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Urban Ed: Day 5 Wrap-Up

I hope that your weekend is going well! As a mentioned in my last email, please remember to make smart decisions with your time today and tomorrow. Dr. Johnson and I are available for office hours, just send us a message and we can set up a Zoom call.

Major to-dos for Monday

  • Read site/speaker bios
  • Plan how you’re going to get to McKinley Tech High. If you plan to take the bus, be at the bus stop at 8:20; otherwise, be at McKinley Tech High by 8:50.

Schedule (Monday)
Attire: business casual

8:00 – 9:00 Optional breakfast (hotel folks only)
Washington Center (901 4th St NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001)

8:50 – 11:00 Site visit: McKinley Tech High
McKinley Tech High (151 T St NE, Washington, DC 20002)

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
Washington Center

1:30 – 2:30 Speaker visit: Jennifer DePaoli
Washington Center

3:00 – 4:00 Speaker visit: Sally Calengor
Washington Center

Things to complete by Monday

  • Read the bios for Monday’s speakers, which can be found on our course website or at the bottom of this email, and brainstorm some questions you might want to ask. Have at least one question for each speaker you are confident asking.
  • If you signed up to write the thank-you note for Dave Goldfarb or Ashley Pettway Carter, please give that to me ASAP. If you are signed up to write the thank-you note for Abby Comey, Jennifer DePaoli, or Sally Calengor, be prepared to get their address tomorrow. If you don’t remember who you signed up for, please reference this sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wdjJkBxRTQ5oX69iDCzbCN9CmXizs2EVd9i8apg202E/edit?usp=sharing
  • Check the spreadsheet above and ensure you have signed up to write two thank-you notes. There is still one empty slot, so you only signed up for one thank-you note, please fill that empty slot.

I will see you all on Monday, either at 8:20 at the bus stop across from the hotel or by 8:50 at McKinley Tech High.

School/speaker bios

McKinley Tech High

McKinley Technology High School is a DC public school serving nearly 700 students. They emphasize G.R.I.T, professionalism, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and STEM mastery.
https://www.mckinleytech.org/

Jennifer DePaoli

Jennifer DePaoli is a Senior Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute and co-leads LPI’s Whole Child Education team. She directs the Whole Child Policy Table, working with partners and policymakers to collectively drive systems change aligned with the science of learning and development. She also brings a whole child lens to teacher preparation and development policy through her work on the Teacher Licensure Collaborative and EdPrepLab.
DePaoli has more than a decade of experience teaching and conducting research and policy analysis in K–12 education. She began her career teaching middle-grade students and later pre-service teachers at the University of Akron and Ohio State University. Prior to joining LPI, DePaoli served as the Senior Research & Policy Advisor at Civic Enterprises, where she led research on raising high school graduation rates and social and emotional learning. Before that, she conducted school choice and charter school policy research at Policy Matters Ohio. DePaoli currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Social Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy.
DePaoli earned her PhD in Education from Ohio State University, where she focused on state- and district-level K–12 education reform policy. She also holds a Master’s in Middle Childhood Education and a BA in Communications from the University of Dayton.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-depaoli-phd/

Founded in 2015, the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. LPI seeks to advance evidence-based policies at the local, state, and federal levels that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, LPI works with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/

Sally Calengor

Sally Calengor is a Research Assistant with the RAND Corporation. Her work is focused on issues relating to emergency and disaster response, climate and sustainability efforts, and national security. She has skills in qualitative research methods, human-subjects research, analytical writing, and communications/outreach, with previous experience in event planning and community development. She graduated from W&M in 2023.

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.
https://www.rand.org/