., bringing together education professionals for collegial discussions, during which they can ask questions, offer ideas and share success stories with their colleagues from across the Western Region. The conference opens with a reception and a welcome from Regional Forum Committee Co-Chair Carrie Besnette, vice president for institutional advancement at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Attendees will hear from distinguished keynote speaker Da Chen, an award-winning author, musician and lawyer whose works have been used in textbooks for secondary and higher education.

This year's Colloquium, Rising Above the Demographic Storm, features a panel of experts who will identify the problems inherent in the diverse and ever-changing demographic of our country's youth and explore ways in which we can best prepare while ensuring access to higher education for students from all backgrounds.

Workshops, sessions and special events specifically tailored to meet the needs of academic, guidance, admissions and financial aid professionals include the following:

• "Demystifying Financial Aid"
• "The Loss of Literacy: The Reading Crisis — A Cross-Curricular Call to Action"
• "Action Outcomes: Update on the Findings of the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education and the Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century"
• "Building a Better Toolbox for Community College Counselors: Helping Students to Transfer to Independent Institutions"
• "Reaching the Hearts and Minds of Native American, Pacific Islander, African American and Latino Students"
• "Confronting College Costs: Helping Families Plan Ahead to Pay for College"
• "Score Choice™: Your Questions Answered"

Other highlights include a Q&A with Gaston Caperton, tours of local colleges, a college fair, the opportunity to earn continuing education units, and 50 workshops and sessions designed to deliver insight and resources that will help you become more successful in your job.

The College Board invites you to register now, (via fax, mail or online) to participate in one of the most vital and best-attended meetings of education professionals in your region.

The Colorado Department of Education selected the College Board as one of seven agencies approved to provide workshops to support districts that use college-readiness assessments like the PSAT/NMSQT® and SAT®. The $250,000 funding is a result of a section of Colorado’s recently passed Senate Bill 08-212 — also known as the Preschool to Postsecondary Education Alignment Act. According to Holly Baker of the Colorado DOE, “This legislation has effectively mandated a complete overhaul of the state’s education standards and assessments to ensure that each student in Colorado attains the level of academic achievement and preparation he or she needs no matter what the chosen career path and increased college readiness by funding pilot programs across the state.”

Following the passage of this legislation, the College Board’s State Government Relations office held a free, one-day workshop, “Developing College Ready Students,” which was co-sponsored by Colorado Department of Higher Education and the University of Denver.  The November event drew 80-90 attendees — superintendents, district administrators, principals, teachers, counselors, higher education administrators and officials from the Colorado DOE — who came to learn about the state's goals of increasing the number of students going to college while closing the achievement gap.

Colorado education leaders — including Matt Gianneschi, Governor Bill Ritter’s senior policy analyst for education; Vicki Leal, Colorado’s Higher Education Department’s academic policy advisor;  and Colorado DOE’s Assistant Commissioner Jo O'Brien — were on hand to describe the details of the legislation and the timeline for the overhaul of the state assessments and standards. Lee Jones, the College Board’s senior vice president for college readiness, explained the components of the College Board's College Readiness System™. Other local and national experts discussed ways to expand access to academic rigor in schools and help students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in college. And teachers highlighted local models of success in closing the achievement gap, such as building robust AP® programs and increasing minority participation. Noting that 43 percent of all Colorado 11th-graders currently take the PSAT/NMSQT, Margo McCoy, a former Colorado college counselor and currently a consultant with the College Board’s National Office for School Counselor Advocacy, demonstrated the power of the College Board’s online college and career awareness tools for students and AP expansion tools for schools.

VP Al Mijares

The Western Regional Office is proud to welcome Ernest Black as a new K-12 educational manager. Ernest brings with him a wealth of experience and passion for the position. For the past 12 years he has worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District in various capacities including classroom teacher, Gifted and Talented Education coordinator and Title I coordinator. Just prior to joining the College Board, Ernest was a specialist in the testing unit of the district office, where he worked closely with schools, showing them how to use data to inform instruction and improve educational outcomes. Ernest also teaches graduate-level courses for K-12 teachers and administrators at Chapman University School of Education. A native of Detroit, Ernest received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and his doctorate in education from the University of Southern California. He has two sons, ages 12 and eight. Ernest will be based in Southern California to expand the College Readiness System™ in this vital area. Please join me in welcoming Ernest to the College Board family.

The Higher Education Group spent the better part of December focusing on financial aid issues. John Flemming, senior educational manager, conducted a session on financial aid for nontraditional students at the annual conference of the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in Anaheim, Calif., and Silvia Marquez, educational manager, represented the College Board at the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.

We are in the process of finalizing details for a special free workshop entitled "Economics 101: What Should Enrollment Professionals Know?" to be conducted by Sandy Baum, College Board senior policy analyst and professor of economics at Skidmore College. The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Feb. 4, at the University of Southern California, Orange County Center. For details, or to register, please visit our Web site at www.collegeboard.org/meetings.

In K-12 news, Lynn Dodd, senior educational manager, participated in the San Diego Unified School District's AP event, in December, entitled "Making It a Success," at which AP teachers were recognized for student achievement (qualifying scores) and were asked to share successful AP content strategies for engaging students. Ernest Black and Penny Sommers participated in the "Cash for College" event in early December at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event provided workshops for a record number of high school participants to help them find out more about college admissions and, most importantly, how to pay for college. Booths from various organizations provided general information, while in-depth workshops were offered in another part of the convention center. Penny Sommers conducted several workshops including one on My College QuickStart. This gave students the opportunity to ask questions about the program and receive immediate feedback. Many of the questions concerned fee waivers and applying to college. Also in December, Nancy Potter, educational manager, joined a select group of 20 educators and community leaders to evaluate a set of Oregon schools to select Blue Ribbon candidates for Superintendent Susan Castillo's approval. Schools had been invited to apply based on improvement in test scores. Several of the schools used our programs, including Redmond and Central high schools, which did well in the evaluation.

Click here to see events and workshops in the Western Region.