COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- It's no secret that safe, happy, and healthy children are more likely to achieve academic success. But bullying continues to be one issue standing in the way of safe and successful students. Educators are invited to attend Beyond Bullying: Safe Schools, Successful Students, an all-day Summit, on January 14, 2013 at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. During this powerful event, hosted by Zaner-Bloser, in partnership with the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, thought leaders and researchers in the education community will share best practices in promoting a proactive—rather than reactive—approach to bullying prevention and social-emotional learning (SEL) in education.

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Keynote speaker Kirk Smalley, spokesperson for Stand for the Silent, will begin the Summit with an emotional story of how he lost his 11-year-old son to suicide after enduring months of bullying. Smalley says he wants educators to walk away with the knowledge of what bullying has become both on and off school grounds.

Attendees will have a chance to hear from a panel of superintendents with a proactive approach to bullying and SEL. The panel includes:

• Sheldon Berman, Ed.D., Superintendent for Eugene School District 4J in Eugene, OR and recipient of the Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education
• Eric Gordon, M.Ed., Chief Executive Officer (and former Chief Academic Officer) of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD)
• Sonya Whitaker, Ed.D., Superintendent for Fairmont School District 89, in Lockport, IL
• Gale Reeves, M.S.Ed., Superintendent for Community School District Five in New York, NY, part of the largest public school system in the U.S. with 1.1 million students           

American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Executive Director Daniel Domenech will moderate the panel discussion. "Creating a dialogue among educators is one of the most effective ways to find out what practices work best when it comes to preventing bullying and other issues in school that can stand in the way of students succeeding," Domenech said. "This Summit gives us a chance to understand the research and work together toward safer schools and achieving students."

Other confirmed speakers/topics include:

• The State of SEL
  Ed Dunkelblau, Ph.D.
• Anti-Anti-Bullying: Rethinking Our Rhetoric and Framework
  Marvin Berkowitz, Ph.D.
• The Impact of SEL: Results from a Large Meta-Analysis of K–12 School-Based Programs
  Allison Dymnicki, Ph.D.
• Educating the Heart–"This Little Light of Ours"
  Peter Yarrow
• Bullying Prevention vs. Intervention: The Role of SEL
  Marc Brackett, Ph.D.; Dorothy Espelage, Ph.D.
• Developing Perspective Taking Through Literacy
  Robert Selman, Ph.D.; Catherine Snow, Ph.D.
• Writing and the Democratic Voice
  Ernest Morrell, Ph.D.; Jodene Morrell, Ph.D.
• How SEL Supports the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
  Ruth Cross, M.A.; Pamela Randall, Ed.D.

To view the full agenda and register for the Summit, or to learn about becoming a Beyond Bullying Alliance member, please visit www.beyondbullyingsummit.org. You can also join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME)
For almost forty years, IUME has used advocacy, demonstration, evaluation, information dissemination, research, and technical assistance to study and seek to improve the quality of life chances through education in the communities of urban and minority peoples. The Institute continues to focus on the implications of population in the context of the demand for pluralistic competencies for the design and management of teaching and learning transactions in schools and other environments for education.

About Zaner-Bloser
Zaner-Bloser, a wholly owned subsidiary of Highlights for Children with more than 120 years of experience in education, is one of the premier publishers of research-based reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and handwriting programs. The Zaner-Bloser mission is to create dynamic, appealing, and effective educational programs and services. Zaner-Bloser focuses on distinctive programs that inspire all students to become engaged, literate participants in the global society.

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