BPS Family Learning Guides
These guides provide detailed descriptions of what children should know and be able to do by the end of the school year in English language arts, social studies, science, and math. They also include subject-specific activities to extend learning at home.There is a specific guide for kindergarten through grade eight, and all are available for… Read More ›
National Equity Project
This organization strives to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for students who have historically been underserved, by helping educators, administrators, and community leaders build the culture, conditions, and competencies needed to increase equity and excellence across schools and districts. Founded in 1995, the organization has partnered with schools, districts, and community organizations in 10 states.… Read More ›
Education Commission of the States
This organization was created in 1965 for state policy makers to share education research and expertise with each other. Today Education Commission of the States (ECS) provides state policy makers advice and consultation on policy plans and proposed legislation, testimony at legislative hearings, policy research on any education topic, and connections to state leaders grappling… Read More ›
Students at the Center: TEDx Talk
This film, from Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s CEO Nick Donahue speech at TEDx Beacon Street, questions why our education system designed as if it’s 1915? Rather than a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to education, schools need student-centered strategies to help learners reach their highest potential. Source Organization: Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Virtual Viewpoints: Roberto Gonzalez, STEAM Box
This episode is the fourth in our series documenting the Fuse Architect Project, a collaboration between the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Highlander Institute, and several other Rhode Island-based stakeholders endeavoring to design and pilot systems that promote student-centered learning. In this episode, we’re talking with Roberto Gonzalez of the Rhode Island-based nonprofit STEAM Box.… Read More ›
Video Gaining as Key Tool in Teacher-Learning Plans
This article discusses the increase of video as a tool for improving and refining classroom practice for educators. Included in the article are mentions of several companies and schools that are actively contributing videos for teaching and professional development online, including the Teaching Channel and BetterLesson. Source Organization: Education Week Visit the Resource
Partnership for Student Success: Providing Youth with Quality Programs Through the FY2013 Quality Enhancements in After School and Out of School Grant
This report documents the After School and Out of School Time (ASOST) Quality Enhancement Grant (line item 7061-9611) that provides high-quality expanded learning opportunities (ELOs) before school, after school, and during the summer months to students across the state of Massachusetts. Through this grant, public school districts, non-public schools, or community based organizations (CBOs) with… Read More ›
The Afterschool and Out-of-School Time Coordinating Council: A Report to the Governor, House and Senate Comittee on Ways and Means, and Joint Committee on Education
This report details the need for more coordination of state and federal funding streams and the implementation of comprehensive policies to support the gains that have been made in ASOST programming in Massachusetts. In particular, the report details the strategies laid out by the working groups established by the Coordinating Council. Established in 2012, the… Read More ›
What Are Teachers’ and School Leaders’ Major Concerns About New K–12 State Tests?
This report shares U.S. principals’ and teachers’ main concerns about testing, drawing upon new survey tools for understanding educators’ perspectives and implementation of major education policies: RAND’s American Teacher Panel and American School Leader Panel. The findings are drawn from the ATP and ASLP surveys fielded in February 2015, before the full administration of most… Read More ›
Competency-Based Education in Three Pilot Programs
This research brief summarizes findings of the RAND evaluation of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Project Mastery grant program, which was created in 2011 to support competency-based education initiatives in large school systems that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged youth. Competency-based education meets students where they are academically, provides students with opportunities for choice,… Read More ›
Measuring Hard-to-Measure Student Competencies
This report provides guidelines to promote thoughtful development of practical, high-quality measures of interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies that practitioners and policymakers can use to improve valued outcomes for students. Efforts to prepare students for college, careers, and civic engagement have traditionally emphasized academic skills, but a growing body of research suggests that interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies—such… Read More ›
The iNACOL State Policy Frameworks 2015: 5 Critical Issues to Transform K-12 Education
This policy brief from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) provides concrete, actionable recommendations for state policymakers seeking to build competency education based on new learning models that allow personalization of instruction for each student. The iNACOL State Policy Frameworks covers five main issues: create competency-based education systems, improve student access and equity,… Read More ›