Leadership
Content that enables educators, edleaders, organizations and families to increase capacity, apply a growth mindset and implement what’s next in learning on behalf of those entrusted to them.
Smart Cities: San Diego
Running the San Diego County Office of Education seems pretty tame after tours of duty as state administrator in Oakland and Compton, but Randy Ward argues that county offices are more relevant than ever. With half a million kids and 42 districts there’s plenty to worry about.
JFF Reports on Competency-Based & Blended Learning
Job's For The Future is a Boston-based intermediary and policy design shop. Since Hilary Pennington opened the place two decades ago they've been advancing the sector with great papers and direct support to partners.
7 Ways States & Districts Can Use Authorizing to Boost Quality & Innovation
Performance contracting is a services agreement with clear outcomes. States and districts have been using performance contracts for public charter schools, private school special education placements, information and business services, and for energy efficiency partnerships.
Writing Across the Curriculum With The Literacy Design Collaborative
The Literacy Design Collaborative is a network of teachers and partners “building out a template-based approach to the literacy demands of college and the workplace, as defined by the Common Core State Standards.” The concept is to give teachers tools (mostly offline but soon to be online) that enable them to transform the Common Core into classroom action by giving teacher the literacy resources to build student’s college ready literacy skills through their existing content lens.
Prototyping Education as a Platform
I wish school were different for my children. As a mom living in a school district with excellent schools, high test scores and property values, research-based practices, and warm, thoughtful educators who care about my kids you would think I would be satisfied. But like generations of parents before me, I want more for my kids than what I had.
States Report Challenges in Their Race to the Top
Last week, the Department of Education released reports for 12 Race to the Top grantees, detailing their progress (or lack thereof) on transforming education at the local level. The reports highlight the second-year work and accomplishments and challenges of implementing new information systems and the required tougher evaluation systems and related collective bargaining agreements.
US ED Reports on Grit, Tenacity & Perseverance
The U.S Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) posted a report for public comment: Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century. The report examines factors that can promote students’ capacity to strive for and succeed at fulfilling long-term and higher-order goals and persist in the…
D.H. Lawrence: The Best of School
D.H. Lawrence learned first hand of the joys and frustrations of teaching in a school for boys. His poem The Best of School captures the thrill of watching puzzled looks turn into the satisfaction of learning. Lawrence reflects, “their thrills are mine.”
Second Annual National Digital Learning Day Attracts Record Number of Participants
Signifying the growing importance and demand for digital learning strategies in the classroom, nearly 25,000 teachers, millions of students, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, and U.S. Representative George Miller (D-CA), are joining the Alliance for Excellent Education tomorrow, February 6, for the second annual Digital Learning Day. Digital Learning Day is a national campaign that promotes digital learning and spotlights successful instructional technology practice in K–12 public school classrooms across the country.
From Batch Print to Show What You Know
The shift from print to digital is a big deal, but in many ways the shift from cohorts to competency is the more profound transformation underway in education.