President Ford waves to the crowd at the Farewell Ceremony for the Montreal-bound U.S. Olympic Team in July 1976.Don't miss out on the second annual Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day, coming this July to a city near you. In the spirit of this summer's Olympic Games, we encourage you to gather together and celebrate your Ford School pride, blue and gold style.

Abstract We examine the theoretical and practical implications of ranking teachers according to a one dimensional value-added metric when teacher effectiveness is multi-dimensional. In particular, we consider the cases in which teachers teach multiple subjects or multiple student types. We outline the assumptions under which a standard value-added estimator correctly ranks teachers according to their social value. We demonstrate that these assumptions fail to hold empirically.

Sponsored by the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP). EPI is a program of coordinated activities designed to bring the latest academic knowledge to issues of education policy. Generous support provided by Charles H.

Free and open to the public. Join the conversation: #fordschoolspellings Lecture by the Honorable Margaret Spellings, Former U.S. Secretary of Education (2005-2009) Abstract: The seminal education law known as No Child Left Behind put critical pressure on our schools to dramatically improve education in America. Through accountability, testing, and consequences for failure, a more targeted focus on our neediest students has translated into measurable success for them.

Free and open to the public. This event will be live Web-streamed. A link will be posted on the International Institute's homepage (www.ii.umich.edu) on the day of the roundtable. About the event On July 9, 2011, Sudan, Africa's largest country, split into two nations. The secession is a result of the longest civil war in world history between the north and the south that dates back to the country's independence in 1956. More than two million people died in the struggle and millions more were uprooted.

Free and open to the public. About the lecture The current state of Polish-Russian relations carries the burden of history, such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact under which the Soviet Union and Germany secretly agreed to divide and invade Poland in 1939 and the Katyn Massacre for which the Soviets falsely blamed the Germans for killing thousands of Polish officers in 1940. Dialogue between Polish and Russian intellectuals, researchers and experts on this matter initiated in 2008, opened the new stage in Polish-Russian relations.

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Join the conversation on Twitter: #fordschooldingell Hosted by: Richard L. Hall, Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Professor of Political Science, College of Literature, Science and the Arts From the speaker's bio John D.

Free and open to the public. Book signing to follow. Fr. Boyle is a Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries, an organization that assists at-risk and gang-involved youth in Los Angeles. Fr. Boyle will speak on his experiences working with Inner city Youth toward 'Jobs not Jails', followed by a book signing arranged by Nicola's Books. For more info on Fr. Boyle and his book, visit www.homeboy-industries.org. Sponsored by: Gerald R.

Free and open to the public. Space is limited. Please RSVP by January 12, 2012; click here to RSVP. About the speaker Wendy Kopp proposed the creation of Teach For America in her undergraduate senior thesis and has spent the last 22 years working to grow the organization's impact.

Free and open to the public. Refreshments provided. This conversation will address the divides that traditionally separate activists and scholars as well as separate different communities of color. Drawing on examples of collaboration the event will go beyond diagnosis of differences by identifying strategies for moving ahead towards social justice. About the speaker Dr. R. L'Heureux Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Black Studies at the City College of New York – CUNY.