Pitt Learning Policy Center Sets Feb. 12 Lecture by Michael Cohen

The University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Policy Center (LPC) will present a lecture by Michael Cohen, president of Achieve Inc., from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Feb. 12 in 5604 Posvar Hall. The lecture, “Improving Postsecondary Education: Lessons From the American Diploma Project Network,” is part of LPC’s 2008-09 colloquium series, Excellence and Equity in an Era of Accountability.

Since 2003, Cohen has served as president of Achieve, a nonprofit education reform organization. Under Cohen’s leadership, Achieve created the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network in 2005 to better prepare students for college and the working world. Cohen’s lecture will provide an overview of the ADP policy agenda and focus on the design and implementation challenges of those policies. In 2006, Education Week ranked Achieve 7th among the most influential education policy organizations in the nation. Education Week also recognized Achieve’s report, “Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts,” among the most influential research studies of the past decade.

Prior to his work with Achieve, Cohen held several senior education positions in the Clinton Administration, among them assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, special assistant to the president for education policy at the White House, and senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

The lecture is free to the public, but an RSVP is required. To RSVP, visit www.learningpolicycenter.org or contact Julia Kaufman at lpc@pitt.edu.