Dr. Oscar Joseph, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Denver who is working with Denver Public Schools on a specialized program geared toward closing the achievement gap, has been invited to participate in the prestigious Oxford Round Table next March in Oxford, England.

The purpose of the Oxford Round Table is to promote human advancement and understanding through the improvement of education. The Oxford Round Table provides a forum for the study and consideration of current issues facing state and national systems of education. The Round Table meets periodically and at each session is comprised of a small, select group of leaders from around the world who represent both public and private sectors.

The Round Table will run from March 23 through March 28, 2003. It will be the seventh Round Table since the series began in 1991. Dr. Joseph is just one of 35 people invited to the discussion.

The Round Table in 2003 “concerns the responsibilities of special educators and physicians in addressing the needs of disabled children,” according to a letter sent to Dr. Joseph.

“Being a product of Denver Public Schools, and having the opportunity to represent the city and the University of Colorado and the city is a great honor,” said Dr. Joseph. “I hope to share as well as to learn from others who attend and I expect the variety of experiences and knowledge to be both stimulating and useful.”

Dr. Joseph is an Assistant Professor in the University of Colorado at Denver School of Education’s Initial Professional Teacher Education Division. His teaching and expertise includes philosophy, ethics and law in education, social studies methodology, and urban education curriculum design.

Dr. Joseph played a key role in the work of Colorado Civil Rights Commission task force that reported findings to the Board of Education last May. The task force engaged in a research-based study of the disparity in educational achievement between black and white students.

Based on this analysis, the district is working with Dr. Joseph on a four-year study at four schools that will seek to set higher expectations for students and encourage them to tackle advanced classes.

The task force’s recommendations included devising focus groups within the school day to allow students to express their concerns; developing a parent homeroom within the school; devising a communication pathway for teachers between upper and lower grades; and creating fluid communication networks that maintain a consistent connection with the school’s improvement goals.

Dr. Joseph is a graduate of Montbello High School in Denver. He received a bachelor of science degree from Northwestern University and completed his doctorate at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Dr. Joseph was an Associate Professor of Elementary Education and founding executive director of the Center for Urban Research and Education at Chicago State University from 1996 to 1999.