After an extensive organizational review, literature review and stakeholder listening sessions, Education Evolving has released its newly refined vision for student-centered learning. It involves the following seven principles: Positive Relationships – Students have relationships with adults and peers who care about, believe in, and hold them to high expectations Whole Child Needs – Students’ biological, Read more about Education Evolving Is Evolving[…]
In their new report, New Colleges of Education – A Path for Going from Concept to Reality, Education Reform Now (ERN) proposes that a new type of teacher education accreditor, not dependent on schools of education and their personnel but instead on the employers of graduates from schools of education and teacher preparation programs, should Read more about Teacher Education Reform Now[…]
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[…]
An iNACOL Issue Brief by Dale Frost and Maria Worthen provides an overview of competency-based education and offers state policy recommendations and resources for policymakers who are ready to enable and support competency-based education. Competency-based education is a next generation learning model that focuses on all students achieving mastery, preparing them for success in college, Read more about State Policy & K-12 Competency-Based Education[…]
A new AEI paper by Jonathan Wai and Frank C. Worrell, “Fully Developing the Potential of Academically Advanced Students: Helping Them Will Help Society” argues that gifted students are often left out of education reform conversations. In the $59.8 billion 2015 federal education budget, one dollar was spent on gifted and talented education for every Read more about Fully Developing the Potential of Academically Advanced Students[…]
When most people think of school reform in the District of Columbia, they probably remember the Time magazine cover photo of former Chancellor Michelle Rhee with a broom in her hand and a hard look on her face. In leading the school system from 2007 to 2010, she was the polarizing public image of a Read more about How DC Schools Are Revolutionizing Teaching[…]
State policy plays a critical role in determining whether and how well local education improvement strategies can be implemented. As states rework their education policies under ESSA, state and local leaders need a way to assess their current policy environment and identify the changes needed to encourage local innovation and problem solving. To identify the Read more about How States Can Promote Local Innovation, Options, and Problem-Solving in Public Education[…]
Andy Smarick, writing for AEI, has penned a piece on the shortcomings of efficiency as an educational goal. Excerpts from his article appear below: There are very good reasons to resist (or at least be skeptical of) efforts to drive “efficiency” in public education. One of the biggest reasons is that any attempt to maximize Read more about The Shortcomings of Efficiency in Education[…]
How best to reform K-12 education in America is the subject of passionate debate. Lagging test scores, dispiriting classroom environments, and growing fears about our nation’s international competitiveness have inspired a new cadre of reformers searching for ways to modernize and transform the US education system. At the same time, reform efforts-from Common Core and Read more about “Letters To A Young Education Reformer”[…]
Twelve states and the District of Columbia have submitted plans for implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. These states include Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Vermont. The U.S. Department of Education has already informed two of the states, Maine and Massachusetts, Read more about Key Takeaways: State Accountability Plans Under ESSA[…]
Stanley Pogrow has produced a paper concluding that most education research is of little value to people in schools. Research validating programs to develop the reading skills of students born into poverty, for example, validates programs that are not effective in practice, he says. Pogrow’s paper analyzes in easy-to-understand language the validity of the gold Read more about The Failure of the U.S. Education Research Establishment[…]
Manuelito Biag recently reflected on educational improvement in the Carnegie Commons Blog, arguing that improvement requires a user-centered strategy. Excerpts of the article appear below: In education, knowing what works, for whom, and under what conditions requires deep understanding of individuals — their needs, concerns, and motivations — as well as the contexts they inhabit. Read more about Improvement is a Team Sport[…]
Michael Petrilli, President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, recently suggested that 2017 can be the year we come back together again. Excerpts of his post in Fordham’s Flypaper appear below: Let me suggest three principles we should all try to adhere to—and what they could mean for education reform in the months ahead. The Read more about 2017: The year we could come back together again[…]
A new report from the Learning First Alliance, A New Philosophy on Education Decision-Making, calls for unique collaboration between governors and practitioners in K-12 policymaking. Governors and state education officials can provide direction to empower local leaders by supporting a collaborative decision-making system that brings a new relationship between policy and practice. The report Read more about Learning First Alliance Challenges Governors to Expand Collaboration with Educators[…]
Much will change in practice and policy as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaces the law, regulations, and guidance established through NCLB; but two elements of the new legislation stand out: the shift away from federal mandates toward greater state and local authority, and the emphasis on evidence-based school improvement practices. A new report Read more about ESSA’s Evidence-Based School Improvement[…]
Educators have gotten used to poring over spreadsheets filled with test scores to get a sense of their students’—and schools’—strengths and weaknesses. What they don’t often see is feedback from other teachers, administrators, and students who can offer a fresh perspective on where a school stands when it comes to instruction, resources, climate, financial efficiency, Read more about School Inspections Offer a Diagnostic Look at Quality[…]