Bush Education Foundations Push to Expand ‘Competency-based’ Learning

This article, on former Gov. Jeb Bush’s education reform foundations, advocates for policies in Florida and nationally that would allow students to advance academically based on whether they’ve mastered content rather than on their age or grade. With guidance from the Jeb Bush-founded Foundation for Florida’s Future and, in some cases, support from outside private… Read More ›

How the School Library Helps Build Strong Blended Classes

This is the first in a series of articles describing 10 ways White Bear Lake High School teachers and the school library are working together to enhance learning in hybrid, also known as blended, classes. Future installments of the series will cover hybrid orientation, deep Web online lessons, Web 2.0 applications and ELL hybrid classes. Source… Read More ›

The Intersection of Afterschool and Competency-based Learning: Emerging Trends, Policy Considerations, and Questions for the Future

This white paper explores the intersection and relationship between afterschool and competency-based learning, recommends ideal policy environments for implementing successful programs, provides real-world examples, and shines a spotlight on emerging trends for the future. Afterschool and competency-based learning are increasingly emerging as student-centered, supportive learning models to prepare students for college and career. Source Organization: American… Read More ›

10 Trends to Personalized Learning in 2016

This article focuses on three main concepts for trends to personalized learning predicted for 2016, starting with learners and teachers, and pulling together everything with culture and community that encompass the 10 trends. Personalized learning is happening now and will expand worldwide in 2016. Yet there are still different definitions for personalized learning and some… Read More ›

Teaching Differently in Competency-Based Schools

This is an excerpt from Bob Sornson’s book, Over-Tested and Under-Prepared: Using Competency Based Learning to Transform Our Schools which was released in December 2015. This excerpt is from the chapter on teaching differently, which explores learning to become a competency-based educator and the challenges most teachers will face. Instead of having one set of… Read More ›

When Restorative Justice in Schools Works

This article outlines an alternative discipline program- restorative justice which is gaining popularity in public schools from Maine to Oregon. Early adopters of the practice report dramatic declines in school-discipline problems, as well as improved climates on campuses and even gains in student achievement. In traditional school-discipline programs, students face an escalating scale of punishments for… Read More ›

Four Myths About Learning Styles Debunked

This article debunks four myths about learning styles and includes suggestions for how multiple learning styles can be accepted and celebrated. The language around learning styles and multiple intelligences has diversified instructional styles in a great way, however, it has also brought about some misconceptions. A few examples of the myths addressed by the article are… Read More ›

Celebrating School Counselors

This article in Edutopia discusses the various ways counselors, and other student support staff, add tremendous value to a learning community. The author makes note of their contributions, including developing “soft skills” with students, and provides a few ways school communities can recognize those contributions. Source Organization: Edutopia Visit the Resource