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element:why

Leadership

Building College-Going Communities

Tom Vander Ark

Aug 19, 2013

In our search for schools that promote deeper learning, we found five networks propelling first generation students into and through college. They create a college bound expectation, back it up with counseling, develop an academic mindset, and track success.

Personalized Learning

Rebuilding Orderly Communities

Tom Vander Ark

Mar 13, 2012

Building great schools is a big challenge. Great schools can counter many of the crippling effects of poverty. However, rebuilding orderly communities is a critical parallel activity that we must take on. David Brooks recently argued that “Social repair requires sociological thinking,” and that “Building organizations and structures that…

Leadership

Good Work: Living in Community

Tom Vander Ark

Sep 11, 2011

You have been given a community to nurture and be nurtured by. -Rev. Mike McIntosh An anniversary like today makes me think about diverse communities living together. A few years back I went to a school board convention in San Francisco and on the way back to my hotel…

Leadership

Good Work: Night Climbing

Tom Vander Ark

Aug 20, 2011

Leadership is…establishing where a group of people should go, getting them lined up in that direction and committed to movement, and then energizing them to overcome the inevitable obstacles that they will encounter along the way.

Leadership

Good Work: Committing to Place

Tom Vander Ark

Aug 4, 2011

I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who stand in the line and haul in their places –March Piercy Early one July morning…

Leadership

Good Work: Committing to Place

Tom Vander Ark

Jul 31, 2011

I appreciate teachers and administrators that make a long term commitment to making a place better, to watching kids and a community mature, and to being part of the fabric of a community.

EdTech

The Road Ahead for Vegas

Getting Smart Staff

Jul 9, 2011

Former Colorado commissioner Dwight Jones took on a big new challenge as Clark County superintendent. He recently released A Look Ahead, a roadmap for improvement of Las Vegas schools.

Leadership

Good Work: Enough but not too much Challenge

Tom Vander Ark

Mar 27, 2011

Every job has its own unique challenges and rewards. The challenges are often self evident, but the rewards can be subtle, long-term, or indirect. Take time to remind yourself of the rewards that make the work worthwhile.

EdTech

Joel Klein's Last Memo, 12.21.10

Tom Vander Ark

Dec 23, 2010

Joel Klein's last weekly memo to principals. He leaves "a very different—and much better—school system."

Personalized Learning

All Means All

Tom Vander Ark

Jun 18, 2010

Celebrating a superintendent that taught a community that 'all means all'

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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