K-12 students learned a lot last year, but they’re still missing too much school — from npr.org by Cory Turner and  Sequoia Carrillo

1. Students are starting to make up for missed learning
From spring 2022 to spring 2023, students made important learning gains, making up for about one-third of the learning they had missed in math and a quarter of the learning they had missed in reading during the pandemic.

2. Despite that progress, very few states are back to pre-pandemic learning levels


The Results Are In: Parents Favor School Choice — from realcleareducation.com by Hanna Skandera; via GSV

Parents want a choice when it comes to their children’s education.

A new report published by The National School Choice Awareness Foundation reveals that 72% of parents considered new schools for their children in 2023 — a massive 35% increase from 2022. Additionally, more than 70% of parents in nearly every state support the implementation of school choice policies.

This momentum has caught the attention of state legislatures across the country.


Why Doesn’t Every Office Building Have A Microschool? — from fee.org by Kerry McDonald; via GSV
“We are breaking down walls between communities and classrooms,” said Revolution School founder, Gina Moore.

Today, intrepid educators continue to try to make change within the traditional schooling system, but increasingly entrepreneurial teachers and parents are working outside the system to create innovative, accessible K-12 learning models that push beyond the four walls of a conventional classroom—literally and figuratively.

One such program is Revolution School, a private, accredited high school located in a downtown office building in Philadelphia that draws students from more than 25 zip codes across the city.

Revolution School focuses on meaningful internships where students, known as “Rev-terns,” partner with local businesses to learn workplace skills and gain valuable experience. Students also take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities at the nearby Community College of Philadelphia, accumulating college credits while being mentored by Revolution School teachers.


PROOF POINTS: Tracking student data falls short in combating absenteeism at school — from hechingerreport.org by Jill Barshay
A post-pandemic study of an early warning system indicated that family income makes a difference

Chronic absenteeism has surged across the country since the pandemic, with more than one out of four students missing at least 18 days of school a year. That’s more than three lost weeks of instruction a year for more than 10 million school children. An even higher percentage of poor students, more than one out of three, are chronically absent.

Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, calls chronic absenteeism – not learning loss – “the greatest challenge for public schools.” At a Feb. 8, 2024 panel discussion, Malkus said, “It’s the primary problem because until we do something about that, academic recovery from the pandemic, which is significant, is a pipe dream.”

 

“AI native” Gen Zers are comfortable on the cutting edge — from axios.com by Jennifer A. Kingson; via The Rundown AI

When it comes to generative AI at school and work, Gen Z says: Bring it on.

Why it matters: While some workers are fearful or ambivalent about how ChatGPT, DALL-E and their ilk will affect their jobs, many college students and newly minted grads think it can give them a career edge.

  • So-called “AI natives” who are studying the technology in school may have a leg up on older “digital natives” — the same way that “digital native” millennials smugly bested their “digital immigrant” elders.

 

 

It’s Time to Launch a National Initiative to Create the New American High School — from the74million.org by Robin Lake; via GSV
Robin Lake: We must start thinking, talking and acting bigger when it comes to preparing teens for both college and career.

The blueprint design of a chair that you would often see in a high school classroom


One State Rolled Out a Promising Child Care Model. Now Others Are Replicating It. — from edsurge.com by Emily Tate Sullivan

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Last month, business leaders and child care advocates from a handful of states convened on Zoom. Representing Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia, they had come together to discuss a new child care model, called “Tri-Share,” that has gained traction across the country, including in their respective regions.

The cost-sharing model, in which the state government, the employer and the employee each pay for one-third of the cost of child care, first launched in 2021 in Michigan, where it is furthest along. But it has become so popular that other states, including New York, North Carolina and Kentucky, have already secured funding for their own adaptations of the program.

Also relevant/see:


Road Scholars: When These Families Travel, School Comes Along for the Ride — from the74million.org by Linda Jacobson; via Matthew Tower
‘It’s not just a pandemic thing,’ one industry expert said about the growing number of families ‘roadschooling’ across the country.


Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein

But this is the first time the department has released guidance on how assistive technology relates to the special education law. That’s partly because schools have come to rely so much more on technology for teaching and learning, Wright-Gallo said.

