Digital Promise has released “Developing a System of Micro-credentials: Supporting Deeper Learning in the Classroom,” a publication that explores the Deeper Learning Framework and identifies the specific skills students must master to achieve at high levels. Additionally, it showcases the set of 40 educator micro-credentials Digital Promise designed to ensure Read more
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments are the product of a testing consortium attempting to provide 21st century testing to measure 21st century skills. Here is PARCC’s own description of their role: PARCC is your state’s homegrown assessment. PARCC is not a testing company Read more
Low income students are now a majority of the schoolchildren attending the nation’s public schools, according to a research bulletin issued today by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF). The latest data collected from the states by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that 51 percent of the students Read more
As employers and postsecondary institutions increasingly demand students and workers equipped with high-level skills, many states are exploring performance assessments as part of their K-12 education strategies. Unlike multiple-choice tests, these assessments require students to construct answers, produce products, or perform activities; they allow educators to assess student Read more
In a new report, Skills for Success: Supporting and Assessing Key Habits, Mindsets, and Skills in PreK-12, Melissa Tooley and Laura Bornfreund highlight trends and raise important considerations for schools supporting and assessing a more comprehensive set of student “skills for success” and explore how assessments of these skills could 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
Two classic questions in education have been, “what do schools produce?” and “who are the workers in schools?” Education policy veteran John Merrow has some interesting answers to those questions: The familiar answers to those old questions are: 1) “Teachers are the workers,” and 2) “Their job is to turn Read more
The Center for American Progress and the Council of Chief State School Officers are out with a new report looking at next-generation accountability concepts that states have implemented in lieu of zero congressional action on No Child Left Behind. Generally, the accountability reforms fall into 5 categories across the states: Read more
For years now, standardized testing and teacher observation have been seen as the two key pillars to gauge student learning and teacher proficiency. A new survey company, Panorama Education, hopes that its improved and much cheaper survey techniques can ensure that a third pillar is added: student voice. A New 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
A new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) argues that a comprehensive digital infrastructure must include changes in teaching practice, professional learning, assessment, and other key elements. While connecting the nation’s schools and libraries to the internet by modernizing and expanding the federal E-rate program currently dominates education Read more
A new scientific report looks at the way people learn, experience and think across disciplines and finds that often, cognitive style can prove too narrow or limiting. Those findings, published in the latest issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, could prove enlightening for those working in the fields Read more
As advanced technologies enter the mainstream of everyday life, more than half of K-12 school districts are already offering – or interested in starting – blended and online learning programs. Though new school programs are evolving to personalize learning for every student using new tools and new methodologies, a national Read more
At the core of the transformation of education toward student-centered learning is the ability to personalize learning for each student, to open student pathways and encourage student voice and choice in next generation education models. To aid classroom, school and state leaders in their pursuit of this goal, the International Read more
Here is some welcome news for those involved in preparing Race to the Top-District applications: there is an excellent new research tool available to find out what works in blended and online learning. The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI), a Read more