The college access formula
A local Rotary group adopted a high need school and asked me “What’s the formula for getting kids into college?” There are three complementary strategies that grant makers and reformers utilize in an attempt to improve college attendance and completion: 1. Academic preparation: students need to…
10 friends, clients, and portfolio companies that would make good philanthropic investments
1. Advance Innovative Education : alternative teacher and leader certification in Louisiana. Leader development is like NLNS but with entrepreneurship component with LSU B school. 2. Advance Path Academics : great drop-out prevention network. Districts could use small grants to promote adoption. AdvancePath retrofits…
Schools that foster innovation
In my first month as superintendent, Tacoma superintendent Rudy Crew told me to send my leadership team to Harvard to visit Tony Wagner. They came back and said, “there’s this guy who sounds like you, but we understand him.” For 15 years Tony has been a mentor and…
Rhode Island Mayoral Academies will be great!
Mike Magee comes from a political family. His brother Marc got his start at PPI and is now CCO of ConnCAN, the best state education advocacy organization. Mike tried to be an English prof, but the genetic pull and a local mayoral race dragged him into politics. After…
Candler's new schools making a difference in NOLA
When I visited New Orleans before Katrina, I saw third world schools—decrepit physical conditions, corrupt governance, and abysmal academic output. Based on my last few visits, I can report that some good has come out of the horrible tragedy of the hurricanes—New Orleans has the highest percentage of…
Even college grads should be employable.
The National Journal asked the question, “How can colleges help graduates pursue a career?” For college students not attending a highly selective university, the most valuable employment asset is work experience. Work and community-based learning should begin in high school. Three networks that do a particularly…
Parent engagement as innovation?
Advance Innovative Education, a Baton Rouge based human capital group, hosted an innovation panel discussion today as part of their alternative principal certification program. I came prepared to dive into adaptive content and the principal candidates wanted to talk about parents. Nearly all of the candidates work in…
UPenn Edu Entrepreneurship Conference
The UPenn GSE hosted a well attended conversation about education entrepreneurship today. About a dozen education CEOs, investment bankers, notable non-profit Executive Directors, and foundation executives joined Penn faculty members in a lively discussion of how to encourage entrepreneurship and the role that Penn can play.
Freecomonics in Education
Free stuff on the web is changing everything. The new ways we communicate with each other and the resources available are amazing. Can you imagine life without Google Maps? However, it often makes MBAs (like me) scratch their head wondering, “who pays for this?” Following the release…
Charter news & views
1. Arne Duncan is proving to be the most outspoken leader the charter sector has ever had (ok, we’ll have to exclude Howard Fuller, he’s in a category of his own). ABC News pits him against Gerald Bracey, who claims there’s no data for supporting charters—Bracey just…