With all 50 states having adopted college- and career-ready standards (CCR) in English language arts/literacy and mathematics, Achieve‘s eighth annual “Closing the Expectations Gap“ report shows how all states are aligning those standards with policies to send clear signals to students about what it means to be academically prepared for life after high school. Achieve Read more about Annual Achieve Report on College and Career Readiness[…]
At the core of the transformation of education toward student-centered learning is the ability to personalize learning for each student, to open student pathways and encourage student voice and choice in next generation education models. To aid classroom, school and state leaders in their pursuit of this goal, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning Read more about Defining Personalized Learning[…]
As an increasing number of individuals realize the need for continued education, yet also face the realities of taking care of families in a tough economic climate, some Americans are asking if traditional college or graduate degrees are the solution. Perhaps these degrees do more to show how much money an individual has or how Read more about Badges and Certifications – the new Degree?[…]
TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, recently released the latest in its one-of-a-kind series of essays on effective teaching written by and for practicing teachers. Titled “Going Deep: Empowering Students to Take Risks, Make Mistakes and Master Difficult Material,” the new paper was written by some of the Read more about Risk and Rigor in the Classroom[…]
This blog typically covers topics related to helping students finish their K-12 education successfully, but what about after that? Can American students, once they are college-ready, afford that college tuition? Anya Kamenetz of Third Way offers 6 straightforward ideas for how the cost of a bachelor’s degree could be $10,000. That is the cost for Read more about How a Bachelor’s Degree could Cost $10,000[…]
John Merrow, longtime education reporter and author, begins his blog post, “The Business of Schools is. . . . .?”, with a short multiple choice quiz: Here are two multiple-choice questions for you: 1. The primary business of public schools is to produce: A. Educated students B. Knowledge 2. Which more accurately describes the structure Read more about John Merrow on 21st Century Education[…]
Because education is such a key element driving economic growth, states realize the need to prioritize education, but are often short on answers when facing large budget deficits. Andrew P. Kelly and Daniel K. Lautzenheiser of AEI Education recently released a new report entitled, “Taking charge: A state-level agenda for higher education reform,” that provides Read more about Taking Charge: A State-level Agenda for Higher Education Reform[…]
In an update to the story that this blog has been tracking for some time (see our two past blogs about this subject here and here), the US Department of Education has given its strongest confirmation yet that it is willing to embrace a model of judging educational progress and mastery that transcends the credit Read more about Department of Education Letter Could Put Cracks in the Credit Hour[…]
The Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education recently released a report called Expanding Evidence Approaches for Learning in a Digital World. The OET was most interested in “the role of new types of data and analytic capabilities in supporting grit, tenacity, and perseverance.” Here is more of their explanation of their Read more about Promoting Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance[…]
In 2012, Microsoft announced a new professional development program called 21st Century Learning Design (21CLD), formerly known as “LEAP21”, that helps teachers build innovative pedagogical practices and develop resources for designing learning activities that foster higher order skills. It includes: practice-based professional development, so new ideas are used immediately in the classroom collaboration among teachers Read more about New Resources for 21st Century Learning Design[…]
Digital Learning Now! (DLN), in partnership with Getting Smart and the Foundation for Excellence in Education recently released “The Shift from Cohorts to Competency.” This report takes a comprehensive look at the overall shift to competency education and the role of technology to help schools meet the college- and career-readiness goals established by the Common Read more about The Shift from Cohorts to Competency[…]
The Alliance for Excellent Education suggests that New Hampshire’s shift from “seat time” measures of student proficiency to “competency-based learning” measures is one that other states would do well to follow. As this blog wrote about previously, the Carnegie Unit, or credit hour, has long been the measure by which students were judged before they Read more about How should student content mastery be judged?[…]
Since 1906, the Carnegie Unit, or credit hour/student hour, has been the standard unit by which student progress and mastery in American secondary schools and colleges have been measured. The Carnegie Unit was originally created in 1906 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a means by which professors could argue for Read more about Re-thinking the credit hour?[…]
Jal Mehta, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-editor of The Futures of School Reform (2012), offers a clarion call to systematic educational reform in the United States. Mehta makes three key points in his article for the American Enterprise Institute: 1. Many efforts to reform American schooling over the past Read more about From ‘Tinkering to Utopia’ to ‘Remaking American Education’[…]
The Atlantic recently took a trip to San Jose, California to visit Rocketship Discovery Prep, one of seven schools run by Rocketship Education. Rocketship has been hailed as a model for future high-tech classrooms, and reformers have been impressed with their achievement outcomes with poor Latino youth. But is the secret to Rocketship’s success really Read more about High-Tech AND High-Touch[…]
Achieve has released new resources directed toward the business community, to inform and rally more advocates for education reform. The Business Resources for a College- and Career-Ready America include modular resources for business leaders to use as they engage their internal and external networks of colleagues, peers, employees, and employers around the college- and career-ready Read more about Business Resources for a College- and Career-Ready America[…]