Institute for Educational Inquiry
124 East Edgar Street
Seattle, WA 98102
Tel: (206) 325-3010
elenwp@u.washington.edu

Center for Educational Renewal
College of Education
Box 353600
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3600
Tel: (206) 543-6230
mcmannon@u.washington.edu

Agenda for Education
in a Democracy

The Agenda for Education in a Democracy is a mission-driven, research-based agenda that seeks to:

• Foster in the nation's young the skills, dispositions, and knowledge necessary for effective participation in a social and political democracy.

• Ensure that the young have access to those understandings and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives.

• Develop educators who nurture the learning and well-being of every student.

• Ensure educators' competence in and commitment to serving as stewards of schools.

Who is Engaged in this Agenda?

• The thousands of educators associated with the National Network for Educational Renewal—a growing network of school and college/university partnerships across the United States—who strive to implement the four-part mission of the Agenda for Education in a Democracy.

• The staff of the Seattle-based nonprofit Institute for Educational Inquiry, whose mission is to strengthen the role of education in renewing the social and political democracy upon which the future of humankind depends.

• The researchers with the Center for Educational Renewal, housed in the College of Education on the University of Washington campus, whose mission is to inquire into educational policies and practices that support and strengthen education for democracy.

What are our primary implementation strategies?

• Simultaneous Renewal. Excellent schools require skilled educators developed in high-quality educator preparation programs. In order to prepare excellent educators (teachers, counselors, principals, and others), these programs provide extensive experiences in schools that model effective pedagogy and ongoing renewal of their practice. Faculty members from the schools and the educator-preparing institutions work together, using each other's expertise to inform and improve their own.

• Leadership Development. Schools and educator-preparing institutions cultivate the widespread understanding of and committment to the public purpose of education. The Institute for Educational Inquiry has conducted its extensive, year-long Leadership Program for hundreds of school, educator preparation, and arts and sciences faculty members and administrators who together study the Agenda and plan next steps toward furthering their settings' progress. Similar leadership programs have been offered in local National Network for Educational Renewal settings, reaching thousands more educators.

• Inquiry that Leads to Action. Improvement in schools and educator preparation comes from ongoing, databased study and improvement of local structures, policies, and actions. "Renewal" work differs from "reform" in that it is never finished.

• Learning from and with Others. Professional educators join efforts in common purpose and engage the support of others who educate and affect the nation's young, including parents, social service providers, journalists, politicians, businesspeople, and many others.

For a brief description of the Agenda and the relationships among the various organizations, click here.