The guidance, released last month, is aimed at parents, specialists who provide services to babies and toddlers at risk of developmental delays, special educators, general educators, school and district leaders, technology specialists and directors, and state education officials, Wright-Gallo said.


Guiding and Connecting the Homeschooling Community — from michaelbhorn.substack.com by Michael B. Horn
How ‘Teach Your Kids’ is Empowering Parents to Take Charge of their Students’ Educations

More and more parents are taking charge of their children’s education through homeschooling.  Manisha Snoyer’s podcast and online homeschooling community, Teach Your Kids, is seeking to empower parents with the guidance, tools, and network they need to thrive as educators for their children. She joined the Future of Education to discuss her work, dispel misconceptions about homeschooling, and consider the future of this growing trend. I was intrigued to explore her observations that, through modularity, families can pull apart socialization, childcare, and the learning itself to make the benefits of homeschooling much more accessible. As always, subscribers can listen to the audio, watch the video, or read the transcript.


Can Career Learning Bring America’s Young People Back to School? — from realcleareducation.com by Taylor Maag

School absenteeism sky-rocketed post-pandemic: 6.5 million more students missed at least 10% or more of the 2021-22 school year than in 2017-18. This means 14.7 million students were chronically absent even after schools reopened from the pandemic. While preliminary data shows that absentee rates slightly decreased in the 2022-23 school year, truancy remains a serious concern for our nation’s K-12 system.

If we want to get students back in the classroom and avoid poor outcomes for our nation’s young people, U.S. leaders must rethink how we operate K-12 education. One potential solution is reinventing high school to ensure every young person is exposed to the world of work through career-oriented education and learning. An analysis of international cross-section data found that nations enrolling a large proportion of students in vocational or career-focused programs have significantly higher school attendance rates and higher completion rates than those that don’t.


My child with ADHD is being disciplined at school for things they can’t control. What can I do? — from understood.org by Julian Saavedra, MA
Is your child with ADHD being disciplined at school more and more? Get expert advice on how to manage school discipline. Learn the steps to better advocate for your child.

Also relevant/see:

  • What can I do if my child’s teacher takes recess away? — from understood.org By Kristin J. Carothers, PhD
    School can be extra hard for kids with ADHD when teachers take recess away. An expert weighs in on how you can work with teachers to find a solution.
  • For teachers: What to expect in an IEP meeting — from understood.org by Amanda Morin
    You’re not alone in having questions about IEP meetings. If you’re not a special education teacher, you may not have a lot of training around the IEP process.  Here are some of the basics:
 

Healthcare High Schools — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
Bloomberg and hospitals back dual-enrollment path from K-12 to high-demand jobs.

More career exploration in high school is needed to help Americans make better-informed choices about their education and job options, experts agree. And serious, employer-backed efforts to tighten connections between school and work are likely to emerge first in healthcare, given the industry’s severe staffing woes.

A new $250M investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies could be an important step in this direction. The money will seed the creation of healthcare-focused high schools in 10 U.S. locations, with a plan to enroll 6K students who will graduate directly from the early-college high schools into high-demand healthcare jobs that pay family-sustaining wages.


Microschools Take Center Stage with New Opportunities for Learning for 2024 — from the74million.org by Andrew Campanella
Campanella: More than 27,000 schools and organizations are celebrating National School Choice Week. Yours can, too

Last year, the landscape of K-12 education transformed as a record-breaking 20 states expanded school choice options. However, that is not the only school choice story to come out of 2023. As the nation steps into 2024, a fresh emphasis on innovation has emerged, along with new options for families. This is particularly true within the realm of microschooling.

Microschooling is an education model that is small by design — typically with 15 or fewer students of varying ages per class. It fosters a personalized and community-centric approach to learning that is especially effective in addressing the unique educational needs of diverse student populations. Programs like Education Savings Accounts are helping to fuel these microschools.


My Students Can’t Meet Academic Standards Because the School Model No Longer Fits Them — from edsurge.com by Sachin Pandya

Large classes create more distractions for students who struggle to focus, and they inevitably get less attention and support as there are more students for teachers to work with. High numbers of students make it more difficult to plan for individual needs and force teachers to teach to an imaginary middle. A rigid schedule makes it easy to schedule adults and services, but it is a challenge for kids who need time to get engaged and prefer to keep working at a challenge once they are locked in.

