K–12 value networks: The hidden forces that help or hinder learner-centered education

Posted on March 30, 2023March 27, 2023 by coreeducation

The conventional model of schooling is outdated and overdue for replacement. As learners make their way through high school, survey results show that close to 66% end up disengaged. Those who successfully navigate the system gain a narrow set of academic skills that may or may not align with their individual needs, interests, and strengths. Read more about K–12 value networks: The hidden forces that help or hinder learner-centered education[…]

Creativity From Necessity: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders to Address Teacher Shortages

Posted on March 16, 2023March 13, 2023 by coreeducation

Many schools have encountered new struggles recruiting and retaining enough teachers over the last few years — and many face chronic staffing challenges that long predate the pandemic. To help address these challenges, Bellwether scanned the country for ideas and resources to create Creativity From Necessity: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders to Address Teacher Shortages. Read more about Creativity From Necessity: A Practical Toolkit for Leaders to Address Teacher Shortages[…]

Coaching Improvement Resources

Posted on January 19, 2023January 16, 2023 by coreeducation

When told with the perspective of hindsight, many improvement stories can seem relatively clear and straightforward– a team isolates a problem, does some tests, learns some things, and a few iterations later, they’ve made progress. In practice, however, applying improvement science principles, tools, and methods to solve a problem in an educational context can be Read more about Coaching Improvement Resources[…]

ESSER Hold’em for Districts

Posted on November 10, 2022November 7, 2022 by coreeducation

Released by ERS, ESSER Hold’em is a modified version of Budget Hold’em for Districts that helps districts plan, focus investments, and navigate tradeoffs in spending ESSER dollars among the 5 Power Strategies that have been identified. These five strategies address critical student needs now and lay a sustainable foundation for lasting improvement. The game will Read more about ESSER Hold’em for Districts[…]

Living Improvement: Resources from the 2021 Carnegie Summit

Posted on October 18, 2022October 17, 2022 by coreeducation

Since 2014, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has hosted the annual Summit on Improvement in Education. It is a key moment where individual practitioners and teams from schools, districts and charter school organizations, institutions of higher education, and intermediaries come together to learn and connect with fellow improvers in the field. In Read more about Living Improvement: Resources from the 2021 Carnegie Summit[…]

Partnering to Scale Instructional Improvement: A Framework for Organizing Research-Practice Partnerships

Posted on August 18, 2022July 31, 2022 by coreeducation

For decades, researchers and educators alike have been caught in waves of reforms that sought to change the quality of teaching and learning at scale. The press to make instruction more engaging has been amplified by calls to make our educational systems more effective and equitable. While progress has been made in identifying practices and Read more about Partnering to Scale Instructional Improvement: A Framework for Organizing Research-Practice Partnerships[…]

Data matters, but only if it leads to effective teaching action

Posted on April 28, 2022April 26, 2022 by coreeducation

Recently, The Hechinger Report published an article that reviewed research showing that data analysis has not significantly improved student outcomes since the No Child Left Behind Act ramped up national data collection. Data — even high quality data— is of no value if it isn’t used effectively. In a response piece, Chris Minnich explains that Read more about Data matters, but only if it leads to effective teaching action[…]

Continuous Improvement in Education Settings: A Literature Review

Posted on April 27, 2022April 26, 2022 by coreeducation

Over the last decade, educators have become increasingly interested in continuous improvement (CI) as a strategy for reform. CI requires practitioners to engage in iterative cycles of inquiry by defining local problems of practice, testing potential interventions, studying the results, and improving upon those interventions. This method of improvement stands in contrast to approaches focused Read more about Continuous Improvement in Education Settings: A Literature Review[…]

Transforming Education into a Learning System: Reflections on the Pandemic

Posted on February 9, 2022February 6, 2022 by coreeducation

In a new brief, Carnegie Corporation of New York and EducationCounsel explore how the American education system responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying gaps (missed opportunities and systemic shortcomings that deepened the challenges our schools faced) and bright spots (existing and new efforts where learning system approaches supported more effective action). Drawing on those lessons, Read more about Transforming Education into a Learning System: Reflections on the Pandemic[…]

Time to Lead: An Illustrative Look at how Elementary School Principals Spend their Workweek

Posted on November 2, 2021October 29, 2021 by coreeducation

Principals can improve their teachers’ classroom practice, either directly or indirectly by arranging resources, to support improvement. However, there is limited information about how principals spend their time. A snapshot from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) provides insights on workday time allocations for principals in 100 schools. Key findings in the snapshot include the Read more about Time to Lead: An Illustrative Look at how Elementary School Principals Spend their Workweek[…]

Continuous Improvement in Schools Workbook

Posted on October 27, 2021October 25, 2021 by coreeducation

The COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on students from historically marginalized communities underscore the value of continuous improvement (CI) as a framework for understanding the depth of unfinished learning and responding to it in an urgent, data-driven, and adaptive manner. Working alongside school-based teams, Bellwether has developed a refined and balanced approach to the Read more about Continuous Improvement in Schools Workbook[…]

The K–12 Improvement Imperative

Posted on May 11, 2021May 9, 2021 by coreeducation

Writing for the Christensen Institute, authors Thomas Arnett and Bob Moesta present the findings of a study designed to help the proponents of continuous improvement approaches better understand how context shapes choices about how to improve. Every principal and superintendent accepts their role knowing that they will be expected to make their schools better. For Read more about The K–12 Improvement Imperative[…]

REL West Resources on Independent Learning

Posted on March 30, 2021March 29, 2021 by coreeducation

During the current COVID-19 global health crisis and shift to distance learning, students are being asked to do more independent work—reading, writing, and problem solving—outside of their time in class. School and district leaders in the West have expressed a need for teachers to have access to user-friendly, research-based guidance on effective ways to design Read more about REL West Resources on Independent Learning[…]

Study Finds that Habit Formation Could Block Teacher Improvement

Posted on February 16, 2021February 14, 2021 by coreeducation

For teachers, the development of habits is a necessary concession to the unpredictable nature of their job. Morning assignments, class transitions, even behavior management need to be governed by routines that are as predictable for kids as they are effective for adults. But according to new research, these habits may be responsible for the slowing Read more about Study Finds that Habit Formation Could Block Teacher Improvement[…]

Apprenticeship Programs Are Rapidly Growing in New Industries

Posted on May 13, 2020May 11, 2020 by coreeducation

Between 2013 and 2018, the number of apprenticeship programs in the U.S. more than doubled, and the U.S. Department of Labor reports that the return on investment of apprenticeship programs is 147%. Although apprenticeships have long been viewed as for blue-collar industries, tech companies and small businesses in a variety of industries are increasingly adopting Read more about Apprenticeship Programs Are Rapidly Growing in New Industries[…]

Imparting Wisdom: HBCU Lessons for K-12 Education

Posted on March 19, 2020March 16, 2020 by coreeducation

UNCF has released a new report, Imparting Wisdom: HBCU Lessons for K-12 Education, which details historically black colleges and universities’ (HBCUs) longstanding efforts to provide quality educational experiences for their students and how their success may be translated in K-12 schools. For decades, public education has implemented reforms specifically targeting students of color, but the Read more about Imparting Wisdom: HBCU Lessons for K-12 Education[…]