PTO: could Preferred Teacher Org provide blended services?
For years, Ted Kolderie has been talking about teacher ownership. After writing the nation’s first charter law in MN in 1991, Ted helped teacher in Henderson set up a coop and apply for a charter. Ted thinks educations should have a variety of professional options like doctors, lawyers, and…
Homework: play a game
eSchool News ran a fairly extensive piece on serious games. Here’s a few excerpts: Moving Learning Games Forward: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Openness,” by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen of the Education Arcade, an MIT research division that explores games that promote learning through play,…
Learning a la carte (and how to make it coherent)
Rick Hess has laid out a market-friendly education agenda at American Enterprise Institute, something I appreciate, and recently hosted a form on the demand side of quality education. I participated on a panel; everyone else wrote a paper; I got off easy as ‘discussant’. Kim Smith, founder of…
There is no Frigate like a Book
Robert Weisbuch, president of Drew University, and a big fan of poetry. Someday I’ll join him at the Dodge Poetry Festival. A few years ago he sent me this Emily Dickinson poem: There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away…
Charters show the way forward
Given the US challenge of achieving quality at scale—the combination of equity and excellence—the most important innovation of the last decade is charter networks. Their success is undeniable. Their lessons are clear. Key elements include: clear goals and a strong college-bound no-excuses culture; data-driven instruction and performance-based employment; extended learning…
Feds propose to make it harder to fund start ups
There is little public or private investment in innovation. As pointed out this week, federal spending on edu-R&D is a fraction of what they do in other sectors. Private investors—angel, venture, and private equity—are also leery of a fragmented market that is difficult to penetrate. It’s difficult for edu-entrepreneurs…
A new twist to parent involvement–the 'reset' button
“Parent involvement” in education often means “make your kid behave” and “donate to the PTA.” Parent involvement is taking on a serious new role in Los Angles. If more than half of the parents of students in struggling demand change, educational options improve—charter schools are opened in their neighborhood, their…
KIPP has optimized the Standards v1.0 school
Standards and common assessments were introduced 15 years ago. KIPP took the expectations expressed by state tests seriously and made numerous process improvements to the old model of school. At the middle school I visited Monday, 100% of the Kipsters had passed the state math test. This KIPP school…
Edu-innovation requires investment and incentives
On Monday I attended an education technology conference—a few hundred people reviewing very simple education tools. On Wednesday I attended a military learning technology conference (I/ITSEC)—16,000 people experiencing sophisticated and realistic simulations of flying a fighter, piloting a battleship, and patrolling a village. US education and defense budgets are…
Brighter Choices in Albany
Spent an amazing day touring Brighter Choice schools in Albany–the best example of high charter market share and high quality. Brighter Choice serves about 25% of Albany public school students and that will grow to more than 40% as approved schools achieve full enrollment. Of particular note: Most of…