Obama's Under Secretary of Education Meets with Penn Students

Since 2014, successful Panamanian businessman Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla has served as ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United States. Prior to embarking on his professional career, Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Today, he remains actively involved with his alma mater as a member of the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. 

In December of 2016, students from Penn’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) had the opportunity to meet with Ted Mitchell, the Obama administration’s under secretary of education. During a visit that lasted more than an hour, Mitchell addressed approximately 20 GSE doctoral and master’s students, answering their questions related to higher education policy and challenges.

Specifically, Mitchell, who previously served as president of the California State Board of Education and president of Occidental College, discussed efforts to make college both more affordable and more accessible and detailed ways to help high school students graduate and prepare for higher education. GSE students also asked him about political divisions and inquired about how politics plays a role in creating educational and employment opportunities. 

The edited conversation between Mitchell and GSE students can be found on the school’s website. The site also features other news and a complete listing of GSE programs and events. For more information, visit www.gse.upenn.edu.

Nine Penn Faculty Make Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings List

 


A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla has represented the Republic of Panama to the United States since 2014. In addition to his work maintaining positive relations between the two countries, Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla sits on the Board of Overseers of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, which recently announced that several of its faculty members have received recognition from Education Week.

On January 11, 2017, Education Week published its Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list, which was developed by Rick Hess, director of public policy at the American Enterprise Institute. The list recognizes the top 200 US university-based scholars who are influencing educational policy and practice. The honorees were chosen by a selection committee consisting of 27 members, who used a rubric that takes into account the scholars’ influence on public discourse and greater body of work.

Of the 200 scholars recognized, the Penn Graduate School of Education boasts 11 researchers, nine of whom are standing faculty members. Education Week made special note of Penn’s Angela Duckworth and Shaun R. Harper as two scholars, who despite representing a younger academic generation, have earned standing as leading voices in their fields.

The Panama Bilingual Program

Panamanian Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla has represented his home country to the United States since 2014. Dedicated to improving education and employment in Panama, Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla remains active in the Panama Bilingual program created by Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela.

The Panama Bilingual Program responds to the need to provide Panamanians with English language skills in order to increase their job opportunities and make the country more competitive. Under the guidance of Secretary Marcela Paredes in the Ministry of Education, the program aims to provide bilingual education training to 2,000 teachers each year and prepare 30,000 elementary students and 20,000 high school students. According to President Varela, the Panama Bilingual program will ultimately reach 25,000 teachers, 160,000 elementary school students, and 100,000 students in middle and high school.

The program consists of three areas: Teacher Training, the After School Program, and Kids. As part of the Teacher Training component, some teachers spend six months abroad at prestigious universities in English-speaking countries, where they study English and new pedagogical methods for teaching English before returning to Panama to participate in Mixed Teacher training.

A Conversation with Ambassador Emanuel Gonzalez Revilla