Perspectives on the Current Landscape of Competency-Based Learning Research
Join the Northeast College and Career Readiness Research Alliance (NCCRA) for a researcher, practitioner, and policymaker discussion on competency-based learning in New England and beyond. Paul Leather, deputy commissioner of education for New Hampshire, will discuss the reform in his state and present a case study on the PACE pilot accountability program, which provides alternate… Read More ›
A Space to Be Heard
Flying for the first time to Orlando, Florida all the way from Portland, Maine was an adventure in education empowerment. I was en route to Big Picture Learning’s (BPL) 2016 Big Bang Conference, where I would be sitting on a panel of fellow students and superintendents to discuss student voice in education decision making. To… Read More ›
Why Student Voices Matter
Originally posted on ewa.org on August 11, 2016 Here’s why I attended this year’s Education Writers Association National Seminar: As a high school student, I wanted to gain a new perspective on public schools and what is being done to improve them. And as an aspiring journalist, I was hoping to learn more about news coverage… Read More ›
Social Emotional Learning in High School: How Three Urban High Schools Engage, Educate, and Empower Youth
This research series from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education documents practices at three small urban high schools that effectively leverage a systemic school-wide focus on social and emotional learning to educate and empower their students. These schools work to educate the “whole child” by building their ability to know themselves, grow and… Read More ›
Why is Student Voice Important in Education? (Video)
This short video produced by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation discusses the importance of including student voice in all aspects of the education they are consuming. In this dynamic video students, teachers, and administrators share their views on making education more personal, relevant, and engaging. For the general public this video is an excellent promotion for… Read More ›
Putting Students in Charge of Their Own Learning
This post can be originally found on the Education Writers Association website, as part of their Educated Reporter series led by Emily Richmond. Imagine you’re a student: You walk into school and check an electronic board for your name and where you go for the day. At the assigned station, you and a small group of fellow students… Read More ›
Connecting Learning to Careers
In this article, Hamutal Bernstein, research associate at the Urban Institute, explores the many ways that Connected Learning is a personalized approach to learning that is beneficial to students in today’s classrooms. Young people are living their lives in densely connected, media-saturated contexts, connecting to peers through social media. Connected Learning aims to harness this… Read More ›
Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education
American Institutes for Research (AIR) recently released Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education: The Relationship Between Competency-Based Education Practices and Students’ Learning Skills, Behaviors and Dispositions. This is one of the first valuable studies we have had looking at the impact of competency-based education. The Framework of Learning Skills, Behaviors, and Disposition AIR created… Read More ›
Recognizing the Importance of Support Staff in a Student-Centered School
Student support staff (school counselors, case managers, mentors, social workers etc.) are rarely central to education reform conversations, but in the era of personalization, their knowledge and expertise can greatly benefit the changing classroom. Students and teachers can rely on these staff to bridge social/emotional strategies with academic learning. Emotions, research shows, direct students’ learning… Read More ›
Popularity of Ed Tech Not Necessarily Linked to Products’ Impact
This article explores the different methods of using technology and whether those methods are improving our schools or hindering them. Digital learning tools that fit well within existing classrooms and don’t disrupt the educational status quo tend to be the most widely adopted, despite their limited impact on student learning. This pattern in K-12 raises… Read More ›
School Counselors Embrace Social Emotional Learning
This article asserts that social emotional learning can provide a unifying vision, structure, processes, and assessment tools to assist school counselors in becoming effective change agents in their schools. The article describes a case study in which counselors helped teachers complete a social emotional intelligence survey, reviewing their own social emotional competencies and comparing them… Read More ›
Engaging Students: What I Learned Along the Way
In this article a veteran educator shares insights about the importance of creating a positive classroom culture. The author encourages novice teachers to work to understand students’ perspectives to build relationships and foster engagement and learning. She asserts that through knowing students well educators can personalize the classroom experience and reflect on classroom activity to increase student… Read More ›