Why these kids get a free ride to college --= from The New York Times by Ted Fishman

 

Excerpt:

Back in November 2005, when this year’s graduates were in sixth grade, the superintendent of Kalamazoo’s public schools, Janice M. Brown, shocked the community by announcing that unnamed donors were pledging to pay the tuition at Michigan’s public colleges, universities and community colleges for every student who graduated from the district’s high schools. All of a sudden, students who had little hope of higher education saw college in their future. Called the Kalamazoo Promise, the program — blind to family income levels, to pupils’ grades and even to disciplinary and criminal records — would be the most inclusive, most generous scholarship program in America.

 

Also see:

The Kalamazoo Promise- free college

 

 

From DSC:

  • I would like to thank the anonymous donors who created and continue to sustain the Kalamazoo Promise; and to recognize their humility and service to society. They didn’t announce their gifts with trumpets; rather, they quietly gave without wanting to put their names to these enormous, life-changing gifts.  What a great example for many of the nation’s top 1%-5% to follow!  It’s amazing what generous hearts can do.  The LORD knows who did it and continues to do it.

 

Why school?: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere [Kindle edition]
Publication date: September 10, 2012

Will Richardson: Why School?

Book description

Traditional educators, classrooms, and brick-and-mortar schools are no longer necessary to access information. Instead, things like blogs and wikis, as well as remote collaborations and an emphasis on ‘critical thinking’ skills are the coins of the realm in this new kingdom. Yet the national dialogue on education reform focuses on using technology to update the traditional education model, failing to reassess the fundamental design on which it is built.

In ‘Why School?,’ educator, author, parent and blogger Will Richardson challenges traditional thinking about education — questioning whether it still holds value in its current form. How can schools adjust to this new age? Or students? Or parents? In this provocative read, Richardson provides an in-depth look at how connected educators are beginning to change their classroom practice. Ultimately, ‘Why School?’ serves as a starting point for the important conversations around real school reforms that must ensue, offering a bold plan for rethinking how we teach our kids, and the consequences if we don’t.

Also see Will’s blog posting re: this new book –> Why School?

Excerpt:

I’m excited because it’s an opportunity, I hope, to spread a different conversation around what schools can be and, I think, need to be at this moment when our access to information and teachers and a whole bunch of other stuff is exploding. I sincerely believe that over the next couple of decades, what happens in schools is going to fundamentally change, and that there are basically two competing narratives around what that change looks like. Right now, the not so wonderful narrative is taking hold. I’m humbly hoping that Why School? can in some way serve as a support for the other more student-centered narrative to take hold.

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Transform education by measuring what matters. Hint: It’s not test scores. — from the Innovative Educator by Lisa Nielsen

Excerpts:

What if instead we measured success in things that really mattered to students, parents and teachers.  For example…

Students have:

  • A plan to find and develop their passion(s).
  • A team of mentors, guidance, and/or advisors to help guide them in discovery and development of their passions.
  • Customized success plans that they help design.
  • Advisors who are deeply involved in and responsible for their lives and their success.
  • An opportunity to learn about what they are interested in the world with real world experts.
  • Reported they are satisfied with support they receive from the school.
  • An authentic portfolio that can be used for career, academic, or civic pursuits.

If we work to move the conversation to measuring success by meeting our student’s personal goals in college, career, and/or life experiences we accomplish these goals:

  • Instead of teaching to the test we teach to the student.
  • Billions of dollars are restored toward resources for students.
  • Schools are held accountable, not for test scores, but for placement in what matters: college, career, and/or civic duty.

 

More than 16 million U.S. children currently live in food insecure households, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These families too often confront a painful choice—pay bills, provide shelter, or put food on the table. To address this increasing need, nonprofits, foundations, government, and corporations must work together to make sure more children have access to the safety net programs that can provide them with the food they need to thrive.

 

—  Collaboration and Partnerships: The Path to Ending Child Hunger
Neil Nicoll, YMCA of the USA – Posted August 27, 2012

Also see:

 

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What students want to do vs. the jobs the economy has to offer — froom anniemurphypaul.com

Excerpt:

What happens when students want to learn is different from what the economy wants them to do? Should students (and their parents) even pay attention to such projections, since the needs of the workplace seem to be changing so fast?

 

Kuers introduces What If Learning dot com

 

Excerpt:

The site presents teaching examples—for both elementary and secondary classrooms—from a range of subjects: art, cooking, dance, technology, drama, English, environment, geography, history, technology, math, foreign/second language, music, physical education, health, Bible class and science. (There are also categories titled “teacher,” “tests” and “topics.”)

Each example leads off with a question: “What if a grammar lesson challenged selfishness?” “What if success in math depended upon forgiveness?” “What if history could inspire students to love their city?” The site also provides tabs labeled “The Approach,” “Training,” “Big Picture,” and “Information,” where teachers can learn how to apply what they’ve learned in their classrooms.

“The website helps teachers ask key questions and make strategic decisions, not only about what to teach but about how to teach,” said Matt Walhout, Calvin’s dean for research and scholarship. “It relates specific topics like language, history, and math to the overarching Christian principles of faith, hope, and love.”

 

Also see:

How children learn: Portraits of classrooms around the world — by Maria Popova and Julian Germain
A revealing lens on a system-phenomenon both global in reach and strikingly local in degree of diversity.

