In 2015, an organization called GripTape began a new experiment to see what would happen if young people were put in the driver’s seat of their own learning. GripTape’s most recent learning report details the results of this bold experiment, among which are the following outcomes: Youth experience a powerful Read more
Responding to the need to look beyond test scores to measure school quality, an increasing number of school districts are striving to incorporate socio-emotional learning measures in their accountability policies. Growth mindset – believing that intelligence and talent can change – is one of these measures. Experimental research has found Read more
Writing for EdSurge, Winnie O’Leary offers an overview of how to utilize data to build student agency while also holding students accountable. Excerpts from the piece appear below: A few years ago, Harvard’s Achievement Gap Institute conducted a study on teaching and student agency. The study recognized agency as potentially Read more
Kate Walsh recently wrote an article for Fordham’s Flypaper that discusses the good news in American education. Below are excerpts from her article: There is new clear evidence that we are making slow, gradual gains adding up to significant change. Though you almost had to read between the lines to Read more
Writing for The 74, Richard Whitmire explores new data that show charter school students are graduating from college at three- to five-times the national average. Excerpts from his article appear below: About a decade ago, 15 years into the public charter school movement, a few of the nation’s top charter Read more
As states and districts work to develop new accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act, six California districts who received federal waivers under the Obama administration are getting the first hints of how more holistic accountability systems might work. Researchers and district officials discussed the first evaluations of the Read more
David Brooks, an op-ed writer for the New York Times, examines the new documentary, Most Likely to Succeed and analyzes the claims it makes about the current state of the American Education system: Greg Whiteley’s documentary, Most Likely to Succeed, argues that the American school system is ultimately built on Read more
Do teachers really know what students go through? To find out, one teacher followed two students for two days and was amazed at what she found. Her report appeared on the blog of Grant Wiggins, the co-author of Understanding by Design and the author of Educative Assessment. Read more
In a recent Getting Smart article, Bonnie Lathram and Tyler Nakatsu explore how educators can get started with Deeper Learning. They suggest six entry points: Be a maker As an educator, what artifacts are there that can showcase the “makers” that you and your students are? Bring your own talents Read more
Education research consistently shows that positive teacher-student relationships are an important dimension of effective teaching and contribute to students’ success in school and life. Students who have strong relationships with their teachers tend to get better grades, work harder in school, and are less likely to drop out. A recent Read more
Over a the past several months Real Clear Education has been spotlighting schools and teachers participating in the Opportunity Culture initiative, a movement launched in 2011 by education policy and consulting firm Public Impact. Opportunity Culture models are aimed at improving the quality of education by extending the reach of excellent teachers Read more
A new working paper from Transforming Education highlights important findings regarding non-cognitive skills, specifically self-control and social competence in students. The paper is organized around nine “headlines;” these are conclusions that the authors suggest are justified by the research literature. These headlines concern the relationship of non-cognitive skills to academics, Read more
A new group called Student Voice has set out to collect data and advocate for students to help improve the situation students are facing in schools. Student Voice is a nationwide group that is obtaining feedback and tackling issues important to students. Student Voice National Field Director Andrew Read more
School districts across the country are incorporating measures of student achievement growth in teacher evaluations—a task that is especially challenging for teachers of grades and subjects that lack standardized state assessments. Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic (REL) studied eight districts that were early adopters of alternative student growth measures and had been Read more