Charter Schools

EdTech

Solutions to Charter Bottlenecks

Tom Vander Ark

Jul 17, 2011

The number of charter schools continues to expand nationally by about 500 school per year, but growth rates have been dampened by school district push back and the fiscal crisis.

EdTech

More urban school districts adopt portfolio reform strategy

Getting Smart Staff

Jun 29, 2011

Building a portfolio of options--new and improved schools--is the only viable strategy for vital urban education. It's a great strategy for leveraging community resources and targeting specific needs/geographies.

Personalized Learning

Charter Schools Model the Future

Tom Vander Ark

Jun 27, 2011

Charter schools are useful models of performance contracting, nonprofit school governance, and soon many will feature well designed blended learning programs.

Personalized Learning

Digital Learning Now for Charters

Tom Vander Ark

Jun 21, 2011

With less funding than traditional schools, charters have more incentive to find solutions that can boost achievement and reduce operating costs.

Personalized Learning

Charter Supporter Gather in Atlanta (of all places)

Tom Vander Ark

Jun 20, 2011

Georgia is an ironic place to be holding the national charter school conference given the recent state supreme court ruling that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was unconstitutional.

Personalized Learning

Carpe Diem: the best of school leadership and management

Tom Vander Ark

May 11, 2011

Carpe Diem uses an online learning system called e2020 for primary instructional delivery and it is a strong management and monitoring system.

Personalized Learning

Open High School

Tom Vander Ark

Feb 2, 2011

While in Utah, we visited Open High School, an innovative virtual charter school that has a commitment for using open education resources (OER) and different edtech tools to enhance the learning of their students.

EdTech

Chiefs to Watch

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 6, 2011

State chiefs to watch in the new year

Personalized Learning

Can Teachers Run Schools?

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 2, 2011

Edvisions pilots innovations in school governance, pedagogy, staffing, teacher evaluation, and student progress

Personalized Learning

We Made Some Progress: 2010 in Review

Tom Vander Ark

Dec 30, 2010

There are 5 great reforms: goals, time, choice, money and employment—we made progress on all 5 this year.

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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