Posts by Guest Author
The Benefits of Blogging as a Learning Tool, Part 1
Helping students with their future professional prospects should be a pretty strong argument in favor of bringing blogging into the classroom, but blogging offers a number of added benefits to the learning process.
Knowing The Score: Actionable Assessment from Student Writing
The challenge is finding ways to obtain meaningful data from these types of performances, and much of my focus has been on automatically extracting information from students’ writing.
4 Frighteningly Ambitious Education Experiments for 2014.
“It is isn’t rocket science, its just hard work.” Well, guess what? Our kids need us to build them some rockets. The 100-year old school model we all keep accepting as our canvas is not what kids need.
Designing Inquiry-Based PLCs to Differentiate Instruction and Drive School-Wide Improvement
Schools that establish inquiry-based PLCs for the specific purpose of looking at student data to inform curriculum, instruction, and intervention are having the most success.
Competency Education: The Solution to Retention
As we turn the corner in designing new learning systems, the notion of considering retention can now be safely set aside. In a competency based learning system, no child is retained. It is as simple as that. Why?
Research Reveals Why Students Need Field Trips
This study confirms the significance educational programs offered by art museums and cultural institutions have in our students’ educational outcomes. In a time when many districts are scaling back on field trips due to budgetary constraints or to fear that the time spent on a field trip is time lost in “seat time,” this research helps to advocate for learning outside the traditional school setting.
Why Measuring Student Growth Matters Now More than Ever
How can we ensure that teachers have the tools they need to be successful and that students are supported as learners?
Alumni Engagement and the Spirit of the Season
It’s about caring about each other, comforting one another, and embracing our common mission. In the words of our founder, College Summit “taps into the power of love” by giving our students something to love: themselves and each other.
Redefining What It Means to be a Successful School
A quick look down the “successful” and “highly successful” columns and it becomes clear that we set the bar pretty high. It’s also important to note that we believe successful school systems strive to achieve these outcomes for every student.
The Power of Student Work
The Common Core, however, will necessarily generate thousands of examples of high quality student work. If we are able to share these examples, teachers, students and parents will be able to see what both “off” and “on goal” work looks like.