PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Alliance for Decision Education announced the launch of a national Policymaker Fellowship aimed at helping state and district education leaders strengthen decision-making skills and explore ways to introduce those skills into K–12 classrooms.
The nonprofit said the program will bring together mid- and senior-level education leaders from across the country to examine research, review classroom practices and discuss how decision-making instruction could be incorporated into school systems.
The fellowship will serve as a nonpartisan forum for leadership development, mentorship and collaboration among policymakers from different states and education systems, the organization said.
Participants will engage in expert-led discussions and peer exchanges focused on how decision-making competencies relate to student learning, teaching practices and state or local education priorities.
The inaugural cohort includes policymakers and education officials from Hawaii, Tennessee and Utah.
Participants from Hawaii include Rep. Justin Woodson, chair of the Hawaii House Committee on Education, and Christine Kubota, office manager to the committee chair and a former educator.
The Tennessee representative in the cohort is Dr. KC Alvarado, an education and workforce development leader with experience in K–12 education, higher education and nonprofit organizations.
Utah participants include Dr. Leah Voorhies, deputy superintendent of student achievement and state director of special education at the Utah State Board of Education.
Also participating from Utah are Dr. Elisse Newey, deputy superintendent of policy at the Utah State Board of Education, and Darin Nielsen, assistant superintendent of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
The organization said the fellowship will examine how decision-making skills are taught in classrooms and how those approaches may inform policy discussions.
Decision Education refers to instruction focused on helping students develop judgment and decision-making skills that can be applied in academic, personal and professional settings.
“Across the country, there’s growing recognition that students need stronger decision-making skills to thrive,” said David Samuelson, executive director of the Alliance for Decision Education.
Samuelson said the fellowship is intended to give policymakers a setting to review research and share policy approaches related to teaching decision-making skills in schools.
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