EdPolicy
EdTech
We Need More Launching Pad Politics
This country is stuck in disingenuous debate fueled by superpac superficiality. There are great examples of launching pads around the country. It would be great if, rather than mudslinging, we saw more launch pad politics.
Personalized Learning
The Trouble With Views On Online Education
Recently, I read with interest an opinion piece in the New York Times by Mark Edmundson touting “The Trouble with Online Education.” It just so happens that after nearly three decades of face-to-face classroom teaching (including at the college level) and a handful of years experimenting with “blended” courses to varying degrees, I have begun teaching a fully online course for the first time this Summer. So, naturally, the title of Professor Edmundson’s piece piqued my interest.
Leadership
Playing the Teacher Evaluation Game – A Race to Nowhere
For the past two years, the Department of Education, state departments of education and education foundations have proffered “teacher effectiveness” initiatives focused on evaluation systems, but none has truly moved the needle when it comes to closing the student achievement gap. Are evaluation systems the answer to poor academic achievement in the classroom?
EdTech
News Corp. Unveils Amplify For K-12 Digital Innovation
New Corporation Education's Division today launched Amplify, a new business dedicated to reimagining K-12 education by creating digital products and services that empower students, teachers and parents in new ways, said Joel Klein, an executive vice president at News Corp.
Personalized Learning
Second $100k Hewlett Prize Takes on Short Answer Challenge
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is sponsoring the Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP) to improve the quality of student assessment in America and, as a result, increase the quantity and quality of student writing.
Leadership
Staff Picks: Opportunity Gap, Resilience & Learning Apps
Karen and Carri Pick “The Education Response to the Opportunity Gap” Karen says, “There’s still lots of work to do to improve the opportunity gap. I really appreciate all of the groups mentioned here. Not time to slow down on equity.” Carri says, “Tom does a great…
Personalized Learning
Free School Reforms in Sweden Boost Quality, Innovation, and Choice
Barbara Bergstrom takes a look at "free school reform" in Sweden and its effects on the classroom. She shares critical observations around quality and reputation, looking at the Swedish Knowledge Schools as a primary case study.
Personalized Learning
Online Learning Studies Must Evaluate Individual Student Trajectories
The “gotcha” research on charter schools and innovation continues, with the latest aimed at K12 Inc.’s online schools. There are plenty of important policy and oversight research questions around the performance of charter schools and online schools, but unsupported claims like the latest from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) are frustrating and unproductive.
Personalized Learning
The Education Response to the Opportunity Gap
Robert Putnam's data is really disturbing. The Harvard sociologist is at it again. Like Bowling Alone, Putnam's new data (discussed recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival) suggests the opportunity gap is widening. More than race and poverty, class and a lack of social mobility are widening gaps that reduce opportunity.
Personalized Learning
What the PGA Can Teach Us About Value-Added Modeling
Value-added modeling, or VAM, is an analogous method of attempting to gauge teacher effectiveness. Technically, SGP is most similar to a variation of VAM known as Student Growth Percentiles (we’ll distinguish the two as SGPGolf and SGPEd). Like SGPGolf and unlike more traditional VAMs, SGPEd does not attempt to explicitly account for the myriad drivers of results such as peer effects, poverty, gang involvement, or home life.