EAST LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder spoke to participants of the iNet International Conference at Michigan State University on Feb. 15, thanking educators in attendance from across Michigan and around the world for their shared efforts to improve education.
The three-day conference, a showcase of effective school reform through global perspectives, was hosted by the Office of K-12 Outreach in MSU's College of Education. Snyder attended an evening reception at the Kellogg Center.
“This is truly one of our world-class assets,” Snyder said of MSU. “The dialogue you are having is great for our state. Let’s keep the dialogue going and help us help Michigan with its reinvention.”
Snyder emphasized his commitment to approach education issues from a P-20, or lifelong learning, perspective. He also said it’s important that educators remain focused on successful outcomes for students and do not allow school funding issues to sidetrack progress.
The organization that presented the conference, International Networking for Educational Transformation, or iNet, is considered the world’s largest network for sharing school reform. MSU helped establish iNet’s first U.S.-based hub and has since connected nearly 200 Michigan schools to a wealth of resources for school improvement.
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley also joined MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon in welcoming participants to the conference on Feb. 14.
MSU was selected by iNet to help organize the event this year in honor of the university’s continuing efforts to improve K-12 teaching and learning through global perspectives. Recent iNet international conferences have been held in South Africa, Beijing and Mauritius, an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa.
“This is truly a worldwide network, so to have it focus on MSU is quite significant,” said Barbara Markle, assistant dean for K-12 outreach in the College of Education. “As a world-grant university, we appreciate that education is changing around the world. We have been learning from one another in order to rethink what it means to create high-performing schools in the United States.”
For more on the conference, see http://news.msu.edu/story/8906/.
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