Now that I know what can engage and motivate these students, I can imagine creating more opportunities that allow them to harness their talents and grow their skills and knowledge. But we’re already a third of the way through the school year, and my curriculum requires me to teach certain topics for certain lengths of time, which doesn’t leave room for many of the types of experiences these kids need. Soon, June will come and I’ll pass them along to the next teacher, who won’t know what I know and will need another four months to learn it, wasting valuable time in these students’ educations.

From DSC:
We need teachers and professors to be able to contribute to learners’ records. Each student can review and decide whether they want to allow access to other teachers– or even to employers. Educators could insert what they’ve found to work with a particular student, what passions/interests that student has, or what to avoid (if possible). For example, has this student undergone some trauma, and therefore trauma-informed teaching should be employed. 

IEPs could be a part of learners’ records/profiles. The teams working on implementing these IEP’s could share important, searchable information.


The State of Washington Embraces AI for Public Schools — from synthedia.substack.com by Bret Kinsella; via Tom Barrett
Educational institutions may be warming up to generative AI

Washington state issued new guidelines for K-12 public schools last week based on the principle of “embracing a human-centered approach to AI,” which also embraces the use of AI in the education process. The state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal, commented in a letter accompanying the new guidelines:

 

Educational practices to identify and support students experiencing homelessness — from edresearchforaction.org by Alexandra Pavlakis, J. Kessa Roberts, Meredith Richards,  Kathryn Hill. &  Zitsi Mirakhur

The EdResearch for Action Overview Series summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. Authors – leading experts from across the field of education research – are charged with highlighting key findings from research that provide concrete, strategic insight on persistent challenges sourced from district and state leaders.

 

Denver middle schoolers can get a $1,000 debit card for extracurriculars in new experiment for school success — from coloradosun.com by Jennifer Brown
Middle school students in Denver Public Schools who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch are eligible to apply for debit cards loaded with $1,000 for sports, art and music activities

The offer — $1,000 on a restricted debit card that works at 127 organizations with after-school and summer programs — is called My Spark Denver, an experiment for Denver middle school students that organizers hope could one day expand to other age groups and other parts of the state.

The program is capped at 4,000 kids, and already, more than 1,000 have been approved. It’s first-come, first-served, and the only requirements are that the kids are in a Denver Public Schools middle school and that their family qualifies for free and reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty.

 

Teachers Told Us They’ve Used AI in the Classroom. Here’s Why — from edweek.org by Lauraine Langreo

One-third of K-12 teachers say they have used artificial intelligence-driven tools in their classroom, according to an EdWeek Research Center survey of educators conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6, 2023.

Of those who said they’ve used AI tools, 21 percent said they’ve used them a little, 10 percent said they’ve used them some, and 2 percent said they’ve used them a lot, according to the survey, which included 498 teachers.


Here’s how and why some educators say they’ve been using AI tools in the classroom:


What will the world look like when AI can do in minutes what we can do in 3 weeks (or longer)? That time is here. — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard
Are we preparing students for a world where most existing knowledge work will be done by machines?

I see education heading down one of two paths.

Path 1 — We keep telling the teachers AI cannot do their jobs because it can’t do everything humans can do, and we keep telling kids that learning with AI is cheating and that they will amount to nothing if they use AIs to help do their work. This path is a path toward the irrelevance of educational institutions. AIs can and will be able to do most of what we do. AIs may not be able to do everything as well as us, but at least a lot of the things we do, they will be able to do better.

Path 2 — We help students and teachers understand the world that is emerging around them. Level with them. Explain that the future of every single job is uncertain. Explain that in past technological revolutions that occurred over a much longer period of time than this, many people lost their jobsExplain that society is about to be substantially disrupted, probably in greater ways than it ever has been beforeand certainly faster than ever before. Inform them that every “future of employment” report identifies soft/ durable skills and AI technology skills as the known job skills of the future. Let them know that the future economic value of all knowledge work is uncertain.


From DSC:
Though this next item is not about AI in our learning ecosystems, it caught my eye because having educators use their networks to help sponsor their students seems like a great way to help marginalized students get employed and ahead.

