Archive
element:whats-next
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…
Step Function Improvement
As the learning revolution matures, it is likely to be turbocharged by lessons about the neuropsychology of learning and motivation. I don’t think we know much about this and don’t use what we know very effectively, but we are likely to learn far more than we know in the coming decade.
Entrepreneur Thinking: What It Is, What It Ain't
My superintendent in the East Village apartment I rent would like me to believe that his solution for the cracks around the somewhat faulty plumbing in my bathroom ceiling and wall is entrepreneurial in its deployment and conceptualization. It most certainly is not. It is not Entrepreneur Thinking to “patch”…
Good Urban Schools: A Portfolio Approach
This paper, first written in 2004 with Jim Shelton, is one of the first descriptions of the portfolio approach to urban education.
Airplane i3 Comments
The biggest change for the most people in i3 regs released about 12 hours ago is the requirement for a full app for Development Grants (25 pages with attachments instead of the 4-5 page short form). The second most important change is a tweak to the 20% match section…
Coming to Certainty
I enjoy spending time with entrepreneurs that have synthesized the world, spotted an opportunity, and are pursuing it with mission-focused passion. Their level of certainty creates the persistence necessary to introduce a new solution. It makes me smile (and sometimes cringe) to listen to excited pitches of young people with…
Thoughts for Charter School Authorizers
Dear Charter Authorizers, 1. Some of you are becoming school districts–bureaucratic and directive. What happened to ‘autonomy for accountability’? Reading some of your renewal reviews, it’s like having a boss all over again. 2. Timelines are so long and apps are so big and expensive to prepare,…
Advice to a New Foundation
Launching a new foundation is about the most interesting work in the world. It’s a distinct privilege and a challenge. The most basic question is the extent to which you want to meet current needs or improve future conditions—charity or impact investing. They are both important but suggest very…
The Great Inflection & what it means for Edu-Philanthropy
We’re at a turning point. Thirty years ago, Fritjof Capra, who paved the systems thinking pathway for Senge and Wheatley, warned that mankind always sees itself at a turning point. But this time it’s really true. Expanded access to broadband, cheap…