Place Based Education
Personalized Learning
Attacking the dropout crisis with 'restarts'
The National Journal topic this week was the drop out crisis. I think Secretary Duncan is right, we should improve/replace the worst schools in the country. This would quickly improve the drop out problem. The improvement in holding power of Locke High School after Green Dot took over is an…
Personalized Learning
The education bubble
Marketplace economics correspondent Chris Ferrell suggested that we’re nearing the end of an “education bubble” where college is not worth what families are spending. Ferrell suggested that the hyperinflation in higher ed costs is mainly because of widely available inexpensive student loans. Ferrell suggests that…
Personalized Learning
Online learning news & views
1. Met the management team of Provost last week and was impressed with their plans. They’re the first 2nd gen virtual provider that I know—they’re developing their content as learning objects with the ability to customize the curriculum for each learner by level and modality. Also…
Personalized Learning
The best school operators in the country
After spending two days with the best charter school operators in the country, I was impressed by three things: 1. Passion: the room was packed with smart hard working teachers, principals, and network leaders passionate about improving the life choices of low income and minority…
Personalized Learning
Charter heroes at Charter School Growth Fund
Charter heroes Mike Feinberg, Chris Barbic, and Ref Rodriguez participated on a Kevin Hall moderated kick off panel at a Charter School Growth Fund meeting in Denver. On the subject of growth: MF: Growth is a function of people quality not powerpoint quality CB:…
Personalized Learning
EdNet (and Chicago) reflections
With the biggest crowd ever, the mood at EdNet was much different than last year. There were lots of start-ups and more funders and investment bankers than ever. The agenda was all about digital learning (we may finally be moving past thinking about EdTech on the periphery and…
Personalized Learning
Improving college completion
There are some obvious strategies for improving college completion starting with improved preparation and a stronger college advising and support programs. Less obvious but perhaps most powerful would be improving completion incentives for colleges. They currently have perverse incentives to churn-and-burn underclassman. The lower division is…
Personalized Learning
What will be the ‘shipping container’ of Edu2.0?
Forty years ago the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted a standard size container and it revolutionized shipping—investment in common infrastructure went up and the cost of goods shipped went down. Wal-Mart and globalization happened. We need a digital content standard to launch the second…
Personalized Learning
What if Charles Murray is right?
Murray has made a career of the contrary. He just loves to piss people off and that can make it easy to miss or ignore important truth in his suppositions. AEI reviewed his newest book, Real Education, and outlined his four points: Ability varies…
Personalized Learning
Preparation is the new equity issue
The terminal indicator of the American achievement gap is the graduation gap and its cousin the college gap. African American and Hispanic students are twice as likely to drop out of high school than white students and less than half as likely to earn a college degree.