For the past 35 years, the prevailing narrative about America’s public education system is that it is “broken.” Reform efforts have failed to find a fix because they fundamentally misunderstand this reality: the system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do-educate the masses in a standardized fashion that completely Read more about Evidence for Student-Centered Learning[…]
The Meadows Center at the University of Texas at Austin has released a piece outlining 10 evidence-based policies and practices for high-quality assessment in schools, along with the research supporting them. These policies/practices include the following: School leadership ensures that teachers have a shared understanding of the curriculum and standards across the grades. Schools use Read more about 10 Evidence-Based Policies and Practices for Assessment[…]
A functional consensus is emerging among the nation’s boldest education leaders, producing not identical policies, but a set of vital principles that drive approaches shaped to the needs of each of their communities. It’s a set of principles born of extensive work, with the needs of students at the center. It’s worthy of the attention Read more about Chiefs for Change’s Bipartisan Vision for America’s Schools[…]
A new report from a group of the nation’s boldest state and district education leaders finds that improving curriculum is a powerful, but underutilized strategy for school improvement. Curriculum has long been a third rail in U.S. education policy, dismissed by policymakers despite related, highly visible efforts to develop college- and career-ready standards, aligned assessments, Read more about Hiding in Plain Sight: Leveraging Curriculum to Improve Student Learning[…]
The Education Commission of the States recently released Beyond the Core: Advancing Student Success through the Arts. This Education Trends report explores research on how the arts bolster the development of deeper learning skills, provides examples of programs that successfully increased access to the arts in education in public schools, and includes state- and local-level Read more about Advancing Student Success through the Arts[…]
Matt Barnum of The 74 recently reviewed research on the importance of curricular materials for student achievement. Excerpts from his article appear below: The idea that schools can get better simply by improving the content of what they teach may seem at once novel and obvious in an education policy debate dominated by heated battles Read more about New Studies Suggest Choice of Curriculum and Textbooks Can Make a Big Difference for Students[…]
A new report by Ross Wiener and Susan Pimentel of the Aspen Institute makes the case for integrating curriculum into professional learning so teachers can focus on creating engaging learning environments, responding to the needs of their students, and continuously improving their craft. Practice What You Teach: Connecting Curriculum and Professional Learning in Schools highlights Read more about Practice What You Teach: Connecting Curriculum and Professional Learning in Schools[…]
In Education Week’s Top Performer’s blog, Marc Tuker recently reflected on the gap between typical American practice and global best practice when it comes to college and career readiness. Below are excerpts from the post: In top-performing education systems, qualifications systems are designed so that at the end of each stage of a student’s progression Read more about Accountability, College & Career Readiness: Is This the Best We Can Do?[…]
Recently, Emily Leibtag of Getting Smart reviewed a new book by Sargy Letuchy, a high school educator from Chicago. The Visual Edge: Graphic Organizers For Standards Based Learning is a compilation of innovative visual instructional tools designed for each Common Core standard, grades 6-12 in the following areas: Reading and Informational Text Reading Literature Text Read more about The Visual Edge[…]
With the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states will now have greater control and increased opportunities when developing plans that are customized and targeted to address the needs of their students. As ESSA includes expanded guidelines and objectives that are new from what many states are familiar with as part of previous Read more about ESSA’s Well-Rounded Education[…]
The What Works Clearinghouse, which identifies studies that provide credible and reliable evidence of intervention effectiveness, gives its highest rating of confidence only to randomized controlled trials (RCTs). But is an RCT the best way to provide useful information to consumers about complex interventions like curricula? In this American Enterprise Institute report, Alan Ginsburg and Read more about Do Randomized Controlled Trials Meet the ‘Gold Standard’?[…]
Dozens of schools around the U.S. are opting to ditch the traditional school structure altogether to motivate teens in new ways–and it seems to be working. They are using the Big Picture Learning model. Big Picture’s model is now used in more than 60 schools across the U.S. In Vermont, it’s also a precursor to a Read more about When Students Create their own Curriculum: The Big Picture Learning Model[…]
As more and more states have adopted Common Core in recent years, teachers have needed aligned materials and curriculum. Many schools and districts have evaluated traditional privately-created curriculum which claim to align with Common Core and have not liked what they found. As a result, some schools and districts are turning to options such as Read more about N.Y. ‘Open’ Education Effort Draws Users Nationwide[…]
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), in partnership with Creative Commons U.S., recently released a policy brief for state and district education leaders focused on strategies for equipping educators to effectively and legally navigate the use of digital content. The brief, Clarifying Ownership of Teacher-Created Digital Content Empowers Educators to Personalize Education, Address Individual Read more about Who Owns Teacher-Created Content?[…]
Lawmakers in the state of Wyoming recently became the first lawmakers in the country to block the education department of its state from implementing the new Next Generation Science Standards. This blog has written multiple pieces about the gradual adoption of NGSS, which 9 states and DC have already adopted. Before diving into the issue Read more about Wyoming Blocks new Science Standards[…]
LearnZillion.com offers a free and growing set of Math and English Language resources for grades 2-12 that have been developed by expert teachers (a.k.a, the “Dream Team”). The Premium product is a participatory curriculum used by schools, districts and states to build teacher leaders and accelerate the successful implementation of the Common Core. LearnZillion is Read more about Join LearnZillion’s 2014 Dream Team[…]