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 Jessore, Bangladesh. Year 10, English.
Image courtesy Julian Germain

 

Also see:

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States with online course or online experience requirements — from Sevenstar

  1. Alabama (As of 2008, all students must earn one credit in an advanced placement course, an honors course, a dual credit course or a distance learning course)
  2. Florida (For the 2011-2012 academic year, Florida begins requiring its high school students to complete at least one course online in order to graduate. As of 2006, all students must have the option to take an online course if a student wants it)
  3. Georgia (Starting in 2014, all ninth grade students will have to take at least one online course before graduation)
  4. Michigan (As of 2006, all incoming high school students must complete a course of study delivered via the intranet/Internet; or students will complete 20 hours of structured, sustained, integrated, online experiences.)
  5. Idaho (All students who begin ninth grade in fall 2012, must take 2 online courses to graduate)
  6. New York (As of 2011, public schools in the state of New York must spend significant amounts of time online)
  7. New Mexico (As of 2011, All students must earn one credit in an advanced placement course, an honors course, a dual credit course or a distance learning course)
  8. Virginia (All students who begin ninth grade in fall 2013, must take at least part of a course online to receive a standard or advanced-studies high-school diploma.)

 

Also see:

  • Christian Schools, Finances and Online Courses: Ready for a New Wineskin? — from Sevenstar
    Financial-based decisions are occurring in almost every school. While financial stewardship has always been a hallmark of the Christian school movement, the decisions to cut faculty, reduce the breadth of classes offered, and close schools may lessen the impact of Christian education in the United States. This white paper describes the changed landscape of education and presents opportunities for Christian Schools to thrive financially in this new environment. If your school is concerned about financial sustainability, be sure to read this seminal white paper.

 

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[video_lightbox_vimeo5 video_id=46294572 width=800 height=600 anchor=”http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ExploringDisruptions-Mark-Elgart-August2012.jpg”]

(Click on above image to see the video)

Also see:
http://www.advanc-ed.org/

College of Education helps innovate Kentucky schools– from uknow.uky.edu by Amanda Nelson

Excerpt:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 1, 2012) — Several Kentucky school districts have started working with the University of Kentucky College of Education in a unique partnership to innovate and improve schools. The districts are participating in the college’s Next Generation Leadership (NxGL) Academy, an output of its Kentucky P20 Innovation Lab.

From DSC:
It seems like there would be a lot of WIN-WINs here: 

  • Better/closer collaboration between K-12 and higher ed
  • Enhanced student teaching experiences
  • Better pulse checking on where the changing K-12 student is at
  • More informed teams — bringing a variety of perspectives to the table — to look at the best ways to reform education
  • and more

 

 

Digital Storytelling — from app-list.posterous.com and HCS Mobile, which showcases students learning with mobile devices in Horry County Schools

Excerpt:

Digital Storytelling combines images, narration, and other audio to tell a story. Every content area has a story and each student is capable of telling it. The NETS Standards have students creating, collaborating, and producing their own unique content – digital storytelling is a great way to meet this expectations while still advancing your academic curriculum.

ClassDojo launches behavior management software for classrooms  — from betakit.com by Justin Lee

Excerpt:

Many apps in the education tech space are focused on educational curriculum and content, and are tools that aim to help students learn and get better marks. Startup ClassDojo, which launched publicly today after 10 months in beta, has a different goal: to help students behave better in the classroom. ClassDojo’s behavior management software platform for classrooms helps teachers improve classroom conduct, while also capturing related data. The company is also announcing $1.6 million in funding from investors including Ron Conway, Paul Graham, Jeff Clavier and Mitch Kapor, among other investors.

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Learnetic, a Polish-based eLearning publisher and developer, has just released Lorepo — an online authoring tool dedicated to the creation of interactive digital content compatible with desktop computers, tablet devices and smart phones. Thanks to HTML5 technology and the development of specific design guidelines, the new tool enables authors to create interactive learning objects that are compatible with the wide variety of operating systems, screen resolutions and mouse/touch interfaces in today’s marketplace. Read the rest of the press release here >>

 

lorepo.com -- Lorepo is our key solution for everyone interested in learning, creating and sharing interactive content.

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Lorepo is provided to you by Learnetic, an eLearning industry leader offering a wide range of products and services for modern education. Lorepo is our key solution for everyone interested in learning, creating and sharing interactive content.

Either you are an individual person willing to share some knowledge with your friends or the whole world, a teacher eager to provide your students with personalized learning resources or a publishing company aiming at preparing professional, multiplatform interactive content, Lorepo is the best choice for you.

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Also see:

 

learnetic.com-  Learnetic S.A. is a world-leading educational software publisher and e-learning technology provider,

 

.Learnetic S.A. is a world-leading educational software publisher and e-learning technology provider, based in Poland. Its content, publishing tools and eLearning platforms are widely used by publishers, teachers and students in over 30 countries, including Poland, United States, United Kingdom, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, and Australia. The company’s talented team of software engineers specializes in designing applications for education markets and is dedicated to satisfying the diverse needs of contemporary educators and learners.

50 best blogs for special ed teachers (updated) — from onlineuniversities.com

Excerpt:

While being a teacher is never easy, working with students in special education comes with some unique challenges. From writing lengthy IEPs to working closely with parents and other teachers, it takes a calm, collected, organized, confident, and very special person to work with students who often need a great deal more support and assistance than their peers to succeed. Yet even the best special education teachers can use a little guidance, inspiration, and information to help them to be even better at what they do. That’s just what the 50 blogs we’ve collected here can do. Read through this updated list (a revision of this list to reflect new blogs and to remove old, no-longer-updated sites) to find resources that will help you teach, learn, and grow right alongside your students.

 

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