Choosing the best paths to educational success will be the subject of a UCSB policy-day symposium that is intended to become an annual summit of faculty and local school officials and policy makers.

The Jan. 11 event, hosted by UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and the Division of Social Sciences, is free and open to the public. It will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Corwin Pavilion.

Panel discussions will delve into two of the thorniest issues facing public educators today: the achievement gap separating students of differing ethnicities, and the inequities putting lower-income students at a disadvantage. The panels also will explore ways to promote policy that produces positive changes.

The luncheon speaker will be Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.Her talk is titled “Diversity, School Choice, and Opportunities to Learn Math and Science: Policy Changes in a Post-Seattle and Louisville Legal Landscape.”

Invited panelists include:

• Kathy Boomer, Goleta Union School District superintendent
• Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara
• Bill Cirone, Santa Barbara County schools superintendent
• Jane Close Conoley, dean of the Gevirtz School
• Paul Cordeiro, Carpinteria Union School District superintendent
• Richard Durán, Gevirtz School professor
• Delaine Easton, distinguished professor of educational leadership at Mills College and a former state schools superintendent
• Lorraine McDonnell, UCSB political zcience professor
• Melvin L. Oliver, dean of UCSB’s Division of Social Sciences
• Russell Rumberger, Gevirtz School professor
• Brian Sarvis, Santa Barbara School Districts superintendent
• John Yun, Gevirtz School professor
• Rebecca Zwick, Gevirtz School professor

Seating is limited. To reserve a space, contact Suzanne Oliver, Gevirtz School community relations director, at 805.893.2460 or soliver@education.ucsb.edu.