The Crucial Factor in School Success is School Culture (Part 1 of 3)
Transforming schools: the key ingredient is right in front of us. School reform is more than incorporating tech tools, being competency-based, or implementing student-centered practices. It’s more than opening the walls or focusing on core competencies. School reform starts by transforming school culture, and reforms flourish when we allow adults to be creative and compassionate… Read More ›
Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration
This literature review from researchers at Pearson and Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) explores existing research on the importance of collaboration skills, as well as how to teach and assess these skills in K-12 and higher-education classrooms. The review examines research on successful k-12 and higher ed interventions to increase collaboration and teamwork skills. Techniques for assessment of… Read More ›
Risk, Trust, Collaboration: Leadership for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments
Originally posted on EdWeek’s Learning Deeply blog, April 21, 2017. Imagine an army general leading a tech startup company or a film director running a construction site. Not all leadership positions are built the same, and if there is a mismatch between leader and organization, the results could have disastrous effects. As such, in education,… Read More ›
How Can We Increase Civic Engagement in the Era of Fake News and Social Media?
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at Engaging Citizens: Civics Education and the New Political Landscape, a forum hosted by The Boston Foundation, to discuss the importance of civics education in Massachusetts. As the Director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE, Tisch College of Civic Life), my… Read More ›
Policy, Pilots and the Path to Competency-Based Education
This report, produced by the Foundation for Excellence in Education and EducationCounsel, surveys the existing state laws and policies that support competency-based education in K-12 nation-wide. The report explores the creation of innovation and pilot programs, which can be the first step for policymakers. Pilots allow schools and local education agencies (LEAs) to harness existing… Read More ›
Amplifying Student Voice & Partnership
UP for Learning, the Vermont-based organization dedicated to helping students and adults work in partnership to transform their schools, is hosting the International Seminar on Amplifying Student Voice & Partnership. The event will bring together experts from practice, research, and policy to dig into the inquiries most relevant to forwarding youth voice in education transformation.… Read More ›
Measuring Non-Cognitive Skills to Meet ESSA Requirements: What We Can Learn from Research on Student Engagement
As part of the reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are now required to include a fifth indicator of student success that goes beyond test scores. Initial reviews of 18 state ESSA plans show that student engagement is an indicator that the majority of states have chosen to include in their initial… Read More ›
Deeper Learning Website
This website created by the Alliance for Excellent Education is an in-depth exploration of deeper learning. Deeper learning is defined as delivery of rich core content to students in innovative ways that allow them to learn and effectively apply what they have learned. It includes many approaches that support student-centered learning including personalized, project-based, work-based, and… Read More ›
Sixth Annual Boston EdTalk
Boston EdTalks is a celebration of innovation in education that brings educators and leaders from across the city of Boston together during Teacher Appreciation Week to share their unique ideas and innovative classroom practices. The event will include five 10-minute presentations by local teachers. Three of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation Speaker’s Bureau members, Lissette Castillo, Sunny Pai,… Read More ›
Growing Into The Framework: A District’s CBE Implementation Strategy
This article shares five phases of implementation of competency-based education, using the Mesa County Valley School District 51‘s (D51) first year of implementation to illustrate the process. The phases include: Laying the foundation Supporting effective practices Building performance-based system Beginning personalized learning Refining our system Information tables include detailed steps to achieve the phase and outline what needs… Read More ›
Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified
This toolkit provides support for schools looking to transition to a proficiency-based system. It focuses on the development of efficient standards-based systems that will prepare all students for success in colleges, careers, and communities of the 21st century. The toolkit outlines 10 key components of an efficient proficiency-based system and introduces the Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified… Read More ›
Empowering Advocates for Educational Transformation
This was originally posted by Nellie Mae Education Foundation on Medium on April 4, 2017 . Introducing the 2017 Nellie Mae Education Foundation Speakers Bureau All too often, those most directly involved in and affected by our education system are ignored or silenced. At the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, we believe that these voices are… Read More ›