10:11 a.m., Sept. 15, 2008----Vision 2015, Delaware's landmark initiative to transform public education in the state, will be the focus of a daylong conference at the University of Delaware, scheduled from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, in Clayton Hall. The conference also will feature an interactive live broadcast in Georgetown at the Carvel Research and Education Center.

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Featured speaker will be Sir Michael Barber, former chief adviser on delivery to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Internationally recognized as an expert in education reform, he was responsible for driving implementation of Blair's priority programs in health, education, transport, policing, the criminal justice system and asylum/immigration.

The day also will include panel discussions focusing on the educational needs of business, requirements for quality early child care and the work being done now through Vision 2015.

Begun two years ago, Vision 2015 is led by a 28-person steering committee of education, business, government and community leaders. The plan includes setting high standards for all students, investing deeply in early childhood education, developing and supporting great teachers, empowering principals, engaging families, businesses and the community, requiring accountability and rethinking funding and stressing technology.

The conference will open with remarks by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner on “The Future of Delaware Education.”

UD Provost Dan Rich will then speak on “Vision 2015: The Future of Delaware Education.”

Panels and discussions include:

At 9:30 a.m., a panel on “Creating the Essential Foundation: High Quality Early Childhood Education,” will be moderated by Michael Gamel-McCormick, interim dean of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy. Audrey Noble, director of the Delaware Educational Research and Development Center at UD, will discuss “Transforming Early Childhood Education in Delaware.” Discussion panelists include W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University; Susan Bunting, superintendent, Indian River School District; and James A. Wolfe, president, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. A video, Vision Network Highlights, will be shown.

“What Makes the Difference in a Vision 2015 School?” will be the subject of a panel at 11 a.m., moderated by Valerie A. Woodruff, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. Panelists include Richard Laine, director of education, the Wallace Foundation; Ann Neubauer, teacher, Silver Lake Elementary School; Libia Gil, senior fellow, American Institutes for Research; and Terri Villa, principal, St. Georges Technical High School.

At noon, Paul A. Herdman, president and CEO, Rodel Foundation of Delaware, will introduce Barber, who will give the keynote luncheon address on the topic “What It Takes to Transform Public Education for a Global Economy.”

“Vision 2015 and Delaware's Economic Prosperity” will be the subject of a panel at 1:30 p.m., with Thomas M. Connelly Jr., executive vice president, DuPont Co., as presenter and moderator. Panelists include UD President Patrick Harker; Ernest J. Dianastasis, chairman, Delaware Business Roundtable & First State Innovation, and manager director, CAI; Ric Struthers, chairman, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and consumer credit executive and market president, Bank of America; and William H. Willis, president, Willis Motors Inc.

At 2:45 p.m., Marvin N. “Skip” Schoenhals, chairman of WSFS Bank and chairman of Vision 2015, will discuss “Making Vision 2015 Work: Meeting the Challenge.” He will be introduced by H. Raye Jones Avery, executive director, Christiana Cultural Arts Center.

Response to his talk by Delaware gubernatorial candidates willl be held at 3:30 p.m., moderated by John H. Taylor Jr., executive director, Delaware Public Policy Institute.

A session with questions from Taylor and John Sweeney of The News Journal will begin at 4:15 p.m.

A continental breakfast, from 8-9 a.m., is sponsored by First State Innovation; luncheon sponsored by Rodel Foundation of Delaware; and the closing reception from 4:454-6 p.m., is sponsored by the Delaware Business Roundtable.

The conference is sponsored by the University of Delaware, the Office of the Governor, the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, the Delaware Business Roundtable, First State Innovation, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware Public Policy Institute, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College and The News Journal.

The live interactive broadcast at the Caravel Research and Education Center, 16483 County Seat Road, Georgetown, is free, with refreshments. Lunch is available for $15. Advanced registration is required. For more information on the Georgetown event, call (302) 856-7303.

Registration for the Clayton Hall program is $50. For more information, including online registration for both Clayton Hall and Carvel Research and Education Center broadcast, visit [www.udel.edu/partnerships]. Registration deadline is Monday, Sept. 29. Registration will not be available on the day of the event.

The Oct. 2 event is the third in a series of UD conferences designed to engage education, government, community and business leaders in the challenges and opportunities for partnership of topics of significant importance to our shared community. Harker initiated the series as an important first step in identifying Delaware's strengths and to lay the groundwork for increased partnerships among the state's academic institutions, government and private sector.