A two-year independent commission studying the future of education and especially the effective use of assessment to measure student learning has issued a public policy statement calling for policymakers to turn their attention on the use of assessments to providing timely information to students and teachers rather than school and teacher accountability.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/12/13
As social media becomes ubiquitous, schools and districts should shift from trying to control its use and toward teaching faculty and students how to build successful learning communities.
PARCC--one of the two organizations tasked with developing assessments for Common Core State Standards--has released a new set of resources designed to help teachers and administrators prepare for the impending 2014 assessments.
Schools need to move away from the current factory model based on seat-time credit requirements and toward a new competency-based learning model that supports mastery-based, student-centered, personalized learning environments, according to CompetencyWorks and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).
In his annual State of the Union Address Tuesday night, President Obama touched on a number of pressing education challenges. Speaking before a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., Obama used his platform to promote the ideas of universal preschools, innovative high schools, and affordability of higher education.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/14/13
Beginning Feb. 4, Chrystyna V. Mursky will fill the role of director of professional learning for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has named two new leaders. Former West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine is the organization's new president; P21 Interim Executive Director Helen Soule is now the group's executive director.
New Hampshire schools have retired a century old education standard, replacing it with a new performance-based learning model.
- By Sharleen Nelson
- 01/23/13
Up to now, test makers have been the dog--and education has been the tail. But the test makers are increasingly out of touch with students who use mobile devices for everything including learning. The dog is, finally & rightfully so, becoming the tail.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 01/14/13
Restrictive approaches to social media in the classroom are hurting K-12 districts that expect their teachers to successfully guide students into the new media world. According to Steven Anderson, director of instructional technology at Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, "best practices and guidelines have to allow kids to both explore and make mistakes."
- By Bridget McCrea
- 11/28/12