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Addressing the Placement Gateway With Diagnostics & Instruction
For many young people, placement exams are a hidden gateway in the system. Students often assume that with a high school diploma they can walk on to a community college campus and start working on a degree but they flunk the placement exam and end up in non-credit developmental education courses. That spells the beginning of the end of college for many young people. But that placement trap is beginning to close as states make the exams and preparation available in high school.
Wikispaces For Designing Common Core Activities
Are you wondering where to begin to adopt the Common Core ELA standards? While there are many individual standards to sift through, it’s important to take a step back and look at the big picture to gain an understanding of the importance of the teacher’s role in designing learning experiences to facilitate a more active classroom that supports students as producers.
An Invaluable Addition to the DLN Smart Series “Data Backpacks”: APIP’s PNP
You might be scratching your head: APIP’s PNP? APIP stands for Accessible Portable Item Profile, which provides the technical framework to deliver digital content tailored to the specific accessibility needs of each student. PNP stands for Profile of Needs and Preferences, which captures those needs. You’re probably not familiar with APIP. Most people will never dig deeply into its technical guts, but they should know what it means for students: it can dramatically improve the educational experiences of so many students we are now short-changing - or worse.
What Proficiency-based Grading Means for Your Student
The new Standards-Based grading system currently used throughout the U.S. education system is significantly different from the letter-grade system that most parents grew up with. This system is designed to allow high-achieving students to progress more rapidly through the curriculum, and ensure that all students reach a certain lower bound of proficiency. Each student's level of achievement can be measured, and the over-all degree of learning advancement attained by the entire class can also be more accurately determined.
Avoid Hit-or-Miss Professional Development
As a former principal and curriculum director, I can easily tell the difference between good and bad professional development. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have had my hand in delivering some poor quality events in my career. Some of my colleagues refer to past trainings as a “spray and pray” approach to learning something.
Infographic: What Is College Readiness?
The demands of colleges and careers have changed over the last several years. There's an increase need of technological skills that may include coding, cyber security, IT, and design. In addition, fluency in ready, writing, and critical thinking is as important as ever. College admissions and employers are saying that the typical student today is coming into college and the workforce with deficits in their knowledge and skills. So, what does it mean to be ready for college today?
Q&A: It’s About Time For Proficiency-Based Learning
Diane Smith for the Business Education Compact (BEC) released "It's About Time: A Framework For Proficiency-Based Teaching & Learning" this year in response to a need expressed by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), which identifies the ways that eliminating seat time and moving toward proficiency-based teaching and learning can improve student achievement.
A New Approach to Developing Educational Leaders
Anyone thinking about building the pipeline of educational system heads has a new opportunity set. The explosion of anywhere/anytime learning resources suggests it's time to rethink the institutional time-bound cohort model of leadership development (as discussed in the " Learning Design Opportunity of our Time ").
Common Core: A Platform for Achievement & Innovation
We've tried to avoid presidential politics here, but some comments about the federal role in education this week (covered well by K-12 Politics ) suggested the need to reiterate the importance of common standards and the constructive role that the federal government and national organizations can play.
Good Work with a Loudspeaker
The Harlem and Williamsburg (Brooklyn) film festivals featured a trio of TEACHED shorts from Loudspeaker Films. Kelly Amis is former TFA teacher with serious edreform credentials now using film to build support for transformation and education equality.