Topic: Educational Change
Redesigning Teacher Preparation Today for the Classrooms of Tomorrow
Seemingly everything about our schools is changing as America shifts from a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, information economy–demographics, technology, curriculum, standards and testing. The skills and knowledge students need, as they compete for jobs with peers from around the world, have risen to the highest levels... Read the full article >
CEO Message: Who is Accountable for Student Success?
When discussing education today, it’s difficult to escape the topic of accountability. Educators and legislators alike have perspectives and priorities regarding accountability – from how to change the current system, to teacher evaluations, to measuring student achievement and to who is accountable when a school fails to meet the educational... Read the full article >
Surviving the New Age of Accountability
The first day of school for the Wickenburg Unified School District was August 8th – August 8th at 8:00 a.m., to be specific. At precisely 8:10 a.m., during a record heat wave in Arizona, the air conditioning units in Wickenburg High School went down. On the same day, we enrolled... Read the full article >
Reinventing the Report Card
A “perfect storm” is accelerating the pace of change in education at both the K-12 and higher education levels. Stimulated by technologies that are ever more powerful, more available and less expensive, as well as new standards, global competition, increasing costs, more and better data on student learning and other... Read the full article >
Defining Learner Success in the Digital Age
According to Buckminster Fuller (1981), who first identified the “Knowledge Doubling Curve” and is recognized for the invention of the geodesic dome, human knowledge doubled approximately every century until around 1900, but by the end of World War II was doubling every 25 years. Although the growth of knowledge may... Read the full article >
Getting Students Ready for a Fast-Changing World
We will not be able to simply ride our way into the future. We’ll have to invent our way into the future. As we moved headlong into the Great Recession, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, declared, “The economic crisis doesn’t represent a cycle. It represents a reset. It’s an... Read the full article >
How World of Warcraft Saved Me and My Education
I am not a teacher, administrator, instructional specialist or assessment expert. I am a student; one of the least heard voices in the education reform movement, though it is a movement that has been forged for the sake of my generation and those following. As a student, I can share... Read the full article >
It’s not Complicated — But it’s Seriously Difficult
Given the highly favorable reviews and rave blurbs from such diverse figures as former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, one might think that Angela Ripley’s new book on education around the world, The Smartest Kids in the World, offers surprising... Read the full article >
Learning that Connects
When my daughter was a sophomore in high school and was having a rough week at school, struggling to get through her accelerated academic work, she decided to stay off Tumblr for a week. She’s pretty active on Tumblr, her social media platform of choice. When she tells me her... Read the full article >
“You Say You Want a Revolution”
John Lennon’s immortal words apply to our quest to redesign America’s education system. One that is better for all stakeholders, especially our students. Our challenge: How do we extract ourselves from this century plus, time-based dinosaur of a public education system that we find ourselves stuck in? I had a... Read the full article >