EdPolicy

EdTech

Infographic: Student Access to Digital Learning Devices

Digital Learning Now! (DLN) today released “Funding the Shift to Digital Learning: Three Strategies for Funding Sustainable High-Access Environments,” the first in the DLN Smart Series of interactive papers that provide specific guidance regarding adoption of Common Core Standards and the shift to personal digital learning.

Personalized Learning

Portland Entrepreneur Innovates LEP High to Inspire Students’ Futures

100in100pdx is a Challenge to consult and coach with 100 Portland-based businesses in 100 days, while donating 50 percent of the fees to non-profits that plant and nurture the seeds of entrepreneurship. LEP High, the Leadership and Entrepreneurship charter high school in Portland, will be one of these non-profits and I had the pleasure of interviewing entrepreneur and co-founder, Adam Reid.

Personalized Learning

Something In Common: The Common Core Standards

Robert Rothman wrote the first definitive book on new national standards last year:Something in Common: The Common Core Standards and the Next Chapter in American Education. It provides a history of what, with new online assessments, will prove to frame the next decade of American education.

EdTech

Staff Picks: RTT-D, Digital Tools

Tom Picks “RTT-District: Scaling Personalizing Innovations“ Tom says, “The $383 million school district federal grant program  will help two dozen US districts make the shift to personal digital learning.” Karen Picks “20 Schools Innovating With Digital Tools” Karen says, “It is good to see the…

Personalized Learning

Big Data: Like Sunshine For Parents

Does school performance data really matter to parents? And does it facilitate parent-driven school accountability? As GreatSchools CEO Bill Jackson put it during his testimony before Congress in late 2011, “School performance data is like sunshine for parents. Parents need data to make good decisions about their children’s education.”

Ed Policy

Poverty: High on the Edu Agenda, Not a Campaign Issue

Frank McCaughey is a teacher in the Bronx where 80 percent of the students in his school live in or near poverty. Frank posted a blog today, “The Biggest Challenge I Face in my Classroom,” where he urged policy makers to take on “the devastation that extreme poverty…

Personalized Learning

Escalating Tuition Costs Aren’t in Anyone’s Best Interest

Colleges and universities provide a critical service to our society. However, institutions of higher education are also businesses. In our current economy, our attention is increasingly drawn to the business side of education. Rising costs, and a scarcity of funds to help those students who cannot afford them, are hurting our bottom lines – and those of many families across the country.

Personalized Learning

Texas Welcomes a New Disruptive Innovation & Vision: Prime Prep Academy

In a recent blog post titled “A Hope for Future Irrelevance,” Michael Horn reflects on a book which discusses the tenets of American teaching technique – including ensuring every student answers the critical questions of a lesson plan, answering the question of “What exactly do I want my students to master?” and choosing challenging curriculum. He posits the challenges a blended-learning environment, particularly infused with technology, will cause for these traditional techniques.