Archive
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EdTech
Louisiana Supt of Education Becomes Newest Member of Chiefs for Change
Chiefs for Change announced today that Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White is joining their coalition of bold reformers. This group of state education leaders provides a strong voice for student-centered reform that will increase student achievement and prepare students for success in colleges and careers.
Personalized Learning
10 Findings That Will Shape Students Today for the Workforce Tomorrow
In the worst economy since the Great Depression, Californians are struggling to earn a living, get an education, and raise a family. How will we adapt to learn, work, and connect in the future? A new book with findings from Apollo Research Institute describes how businesses and workers will compete for jobs and opportunities in a global, technology-driven marketplace.
EdTech
NewSchools Announces Early-Stage EdTech Fund to Accelerate Student Achievement
ewSchools Venture Fund today announced the creation of an Education Technology Seed Fund, a new initiative to invest in entrepreneurs developing education technology tools, applications, content, and services that will significantly improve education opportunities for children from low-income communities.
Personalized Learning
Strategic Collaboration Yields Great Options for All Students
School district and charter collaboration is obviously a good idea. When collaboration leads to strategic coordination, it has the potential to create a single portfolio of quality educational options. Jim Shelton and I wrote about this in a 2004 paper—Good Urban Schools: A Portfolio Approach—that still holds up pretty well.
Personalized Learning
Shift Your Classroom: Small Strategic Steps
For most of my teaching career, I’ve been a pretty traditional teacher (even now I slip back into that mode sometimes). However, as I went through the motions of trying to “teach” my students, something didn’t feel right. My students seemed to learn things only for the exam, were focused on the mark, not the learning that was supposed to be taking place. When the unit or semester was over, they dumped all their notes and assignments. Frustrating.
EdTech
Review: Encouraging Social Innovation Through Capital
In Encouraging Social Innovation Through Capital: Using Technology to Address Barriers Kim Smith, Bryan Hassel, and Julie Petersen explore how technology can help "steer capital toward the organizations and approaches that have the greatest impact." The paper is the fourth in a series on Innovation for the Public Good, sponsored by Rockefeller.
EdTech
New Report States Online Learning Is Two-Thirds the Cost
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute released today "The Costs of Online Learning," a report by Parthenon Group that estimates fulltime virtual and blended schools cost considerably less per pupil than traditional brick-and-mortar public schools. While costs vary within many of the models, on average, fulltime virtual schools cost up to a third less per pupil than conventional schools.
Leadership
Good Work: The Politics of Superintending
Personalities and strategies are part of a superintendent search, but hiring a superintendent is most often a political decision. And what I came to understand is that the job is inherently about winning hearts, minds, and ultimately votes—it is all about politics.
Personalized Learning
More State Control—And Why That’s A Good Thing
With the great unbundling of NCLB, control is being ceded back to states and they continue to aggregate control from districts. State leadership matters more than ever. Every state should have a Chief for Change like Huffman at the helm. Every state should have an RSD led by a proven operator like Barbic. Every state should have a robust authorizing shop with pathways for high performers, first timers, innovators, improvers and conversions.
Personalized Learning
Education Funding Should Promote Equity, Performance & Innovation
Kansas governor Brownback is proposing a new school funding formula that would let counties raise their local property taxes rates to spend more on schools. He's right that school funding needs an overhaul, but he's missing all of the key ingredients: school funding should be weighted, portable, and performance-based.