K–12 value networks: The hidden forces that help or hinder learner-centered education

The conventional model of schooling is outdated and overdue for replacement. As learners make their way through high school, survey results show that close to 66% end up disengaged. Those who successfully navigate the system gain a narrow set of academic skills that may or may not align with their individual needs, interests, and strengths. Read more about K–12 value networks: The hidden forces that help or hinder learner-centered education[…]

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An Assembly of Talent: Empowering and Expanding Human Capital in Education

The education system in the United States must evolve from a one-size-fits-all approach to one in which students’ individualized needs are served by an ecosystem of more flexible learning opportunities. This approach, Assembly, is growing and serving more families than ever. Many families already engage in different flavors of Assembly — from home-schooling co-ops to Read more about An Assembly of Talent: Empowering and Expanding Human Capital in Education[…]

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Restoring Pandemic Losses will Require Major Changes in Schools and Classrooms, Superintendents Say

Though kids are learning this year, many have fallen even further behind grade level. A new report from Brookings, written by Paul Hill and Kate Destler, draws from a national survey of school districts and in-depth interviews with six school districts. Highlights from the piece appear below:  Many school and district leaders had hoped to Read more about Restoring Pandemic Losses will Require Major Changes in Schools and Classrooms, Superintendents Say[…]

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Transforming Education into a Learning System: Reflections on the Pandemic

In a new brief, Carnegie Corporation of New York and EducationCounsel explore how the American education system responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying gaps (missed opportunities and systemic shortcomings that deepened the challenges our schools faced) and bright spots (existing and new efforts where learning system approaches supported more effective action). Drawing on those lessons, Read more about Transforming Education into a Learning System: Reflections on the Pandemic[…]

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Rising Together: How Four Districts are Building Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Community, collaboration, and relationships have become more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the country, many school districts have embraced this opportunity to rethink how to engage with families and the surrounding community.   We know that family and community engagement is critical for lasting improvement in schools and school systems; it is linked Read more about Rising Together: How Four Districts are Building Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic[…]

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Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive

Schools are the engines of economic and social mobility, where the virtues required for citizenship are wrestled with and practiced, and where the foundations of a robust and dynamic citizenship, democracy, and economy are nurtured. Teachers are the heart, soul, and muscle of our schools. Research has pointed time and time again to teachers as Read more about Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive[…]

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Tools for Strong District-Teacher Preparation Program Partnerships

School districts and teacher preparation programs both play critical roles in setting educators up for success in the classroom. However, too often they work in isolation. By creating a partnership around shared goals, they can build a stronger, more diverse workforce–and provide a better and more equitable education experience to students. But how should they Read more about Tools for Strong District-Teacher Preparation Program Partnerships[…]

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Outstanding Learning for All, Secure & Healthy Learners, and Culture of Equity

To close achievement gaps, education leaders must adopt more complete approaches to outstanding learning for all, secure and healthy learners, and a culture of equity within low- and moderate-poverty schools. A shortfall in any of these three areas within a school magnifies the impact of unequal access to resources-educational, personal, and sociopolitical-outside of school. In Read more about Outstanding Learning for All, Secure & Healthy Learners, and Culture of Equity[…]

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High-Quality Curricula and Team-Based Professional Learning: A Perfect Partnership for Equity

Learning Forward has released a new report, High-Quality Curricula and Team Based Professional Learning: A Perfect Partnership for Equity. This report is based on three premises: Research has found that effective teaching and high-quality materials both matter for student learning. Effective use of curriculum requires teachers who understand it deeply and use it with intentionality Read more about High-Quality Curricula and Team-Based Professional Learning: A Perfect Partnership for Equity[…]

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Finding Time for Collaborative Planning

In Igniting the Learning Engine: How school systems accelerate teacher effectiveness and student growth through Connected Professional Learning (which we blogged about here: https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/igniting-learning-engine/), authors profiled four school systems that, with an intensive focus on improving the quality of instruction through professional learning, have seen above-average results with a relatively high-need student population. Making the Read more about Finding Time for Collaborative Planning[…]

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Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration

Education researchers at Pearson teamed up with the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) to conduct a review of the research literature on the importance of collaboration skills for employers, as well as how to teach and assess these skills in K-12 and higher-education classrooms. The ability to work in teams is one of the Read more about Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration[…]

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Four Key things to Know about Distributed Leadership

Great leadership is at the heart of every high-quality public school. Within schools, leadership is most effective when it’s distributed among a team of individuals with different skillsets and experiences but a shared mission to spark and sustain a school-wide culture of learning and improved outcomes for students. These types of instructional leadership teams can Read more about Four Key things to Know about Distributed Leadership[…]

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The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community

Networked improvement communities (NICs) are gaining importance as a structure for identifying and solving complex educational problems. Tackling these problems requires taking specific steps to make sure the NIC is built to last. In the Carnegie Commons blog, Sarah McKay summarizes an article, “A Framework for the Initiation of Networked Improvement Communities” published in the Read more about The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community[…]

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Professional Development Activities of U.S. Public School Teachers

A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics provides a snapshot of teacher professional development among U.S. public school teachers. The report uses data collected through the 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) Public School Teacher Questionnaire. This report relies on data provided by public school teachers about their professional development activities. The Read more about Professional Development Activities of U.S. Public School Teachers[…]

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Redefining Accountability to Treat Educators like the Professionals they Are

The Behavioral Science and Policy Association recently published Reimagining Accountability in K–12 Education. This paper reviews the extensive behavioral science literature that shows outcome-based accountability, commonly used in education, is only one of multiple forms of accountability that should be considered for new accountability structures. Author Brian Gill recently commented on the paper in the Read more about Redefining Accountability to Treat Educators like the Professionals they Are[…]

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Implementation Science

Sarah McKay recently provided an excellent introduction to Implementation Science in the  Carnegie Commons Blog. Excerpts of her piece appear below: The aim of implementation science is to understand how interventions are adopted, implemented, and spread. It’s less about the effectiveness of the intervention itself, because that is expected to have been evaluated prior to Read more about Implementation Science[…]

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