Getting Smart is a website devoted to improving education in today’s rapidly changing and globally connected world. One recent initiative of Getting Smart is “Smart Cities that Work for Everyone.” This initiative offers recommendations for how leaders in cities, but also applicable in states overall, can help educate and prepare Read more
A new longitudinal study highlights the stark reality in the U.S. that class matters far more than academic achievement up to grade 12 in terms of graduating from college. Simply put, even the lowest achieving rich students have a higher likelihood of graduating from college than do the highest achieving Read more
Deeper learning is a term being used more and more across the country, and state education leaders are being asked to create and implement aligned policies. A new report from Education Commission of the States serves as a primer for state policymakers seeking to modify instruction and assessment policies to Read more
New research published by the Upjohn Institute finds that non-black teachers have significantly lower educational expectations for black students than black teachers do when evaluating the same students. This is concerning, as teachers’ expectations likely shape student outcomes and systematic biases in teachers’ expectations for student success might contribute to Read more
Rachel B. Baker at AEI Education has a new report out about Competency Based Education (CBE) programs at the college level. Following is a portion from the introduction to the executive summary: The basic idea underlying CBE is simple: programs award credit based on demonstrated student competencies rather than on Read more
Chester E. Finn Jr. And Brandon L. Wright of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute have recently written a preview article in the Wall Street Journal for their forthcoming book, “Failing Our Brightest Kids: The Global Challenge of Educating High-Ability Students.” The article inverts the typical narrative of a focus on Read more
A recent survey finds that more than half of high school juniors and seniors across the country don’t feel they’re ready for college and careers, even though these remain top goals for students. The survey was a multi-year College and Career Readiness survey of 165,000 high school students conducted by Read more
The Center for Public Education has released the second in a pair of reports focused on high school students who do not continue their formal education after graduation and factors that contribute to positive outcomes and future success. A rigorous high school program boosts the chances of success for both Read more
In today’s highly competitive and increasingly global economy, students need more than just academic skills and knowledge. They also need employability skills in order to successfully cultivate a career. Employability skills include relationship skills such as interpersonal skills and personal qualities; workplace skills such as resource management, information use, communication Read more
More and more states, communities, school districts, colleges and universities are focused on helping students get to and through college. Increasingly we understand that to have the strongest impact, K-12 and higher education must work together. Greater alignment and shared ownership of college readiness and success can lead to more Read more
In a piece for the Albert Shanker Institute, researcher John Lane contends that in teachers’ typical learning opportunities, reforms are reduced to a set of strategies that “work” across settings, and in which the contexts of teaching become an unwanted entanglement. He argues that teachers would benefit from opportunities to Read more
We’ve become a perpetual multitasking culture. Our brains aren’t good at this, especially when we’re trying to learn new information. But of all the things that make it hard for us to learn, multitasking is one of the very few that is entirely within our control. Living rooms, dens, kitchens, Read more
Students in high-poverty schools lack the supports needed to become college ready, according to a report from CLASP. Course, Counselor, and Teacher Gaps: Addressing the College Readiness Challenge in High-Poverty High Schools analyzes the nation’s 100 largest school districts, focusing on “high-poverty schools” (where at least 75 percent of students Read more
The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) explores key elements of policies that support deeper learning in schools – including policies that state boards of education must seriously consider to ensure their state’s students are prepared for college, career and civic life. In Deeper Learning: Policies for a Read more
Amid growing recognition that strong academic skills alone are not enough for young people to become successful adults, a new comprehensive report offers wide-ranging evidence to show what young people need to develop from preschool to young adulthood to succeed in college and career, have healthy relationships, be engaged citizens Read more
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) released a new tool to help middle and high schools meet their students’ most critical needs. The 2015 CASEL Guide: Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs–Middle and High School Edition provides a framework for examining social and emotional learning (SEL) programs Read more