Place Based Education
Smart Cities
This book and series was created from a two year investigation project launched to discover the civic formula required to dramatically boost learning outcomes and employability. For more visit our Smart Cities book page.
Ed Policy
Policymaking and Innovation Mindsets
By: Joanne Weiss. A policy environment that treats compliance as the "floor" below which we must not fall, but that sets its sights on enabling innovation to lift the "ceiling" for every student - that's the "holy grail" of education policy.
Ed Policy
U.S. Lags Behind in Social Progress
The report concludes that “the top three countries in the world in terms of social progress are New Zealand, Switzerland, and Iceland.”
Personalized Learning
Smart Cities: Detroit
Despite the odds, educational opportunity is on the rise. Armen Hratchian, Excellent Schools Detroit, notes that a group of 30 teachers and school leaders from across Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority (EAA), Cornerstone Charter Schools, Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), Detroit Public Schools (DPS), and WAY Academies meet monthly, tour each others’ schools, and learn together.
Ed Policy
Smart Cities: Phoenix
Openness to new ideas, smart impact investors, new school models, strong university presence, and a few high capacity districts suggests that Phoenix may be on the rise
Ed Policy
Smart Cities: New Orleans
Events like Mini Maker Faire prove that the future of school in New Orleans is a community effort - an effort by an entire city to invest in creativity, entrepreneurship, job creation in entire new industries, and the future of an entire city
EdTech
How Government Helps and Harms Entrepreneurs
Thirty years ago there were a couple dozen incubators, now there are a couple thousand; there's even an association. A dated survey suggests about one-third of business incubation programs are sponsored by economic development organizations, one fifth by cities or counties, another fifth by higher education.
Leadership
Building Innovation Partnerships
Guest Author: Greg Butler. We can no longer count on education systems to ‘fix’ education in isolation, the challenge will require multiple stakeholders working across organizational and sectorial boundaries to collaborate and innovate in continual inquiry based cycles of improvement.
Personalized Learning
Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Lots of folks are talking about grit, but perseverance and growth mindset as a goal can be disconnected from a sense of purpose. Entrepreneurial mindset, as described by the KEEN network, is a more productive way to describe the dispositions we should be helping young people develop.
Personalized Learning
Transforming Your City: A Collaborative Approach
Kristoffer Haines, Rocketship Education, led a fascinating discussion of collaborative urban education transformation on the last day of #SXSWedu.
Personalized Learning
Smart Cities: Los Angeles (part 2 of 2)
With new blends and more EdTech startups, things are heating up in the City of Angels. Catch Startup Weekend or one of the blended learning workshops.