The job market is changing. Here’s how educators can help students keep up. — from kqed.org by Nimah Gobir

Ana Homayoun, an early career development expert and author of Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission, said that educators can support students from marginalized identities by proactively providing resources and support. “Our role as sponsors is really important,” said Homayoun. “That’s a term that I use to describe this idea of creating opportunities for economic growth.” She added that sponsorship includes identifying students that might be facing barriers and leveraging one’s network to give them a leg up.

 

How to Co-Design Curriculum: Fostering Inclusivity through Shared Family Narratives — from gettingsmart.com by Jimmy McCue

Key Points

  • Discover a learner-centric curriculum at Embark Education, where learners recently co-designed a transformative project centered around family narratives and recipes.
  • Explore the intersection of culinary traditions, empathy, and critical analysis as learners delve into the complexities of cultural revitalization, shifting demographics, and systemic inequities in their communities.
  • Engage with a hands-on approach to competency-based education, culminating in the creation of a culturally rich product in collaboration with local community partners, fostering a deep sense of pride and ownership among learners and their respective communities, alike.

From DSC:
I especially like the learner-centered approach, along with the collaboration with local community partners here. As described in Getting Smart’s Smart Update:

Microschool Spotlight: Embark Education


Getting Smart admires Embark Education’s innovative approach for reimagining the middle school experience, recognizing the pivotal nature of adolescence. With a commitment to providing personalized and relevant learning experiences, Embark supports learners in courageously exploring, engaging, and discovering their sense of self, contributing to the broader mission of revolutionizing education.

“We are anchored in the unwavering belief that by simply trusting learners, both youth and adults, we create the conditions for them to curiously and confidently unlock their potential – and that their potential is limitless.” – Brian Hyosaka, Head of School

 

Resisting the Youth Sports Industrial Complex — from educationnext.org by Jonathan V. Last; via the The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2023 from educationnext.org
Children’s sports are corrupted, but parents don’t have to play along

Excerpt (emphasis by DSC):

That’s the point of Linda Flanagan’s Take Back the Game, a book about the corruption of youth sports. It should be required reading for every parent. It should be handed out in the hospital along with What to Expect the First Year and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.

Flanagan, a journalist and former running coach, has pulled off a rare trick: she diagnoses a societal sickness, traces the roots of the malady, and prescribes a cure.

The problem is that we have a Youth Sports Industrial Complex that forces kids into single-sport specialization before they hit middle school. It demands that children be involved in (expensive) club and travel sports programs starting in elementary school.

Her first dictum is to delay entry into organized sports as long as possible. Don’t sign them up for pee-wee soccer to get a jump on the club scene—send them out into the yard to kick the ball around. Have a catch with them. Shoot baskets. Let them tumble and do cartwheels in the grass. As Flanagan says, “Just let them play.”

Another key precept from Flanagan: The family is more important than kids’ sports.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson from Take Back the Game is that parents have agency.

 

Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2023 — from microsoft.com by various authors; via Stefan Bauschard

Throughout 2023, AI and the future of work have frequently been on the metaphorical – and often literal – front page around the world. There have been many excellent articles about the ways in which work may change as LLMs are increasingly integrated into our lives. As such, in this year’s report we focus specifically on areas that we think deserve additional attention or where there is research that has been done at Microsoft that offers a unique perspective. This is a report that should be read as a complement to the existing literature, rather than as a synthesis of all of it.

This is a rare time, one in which research will play a particularly important role in defining what the future of work looks like. At this special moment, scientists can’t just be passive observers of what is happening. Rather, we have the responsibility to shape work for the better. We hope this report can help our colleagues around world make progress towards this goal.
.

Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2023

Excerpt:

Analyzing and integrating may become more important skills than searching and creating 
With content being generated by AI, knowledge work may shift towards more analysis and critical integration

  • Information search as well as content production (manually typing, writing code, designing images) is greatly enhanced by AI, so general information work may shift to integrating and critically analyzing retrieved information
  • Writing with AI is shown to increase the amount of text produced as well as to increase writing efficiency (Biermann et al. 2022, Lee et al 2022)
  • With more generated text available, the skills of research, conceptualization, planning, prompting and editing may take on more importance as LLMs do the first round of production (e.g., Mollick 2023).
  • Skills not directly to content production, such as leading, dealing with critical social situations, navigating interpersonal trust issues, and demonstrating emotional intelligence, may all be more valued in the workplace (LinkedIn 2023)
 

The Rise of Learning Societies — from educationnext.org by Alan Gottlieb
A small experiment in rural Idaho holds big promise for student success 

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The basic idea is this: Some parents who, for a variety of reasons, hesitate to send their children to a traditional brick-and-mortar school have neither the time, inclination, or temperament to homeschool or to monitor a full-time online program. Learning Societies provide an intimate environment where kids, supervised by professional educators, learn online and in small, in-person groups for six hours a day. Gem Prep leaders describe it as a sweet spot between traditional schooling and at-home online learning. It is particularly well suited to rural areas.

