Using Classroom Simulators to Transform Teacher Preparation

Posted on February 10, 2022February 6, 2022 by coreeducation

A new piece from the Brown Center Chalkboard reviews innovations in teacher preparation taking place at the University of Virginia that make the most of classroom simulators. Excerpts appear below: In teacher preparation, simulated practice is designed to complement—not to replace—student-placement experiences. However, it also has the potential to powerfully address “experience gaps” that we Read more about Using Classroom Simulators to Transform Teacher Preparation[…]

Transforming Education into a Learning System

Posted on January 21, 2021January 16, 2021 by coreeducation

Every day, educators, advocates, and families strive to ensure that our schools prepare all students to excel academically and thrive in life. To realize that ambitious goal, we must ensure that our education sector functions at all levels as a learning system. Too often, though, a culture of compliance and a desire to preserve the Read more about Transforming Education into a Learning System[…]

Thinking About Classroom Practice: Five Ideas for Education Reformers

Posted on February 21, 2019March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Recently in Fordham’s Flypaper, Robert Pondiscio reflected a new direction for education reform: a focus on instructional practice. He writes: Shifting ed reform’s focus to improving practice is an acknowledgment that underperformance is not a failure of will, but a lack of capacity. It’s a talent-development and human capital-strategy, not an accountability play. Forcing changes Read more about Thinking About Classroom Practice: Five Ideas for Education Reformers[…]

States Fall Short in Plans to Address Major Inequalities for Vulnerable Students

Posted on December 8, 2017March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently completed an analysis of what each of the 50 states intends to do to provide a more equitable education to all students, as described in their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans. The analysis from NCTQ highlight strengths and opportunities, ultimately demonstrating that most states are not Read more about States Fall Short in Plans to Address Major Inequalities for Vulnerable Students[…]

The ‘A’ Word: Accountability – The Dirty Word of Today’s Education Reform

Posted on November 27, 2017November 26, 2017 by coreeducation

Throughout this year, the Bush Institute has interviewed education leaders at length about what school accountability means to them. The result is the launch of The “A” Word: Accountability–The Dirty Word of Education Reform. Throughout this interview series, recognized leaders identify why accountability practices matter and how they have used them. They also provide an Read more about The ‘A’ Word: Accountability – The Dirty Word of Today’s Education Reform[…]

State School Chiefs Offer ‘Playbook’ on Improving Teacher Preparation

Posted on October 16, 2017October 12, 2017 by coreeducation

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has released Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States, a playbook offering specific steps states can take to improve educator preparation. In 2012, CCSSO released Our Responsibility, Our Promise, boldly challenging state education leaders to raise expectations and strengthen policies to better prepare teachers before they Read more about State School Chiefs Offer ‘Playbook’ on Improving Teacher Preparation[…]

State Policy & K-12 Competency-Based Education

Posted on September 27, 2017March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

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[…]

Building and Supporting Improvers

Posted on June 28, 2017June 25, 2017 by coreeducation

In the Carnegie Commons blog, authors Jennifer Russell and Maggie Hannan explore how Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) can build educators’ capacity to use improvement science to learn from practice. Improvement science offers methods to guide disciplined inquiries that generate knowledge to improve practice. Improvement research—the inquiry processes that lie at its core—provides a set of Read more about Building and Supporting Improvers[…]

How DC Schools Are Revolutionizing Teaching

Posted on June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 by coreeducation

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[…]

New Studies Suggest Choice of Curriculum and Textbooks Can Make a Big Difference for Students

Posted on May 24, 2017March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

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[…]

Promising Leadership Practices for Rapid School Improvement That Lasts

Posted on April 26, 2017April 22, 2017 by coreeducation

A new report from the Center on School Turnaround presents promising practices for how to sustain the advances made in schools that have demonstrated rapid improvement. The practices presented are derived from a comprehensive review of relevant literature, and from the experience of five school principals who not only facilitated school turnaround but also sustained Read more about Promising Leadership Practices for Rapid School Improvement That Lasts[…]

Most Likely to Succeed

Posted on July 1, 2016September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

David Brooks, an op-ed writer for the New York Times, examines the new documentary, Most Likely to Succeed and analyzes the claims it makes about the current state of the American Education system: Greg Whiteley’s documentary, Most Likely to Succeed, argues that the American school system is ultimately built on a Prussian model designed over Read more about Most Likely to Succeed[…]

When Top Students Drop: Why Even Good Schools Need to Grow

Posted on February 18, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Over a the past several months Real Clear Education has been spotlighting schools and teachers participating in the Opportunity Culture initiative, a movement launched in 2011 by education policy and consulting firm Public Impact. Opportunity Culture models are aimed at improving the quality of education by extending the reach of excellent teachers and their teams, encouraging teacher Read more about When Top Students Drop: Why Even Good Schools Need to Grow[…]

When Students Create their own Curriculum: The Big Picture Learning Model

Posted on February 5, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

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[…]

CAPSS Releases Proposal to Transform Connecticut’s Education System

Posted on January 5, 2012April 25, 2012 by coreeducation

The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) released a sweeping proposal last month to transform the state’s education system to better “place the ‘learner’ at the center of all strategy and action.” CAPSS identifies a set of complex problems, such as international and racial achievement gaps, low levels of student engagement and motivation, limited Read more about CAPSS Releases Proposal to Transform Connecticut’s Education System[…]

Dangerous Mind Games Are We Ready to Overhaul the Teaching Profession?

Posted on July 14, 2011April 26, 2012 by coreeducation

In an article in the most recent edition of Education Outlook, Fairfax County Schools Superintendant Jack Dale shares his vision for the “21st century teacher-leader.” He claims the current system of negotiated contracts, 10-month work, various pay schemes, etc. are moving the teaching profession “toward an hourly, blue-collar, piecemeal work paradigm.” We need to stop Read more about Dangerous Mind Games Are We Ready to Overhaul the Teaching Profession?[…]