Stuart Butler of the Brookings Institutions has some bold predictions for changes to higher education in coming years. He bases his predictions on signs that have become more evident in recent years, but as of yet have not significantly disturbed the four-year college education establishment. His 4 key predictions are: Read more
A report out recently from The Education Trust follows the true story of a student named Cornelius, from the day he started kindergarten to the day he dropped out of school. He went from learning to love reading as a child to feeling alienated in high school, struggling to complete Read more
In today’s rapidly changing global economy, “21st century skills” means much more than proficiency in basic academic subjects. One of the most important non-cognitive competencies for student success is conscientiousness, which encompasses traits such as perseverance, self-regulation, resilience, and responsibility. This policy brief provides an overview of conscientiousness and its Read more
Taking Stock of Personalized Learning is part of a series of special reports by Education Week that identifies high-priority topics in the K-12 world and examines them in significant depth. This report tackles the issue of personalized learning, one of the hottest topics in education, and a concept that raises Read more
American Institutes for Research (AIR) has released a comprehensive study evaluating Deeper Learning opportunities and outcomes in high school. The combination of (1) a deeper understanding of core academic content, (2) the ability to apply that understanding to novel problems and situations, and (3) the development of a range of Read more
According to a new Alliance for Excellent Education report, supporting great teaching is key to a positive school climate and academic success for at-risk students. With schools implementing higher academic standards that require engaging and effective teaching, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education in partnership with the Read more
Recently, the Lumina Foundation released its “Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP).” The DQP is a learning-centered framework for what college graduates should know and be able to do to earn the associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree. The DQP seeks to define quality learning and better signify the value that postsecondary credentials Read more
All students-regardless of race, color, national origin or zip code-deserve a high-quality education that includes resources such as academic and extracurricular programs, strong teaching, technology and instructional materials, and safe school facilities. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced guidance, in the form of a Dear Colleague letter to states, Read more
A new toolkit from REL West at WestEd helps educators productively engage students in school improvement efforts, including generating and analyzing data. The Speak Out, Listen Up! toolkit offers strategies for eliciting student voice, or perspective, about education challenges — a perspective that is beneficial in rethinking policies and practices. Read more
With America’s public schools unlikely to return to past funding levels in the near future, the District Management Council (http://www.dmjournal.org/spending-money-wisely/) released a policy guide this week to help districts thrive, rather than just survive, within the constraints of their new fiscal realities. In the main report, “Spending Money Wisely: Getting Read more
The Alliance for Excellent Education invites education professionals to attend an upcoming webinar entitled: “The Postsecondary Success Collaborative: Partnerships to Increase College Enrollment.” The free webinar will be held on March 24, 2014 from 1-2 pm, EST. The panelists for the event will be: Maud Abeel, Associate Director for Strategic Read more
A new report released by CompetencyWorks, titled Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education, helps education leaders think through how to design grading policies that communicate academic performance to students and parents. As more schools and districts begin to develop competency-based pathways that allow students to progress based on Read more
A new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education examines how implementing rigorous and engaging curriculum aligned with college- and career-ready standards fosters positive school climates in which students are motivated to succeed, achievement gaps narrow, and learning and outcomes improve. The report, Climate Change: Providing Equitable Access to a Read more
A new paper from Bellwether Education Partners argues that the “college for all” debate is beside the point because students are already flocking to colleges. The real question, they say, is how to find low-income students with high potential and how to better inform students so that they’re “smart shoppers” Read more
Who wrote the narrative, the frame through which we view the world of public education? Today the (often unstated) assumptions seem firmly in place: “America is losing the education race, test scores can be trusted, and teachers are the key to learning.” Once you accept all that, it’s logical to Read more
To ensure that America has the most competitive global workforce, President Barack Obama articulated a goal that, by 2020, every American should continue their educational training after high school so that the United States will increase its proportion of college graduates. This ambitious policy objective will require our postsecondary education Read more