Recently in Getting Smart, David Ross wrote an article summarizing key practices for school innovation, with links to some of the most innovative schools in the world. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Recent visits to renowned centers of innovation such as AltSchool in San Francisco and the Dalton Academy Read more
A new survey of research into charter school effectiveness has linked so-called no-excuses practices in urban charter schools to sizable academic gains. Published in the Winter 2018 edition of The Future of Children, a journal jointly published by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, the survey found that spending three Read more
Based on a review of seminal documents from the Learning First Alliance member organizations, the Alliance has identified six elements around which successful schools are organized, whether formally or informally, that each impact several important aspects of schooling. These elements are: Focus on the Total Child Successful schools support all Read more
In at least 10 U.S. cities, a new partnership schools model is emerging. This “third way” governance strategy can break through contentious district-charter divides and could help improve struggling schools or increase the number of high-quality neighborhood options. The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has released a new brief Read more
How best to reform K-12 education in America is the subject of passionate debate. Lagging test scores, dispiriting classroom environments, and growing fears about our nation’s international competitiveness have inspired a new cadre of reformers searching for ways to modernize and transform the US education system. At the same time, Read more
The goal of ConnectEd: connect 99% of America’s public schools to high speed Internet in 5 years. The Obama administration hopes that accomplishing this feat will enable schools and teachers to take advantage of educational technology and software that will allow for more rapid evaluation of student progress. Furthermore, the Read more
America Achieves has released a new series of short videos designed to show what great schools and districts are doing around the country, in hopes that more schools and districts might follow their lead. America Achieves, an organization that “helps communities and states leverage policy, practice, and leadership to build Read more
The Carnegie Corporation of New York has committed $15 million to “catalyze district-based new school design work” that will focus on individualized learning. To support this effort, they have also recently published a report, Opportunity by Design: New High School Models for Student Success. This report calls for a focus Read more
Too often do we in the field of education policy end up discussing only the negatives: red tape, too little funding, changed programs, poor communication, lack of support, etc. In recent years, principals and teachers have often borne the brunt of the criticism, although research into successful schools consistently shows Read more
TNTP has released its newest resource—the Teacher Talent Toolbox. The Toolbox “is a repository of successful strategies and practical resources that schools, districts, and networks can draw on to create effective human capital policies, with the aim of creating sustained, scalable models for effective instruction.” It is essentially an open-source Read more
Public Impact has launched the implementation phase of its effort to bring excellent teachers to every classroom. In this phase, the organization seeks to identify five “model” sites that can be used to extend the reach of these teachers beyond their own classrooms. Seeking to create what it calls an Read more
Want to see some incredible models for true educational reform? New York City’s iZone is one to watch. The iZone school designs are characterized by five core principles: –Performance assessment & mastery-based grading –Personalized learning plans –Multiple learning modalities (e.g., a combination of independent student work, small group instruction, Read more