Learning Societies have the potential to achieve a happy medium that combines the strengths of both homeschooling (or online learning from home) and a traditional brick-and-mortar school.

A typical school day at a Gem Prep Learning Society sees some students engaged in online lessons on laptops while others receive instruction from a teacher in a small group, all within the same classroom. Both modalities use Gem Prep Online’s well-regarded curriculum.

 

Educational practices to identify and support students experiencing homelessness — from edresearchforaction.org by Alexandra Pavlakis, J. Kessa Roberts, Meredith Richards, Kathryn Hill, and Zitsi Mirakhur

The EdResearch for Action Overview Series summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. Authors – leading experts from across the field of education research – are charged with highlighting key findings from research that provide concrete, strategic insight on persistent challenges sourced from district and state leaders.

Central Question
What evidence-based practices can schools and districts implement to identify and support students experiencing homelessness?

 

Why Entrepreneurship Might Save Our Kids—and the Rest of Us. — from gettingsmart.com by Katie Kimbrell

Key Points (emphasis DSC):

  • We need to be asking our students “How did you put your ideas into the world today?”.
  • To be human is to be entrepreneurial.

One of my favorite mom friends asks her young school-aged kids every day, “What did you make today?”

I love how subtly subversive this question is. Not, “How was school today?” “Were you good today?” or, “How’s [insert school subject] going?” But, How did you put your ideas out into the world today?” 

That simple question understands this fundamental truth: to be human is to create, to employ our imaginations and partake in forming the world we want to live in.


Microschool in a Box: Programs Enabling the Microschool Movement — from gettingsmart.com by Nate McClennen

Key Points

  • Microschools are not new. In fact, they are as old as learning itself.
  • Funding and operations can be difficult within a microschool model. Programs and other organizations can support planning, design and implementation.

Microschools are meeting strong market demand for more personalized, more contextualized and more relevant learning for every student. Programs like ASU Prep’s Microschool in a Box make it possible for more learners to become future-ready with access to affordable, relational microschool learning.

Nate McClennen


The Science of Classroom Design — from edutopia.org by Youki Terada and Stephen Merrill
Our comprehensive, all-in, research-based look at the design of effective learning spaces.

Topics include:

  • Light
  • Ventilation and air quality
  • Complexity and color
  • Data walls
  • Nature, plants, and greenery
  • Representation
    • Students can experience representation in classrooms by seeing their own or peers’ artifacts on walls and in shared virtual spaces, or by being exposed to images and references that mirror their interests, passions, and backgrounds.
  • Flexibility
  • Learning differences and neurodivergence
  • Heat
  • Acoustics/noise
  • Seating arrangements
  • Learning Zones

Addendum on 12/1/23:

 

Amazon aims to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people by 2025 with its new ‘AI Ready’ commitment — from aboutamazon.com by Swami Sivasubramanian

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most transformative technology of our generation. If we are going to unlock the full potential of AI to tackle the world’s most challenging problems, we need to make AI education accessible to anyone with a desire to learn.

That’s why Amazon is announcing “AI Ready,” a new commitment designed to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025. To achieve this goal, we’re launching new initiatives for adults and young learners, and scaling our existing free AI training programs—removing cost as a barrier to accessing these critical skills.

From DSC:
While this will likely serve Amazon just fine, it’s still an example of the leadership of a corporation seeking to help others out.

 

From NPR -- The Student Podcast Challenge

We’re inviting students from around the country to make a podcast and compete for a chance to have their work featured on NPR.

Students in fifth grade through college are eligible to participate, but the rules vary depending on your grade. 

Make your voice heard! Be a part of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge!

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian