The Gender Equity and Disability Subpanel of the Gender Equity Expert Panel
is seeking to expand its members and cadre of advisors. The mission of this
subpanel is to identify and designate as "promising" or "exemplary"
educational programs and materials for people with disabilities and their
allies that recognize and address gender-specific needs, including issues of
gender bias and double discrimination based on gender and disability.
Disability equity resources that have not been designed with gender in mind
but have proven to be particularly beneficial for women and girls with
disabilities will also be considered.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) of the
U.S. Department of Education is providing supplementary support for the work
of this Subpanel. This support will enable the Subpanel to expand by
appointing four new members and by inviting the participation of a group of
advisors to assist with Subpanel activities. Subpanel members will identify
and assess programs and resources on gender equity and disability, and will
develop recommendations to the Secretary of Education, documents for
consumers and strategies for dissemination. They will need to be approved by
an Assistant Secretary of Education, and will receive an honorarium and
travel expenses for meetings. Participation in the Advisory group will
provide additional opportunities for experts in the field to contribute to
the work of the Subpanel on a voluntary basis. For example, advisors may
nominate programs, help developers prepare submissions describing their
potentially promising or exemplary programs, or review submissions for the
panel where they don't have a conflict of interest.
To give some background, the Gender Equity Expert Panel is one of the first
panels in the new "Findbest System" of topic focused review panels designed
to help consumers learn about promising and exemplary products, programs and
practices. Established through a recent initiative of the US Department of
Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), and
coordinated by Dr. Susan Klein of OERI and the WEEA Equity Resource Center of
Education Development Center, the Panel consists of several subpanels: Core
Gender Equity; Gender Equity and Disability; Mathematics, Science and
Technology; Prevention of Violence, Sexual Harassment Drug/Education
Problems; Teacher Education and Professional Development; and Vocational
Education and School-to-Work. All panels will use the same standards to
designate promising and exemplary programs for final approval by the
Secretary of Education. The four standards categories are: evidence of
effectiveness, quality (including promoting equity and freedom from bias),
educational significance and usefulness to others.
The nomination process is as follows: All subpanel member nominations must be
received by April 30, 1997. There is no specific deadline for indication of
interest in serving in the subpanel advisory group.
We encourage you to nominate yourself or others to serve as a subpanel panel
member or to help in various ways as a participant in the advisory group. If
you nominate others, please make sure they would be willing to participate in
the subpanel if they are selected by the Assistant Secretary.
For consideration as a subpanal member, or a participant in the advisory
group, please include a resume, and a brief summary of you areas of
expertise. Please include your e mail address if you have one; most of the
general communications among Subpanel and advisory group members will be on
through e-mail, including the "gndrpan" listserv.
The members of the Subpanel will be selected to complement each other's
knowledge and backgrounds. Together they will have had extensive expertise
on gender equity issues, disability equity issues, and their intersection,
particularly as these issues relate to education. They will have experience
in program and materials development, dissemination, research, and
evaluation. They will be diverse in terms of disability status, gender,
racial/ethnic backgrounds, geography and other dimensions. Importantly, all
subpanel members must commit themselves to participating on the Subpanel for
at least two years.
Please send nominations and resumes to Harilyn Rousso, Subpanel Chair,
Disabilities Unlimited, 3 East 10th Street, 4B, New York, NY 10003,USA
212-673-4284 (phone/fax), HariynR@aol.com (e-mail). To be considered, all
Subpanel member nominations must be received by April 30, 1997.
Submission guidelines and additional information about the entire Gender
Equity Expert Panel are available from Joe Maxwell at the WEEA Equity
Resource Center at the Education Development Center, Inc., e-mail:
jmaxwell@edc.org, telephone: 617 969 7100
HARILYN ROUSSO
HARILYNR@AOL.COM