The document summarizes a project called "Re-imagining Education", led by the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. The project brings together influential education leaders and practitioners to have a sustained dialogue about transforming the national vision for children's education. Over multiple meetings through 2014, the participants will work to create a new vision for 21st century learning and identify concrete actions to make that vision a reality. The project aims to move past debates that currently divide people in education and instead spark collaboration around redefining success, teachers' roles, the use of technology, and what a student's experience of learning could look like.

1.
Re‐imagining Education
A project of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution
The Challenge: Our national challenge is to create a future where all children experience extraordinary learning.
Despite multitudes of public and private initiatives and investments, the U.S. school system remains antiquated and unable
to meet the needs of far too many children. Hot button issues, such as school choice, testing, and tenure, divide the
leaders and groups who most need to come together to forge a new path forward to create an education system equal to
the needs and aspirations of our 21st century children and society.
The Project: We are convening an extraordinary group of influential education leaders, thinkers, and practitioners for a
sustained dialogue to re‐imagine education for the 21st century. Despite their differing and often conflicting perspectives,
these participants are committed to transforming our national vision of children’s education, defining pathways to advance
that vision, and taking joint action to make that transformation possible.
The participants are eager to move past the debates and fissures deeply embedded in the current PreK‐12 education
system. Working with skilled facilitators from the Consensus Building Institute, our stakeholders are creating a vision of
learning that re‐imagines what is possible for every child. Their work is informed by the latest research and practice in
technology, neuroscience, collaborative systems change, and student‐centered learning.
Together, the participants have begun seeking answers to these questions:
• How should we define and measure success in children’s education to meet the challenges of the coming decades?
• What are the possibilities for the roles of teachers and mentors in a newly imagined future for education? How do
we attract and retain the most talented teachers? How do we effectively support their continuing development
and fairly evaluate their performance to build an effective, valued, and accountable teaching profession?
• How can technology transform how students learn and what teachers are able to accomplish?
• How do we create a collaborative school culture and an environment that harvests a child’s intrinsic motivation to
learn?
• What might a day, a week, and a year in a student’s life look like as we imagine 21st century learning, within and
beyond school buildings?
The dialogue process began with a stakeholder meeting in April 2013 and will continue with five more two‐day stakeholder
meetings through Fall 2014.
Why This Project Can Make a Difference: This project brings together people of significant experience and influence who
often disagree on the best paths forward. Together, they will identify what it takes to provide children with a high quality
education and how that education can be delivered. Their individual endeavors are often siloed or in competition with each
other, but collectively, these stakeholders have the capacity to catalyze a true shift in the way we look at and provide
quality education to every child. Their success will be measured not by whether a report is written and well‐received, but by
whether concrete actions are taken.
Funding: Current funders include: American Federation of Teachers, Microsoft, NoVo Foundation, Lisa and John Pritzker
Family Fund, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and individual donors. The project is actively seeking new funding partners.
Re‐imagining Education is a project of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. For more information on Re‐imagining Education,
contact Kelly Young at kelly@convergencepolicy.org or Laura Perrault at laura@convergencepolicy.org or call (202) 973‐4681. For more
information on Convergence, please go to www.convergencepolicy.org.

2.
Re‐imagining Education
A project of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution
Dialogue Participants
David Andrews, Dean, Johns Hopkins University
School of Education
Sig Behrens, Education Technology
Advisor/Consultant
Stuart Butler, Director of the Center for Policy
Innovation, The Heritage Foundation
Dwight Davis, Teacher, DC Public Schools
Rehan Dawer, Founder, Ethica Global Alliance
Jean Desravines, CEO, New Leaders
Nick Donohue, President & CEO, Nellie Mae
Education Foundation
Lily Eskelsen, Vice President, National Education
Alliance
Maddie Fennell, Literacy Coach; 2007 Nebraska
Teacher of the Year
Lizabeth Fogel, Director of Education, Walt Disney
Company
Michael Hanson, District Superintendent, Fresno
Unified School District, CA
Michael Hinojosa, District Superintendent, Cobb
County School District, GA
Gisèle Huff, Executive Director, Jaquelin Hume
Foundation
John Jackson, President & CEO, The Schott
Foundation for Public Education
Paige Johnson, Education Strategist, Intel
Neerav Kingsland, Chief Strategy Officer, New
Schools for New Orleans
Andrew Ko, General Manager, Partners in
Learning, Microsoft
Aaron Lieberman, Founder & CEO, Acelero
Learning
Bobbi Macdonald, Executive Director, City
Neighbors Foundation, Inc.
Marc Magee, President & Founder, 50CAN
Peter McWalters, Former Rhode Island
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary
Education
Julie Mikuta, Partner, New Schools Venture Fund
Bob O’Brien, Principal, New York City Public
Schools
Judy Peppler, President & CEO, KnowledgeWorks
Delia Pompa, Senior Vice President of Programs,
National Council of La Raza
Wendy Puriefoy, Director of Education, Barr
Foundation
Paul Reville, Professor, Harvard University; former
Massachusetts Secretary of Education
Stephen Robinson, President, Southern
Association of Independent Schools
Robert Sherman, Consultant, Social and Emotional
Learning
Stephan Turnipseed, President, LEGO Education,
North America
Randi Weingarten, President, American
Federation of Teachers
Lara Wheatley, School Leader, KIPP Houston High
School
Mark Wilding, Co‐Executive Director,
PassageWorks Institute
Connie Yowell, Director for Education, MacArthur
Foundation
th
Convergence Center for Policy Resolution ▪ 1101 17 Street, Suite 1350 ▪ Washington, DC ▪ 20036
facebook.com/ConvergenceCtr ▪ www.convergencepolicy.org ▪ @ConvergenceCtr
Sept. 29, 2013