Howard Hosts First Hearing of the NCLB Commission

WASHINGTON (Sept. 4, 2009) -- The first hearing of the Aspen Institute Commission on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was held at Howard University on September 2. The purpose of the public hearing was to review the education legislation and provide recommendations for improving chronically low-performing schools.

Members of the policy community heard testimonies from Commissioners, state education officials, superintendents and principals. Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer Alvin Thornton, Ph.D., welcomed the convening to the University citing the significance of the gathering given the historic work of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall.

Leslie T. Fenwick, Ph.D., dean of the Howard University School of Education, delivered framing remarks encouraging the Commissioners “to make recommendations that expand the original intent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – NCLB’s parent legislation – to help children languishing in schools in poor communities.”

Click here to view the C-SPAN airing of the hearing.