Topic: Educational Change
Creating a Personalized Learning Experience
At Santa Rita Elementary School in Los Altos, Calif., a scene unfolded in 2010 not too different from scenes in schools around the country. A fifth-grade student, Jack, started the year at the bottom of his class in math. He struggled to keep up and considered himself one of those... Read the full article >
The Unique Policy Opportunities Afforded by Today’s Funding Challenges
As the nation continues to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression, it is becoming abundantly clear that the funding levels of our nation’s schools are not going to return to pre-recession levels. This funding crisis presents an unprecedented opportunity to recreate the current K-12 landscape. The impact... Read the full article >
Building Personalized Learning Environments
The idea of creating environments that are learner-centered sounds attractive. However, developing a culture around learners and building systems to support learner-centered environments takes time and a process. Most teachers join the teaching profession to make a difference in children’s lives. Then reality sets in with their daily practices when... Read the full article >
Beyond Numbers and Letters: The Need for a Balanced Approach to Prepare Students Pre-K and Up
The national conversation about K-12 education today seems to revolve around the holy grails of math and reading achievement. Schools are held accountable and graded by students’ test scores, and more and more classroom time is dedicated to drilling square roots and vocabulary, even as art and music programs fall... Read the full article >
Staying in Touch with Societal Trends: Getting Students Ready for a Fast-Changing World
“Sustainability” is the word du jour. Unbelievably, some people still define “being sustainable” as “successfully defending the status quo.” To borrow alliteration from Thomas Jefferson, that is an idea that “never was and never will be” truly sustainable. The question is not, “When will things get back to normal?” Instead,... Read the full article >
Suggested Reading
A Survey of Educational Change Models. ERIC Digest. James B. Ellsworth A collection of change model frameworks, solidly grounded in empirical studies and practical applications. A small group of studies from disciplines outside educational change (in some cases outside education) also contribute to key concepts. Educational Change? What the Research... Read the full article >