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. Â Brighter Choice serves about 25% of Albany public school students and that will grow to more than 40% as approved schools achieve full enrollment. Â Of particular note: Most of…
SIIA showcases edu-ventures
SIIA is holding their annual EdTech Summit today. Â Karen Billings kicked things off last night with a lighting round of presentations by education ventures–an interesting mixture of for-profit and non-profit organizations. Â The well attended session signals the growing interest from funders in education innovation and healthier market dynamics.
Racing to the top in Baton Rouge
Duncan’s Race to the Top is not simply a race to beat out other states for funding, or to pass “qualifying” language at the last minute, it is a competition to see who can work collaboratively and innovatively with real commitment to education reform. Â The challenge is so great…
In defense of the good school promise
While channel surfing on Thanksgiving morning, I found a school board association meeting where a famous prof was railing on standards and testing with lots of applause from the audience (in a state contemplating delaying college-ready math and science standards until 2015). I agreed with many of his assertions like…
10 biggest K-12 developments of 2010
Despite lagging state budgets, 2010 will be a year of great progress in American education. Here’s the 10 biggest developments of the year ahead: Race to the Top awards will be made in two phases to about 18 states and will set the standard for excellence in state policy. About…
UExcel: University credit by exam
I joined the Western Governor’s University board almost 10 years ago because I was enthusiastic about the idea of credits for competencies. Â More recently, I’ve been investigating pathways to US universities for international students. Â Given both of these interests, I was pleased to read about UExcel:…
The big switch to digital is on
Texas announced a massive English adoption of Pearson products–both print and digital. Â Pearson has been making a huge investment in curriculum development by making new Scott Foresman and Prentice Hall material available in both print and digital formats. Â It’s a big switch from the old days (like a year…
Great ConnCAN report unpacks CT's bizarre school funding
ConnCAN, the best state education advocacy organization in the country, continues to beat the drum for equity and excellence in Connecticut. The Tab is a hard hitting report on the bizarre state funding model that rewards failure rather than promoting accountability and school choice. Here’s summary recommendations:…
Fixation with Reliability
Compared to other OECD countries the US is fixated on reliability and cost in student assessment. Â Our friends across the pond value validity more than we do–can you imagine oral exams being proposed in the US? WaPo reviewed Todd Farley’s book My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry…