ESEA
Personalized Learning
Inflection Point
Fritjof Capra (systems thinker pre-Senge/Wheatley) said that we alway think that we're at some kind of tipping point--but this week really feels like an inflection.
EdTech
Reality Bites: Struggle to Convert Teacher Effectiveness Promises to Policies
If states can pass laws that increase the effective use of data in education, it would set the stage for an ESEA re-authorization that supports good teachers and builds a schools system we can trust.
Personalized Learning
Less Deliberation, More Leadership
Tom Vander Ark looks for signs of leadership in the newly formed Senate HELP Committee.
Personalized Learning
RTTT Phase Two Slog
We're not seeing a rush of significant new thinking in the effort to make up for Race to the Top Phase One shortfalls. What's next?
Personalized Learning
Flipping Florida: The New Employment Bargain
The only thing at stake is the future of American. Two big dramas involving teachers and testing are at play in education. My last post discussed the $350m federal grant program that is likely to lock in another decade of bubble sheet tests rather than a forward leaning framework open to the flood of keystroke data telling us more than we ever knew about achievement, motivation, and learning modality.
Personalized Learning
More Widgets, Fewer #2 Pencils
With last week's launch of the $350m federal grant program last week, National Journal is hosting a conversation about student assessment. Here's my contribution.
Personalized Learning
Why Great Teachers Matter to Low Income Students
"Consider the recent national math scores of fourth- and eighth-graders, which show startling differences among results for low-income African American students in different cities. In Boston, Charlotte, New York and Houston, these fourth-graders scored 20 to 30 points higher than students in the same socioeconomic group in Detroit, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia. Boston fourth-graders outscored those in Detroit by 33 points. Ten points approximates one year’s worth of learning on these national tests, which means that by fourth grade, poor African American children in Detroit are already three grades behind their peers in Boston."
Personalized Learning
i3 Reviews
Had five conversations about i3 in the last 24 hours: Three focused on applicant eligibility. There is a very high bar for applicants. Read this section carefully. It requires a very strong track record of student achievement with a couple exceptions for nonprofits producing results leading to achievement. Don’t apply…
Personalized Learning
Read Friedman on Start Ups
Please read Tom Friedman’s post on start ups. Here’s the most important sentences: Good-paying jobs don’t come from bailouts. They come from start-ups. And where do start-ups come from? They come from smart, creative, inspired risk-takers. How do we get more of those? There are only two…
EdTech
Rodel-Backed Plan Wins in DE
There were lots of people scratching their head about Delaware’s phase one Race to the Top win yesterday. It was not a last minute consultant generated application, it was the result of a decade of leadership from the Rodel Foundation–one guy that leveraged a small checkbook and a lot of…