Alexandria , VA - The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is pleased to announce that Jane Sonenshein, a member of the Ohio State Board of Education, has been chosen to serve on a year-long NASBE task force to formulate state policies to reform middle schools.

As part of the 21-member national panel, Jane Sonenshein will meet with other state policymakers, middle school leaders, and education reform experts to learn about state strategies for improving the middle school experience of students.

"Like a middle child, middle schools are often overlooked in education reform, ceding attention to the entry stage-elementary schools- and exit stage-high schools-of the K-12 continuum. And yet, it is at the middle school level where early grade successes are too often squandered and a successful high school trajectory is usually set. You cannot hope to improve high school graduation rates without a comprehensive analysis of the role of middle schools in providing a rigorous curriculum that is the academic foundation for successful high school students," said Brenda Welburn, NASBE Executive Director.

Participants will examine several issues that have policy implications for State Boards of Education, such as curriculum, teacher preparation, assessment and evaluation, middle school organization, and high school integration.

The task force will issue a comprehensive report in October 2008 at the NASBE Annual Conference in Washington , DC . The state policy recommendations will also be distributed to all governors, state superintendents, other state and local education policymakers, national education groups, Congress, and federal officials.

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NASBE, www.nasbe.org , represents America 's state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking; advocate equality of access to educational opportunity; promote excellence in the education of all students; and assure responsible lay governance of education.