The Source

Teacher accountability in the United States is in a period of transformation. In July 2012, the 26th state received an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Flexibility Waiver, marking relief for more than half of the states from many of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. In exchange,... Read the full article >

How can we realistically expect to transition away from a factory model of education when we’re still using factory measurements of success? Although historically students have been evaluated heavily based on their GPA and test scores, a 21st century education can no longer be measured by what begins and ends... Read the full article >

This article is a summary of Data Backpacks: Portable Records & Learner Profiles, one of the papers in the DLN Smart Series produced by Digital Learning Now! in partnership with ExcelinEd and Getting Smart. The series was created to provide specific guidance regarding adoption of Common Core State Standards and... Read the full article >

I asked them several questions, and I have included in this article some that I believe are most important. Some of these questions are adapted from the Principals Technology Leadership Assessment from Castle and others are questions of my own. Some of these questions are for the leader, while others... Read the full article >

Today’s education system was built to standardize the way we teach and test. This worked well when most students would progress from school to an industrial job. However, students are expected to perform more complex tasks in today’s workplace, when the current education system does not adequately prepare students for... Read the full article >

Another click and she introduces her personal blog, which houses dozens of writing samples on an array of topics. “You asked me to review the video on reflection letters,” she explains to the attentive teacher. “So I went back to these three posts and added the vocabulary you said was... Read the full article >

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of teaching is effectively reaching all learners. With 20, 30 or even 40 students in their classrooms, elementary teachers have the daunting task of meeting every student right where they are, supporting progress toward grade-level standards and cultivating the development of the whole child. On... Read the full article >

They are self-directed learners with responsibility for their own learning. Martinez and McGrath (2013) identified three commonalities in developing self-directed learners. These were: disrupting traditional expectations of teaching and learning; socializing students into a school culture signaling the expectations for learners; and using a consistent pedagogical approach in which students... Read the full article >

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 >

Marie was the kind of pre-service teacher who believed that, in her future classroom, anything would be possible — and who made you believe it, too. We taught Marie in a class on differentiated instruction during her last semester of coursework before she began her teaching career. The following fall,... Read the full article >