Sparks Lecture Series

The 2006 Sparks Lecture, an annual College of Education event instituted to honor Dr. Harry M. Sparks, the fifth President of Murray State University, will be held on June 13, 2006 at the Wrather Auditorium. The reception will begin at 4:00 pm and the lecture will follow at 5:00 pm. Dr. Willard Daggett will be the featured speaker for the event.

Dr. Daggett is President of the International Center for Leadership in Education and the author of 12 textbooks, four books dealing with education reform and numerous journal articles. He is well known in Kentucky as the designer of the Application Model, which provides a framework to determine the relevance of curriculum to real-world situations. The Application Model is part of the Rigor/Relevance Framework that has become the cornerstone of education reform initiatives throughout the United States.

Dr Daggett’s address will center on the importance of a systemic program of character education in the nation’s public schools and the necessity for rigor and relevance in public school instruction.

In addition to Dr. Daggett’s address, three teachers will be recognized as the 2006 Outstanding Kentucky Teachers. This is an honor given to one, deserving, full-time teacher at each of the primary/elementary, middle, and high school levels. Each teacher is selected based on demonstrated excellence in teaching, contributions to parental involvement in learning and commitment to school excellence. The 2006 recipients are Laura Warner, Bourbon Central Elementary School in Paris, Ky.; Pam Fee, Lone Oak Middle School in Lone Oak, Ky.; and Dan Bradley, Nelson County High School in Bardstown, Ky.

For more information about the lecture, please contact Dr. John C. Settle in the College of Education Dean’s Office at 270-809-3832