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'Life Is Not a Standardized Test'

In this short, powerful paper a former district official and college president argues for re-setting the objectives and the assessment for both college and high school. "We have fallen into the trap of valuing what we measure," he says, "rather than measuring what we value". Education is about critical thinking, analytical reasoning and problem-solving. But these are not things taught in a course. The whole school must be responsible for these 'collective outcomes'.

A Brief Survey of the Concept of 21st Century Skills

What are considered "21st Century Skills?" Who has articulated them, and what sorts of assessment tools exist to measure them? What relationship does the NEA have to all of this?

A Fallacy in Policy Thinking

Opponents of change commonly try to set a test of perfection. They try to persuade everyone that no change can be permitted unless its advocates can show that the change will solve all present problems and will create no new problems. On the other side, opponents don’t even have to prove the proposed change harmful: It's enough just to spread fear and doubt, asking endlessly: What if? What if?

A Learning Revolution

This remarkable vision of schooling and learning rebuilt around the potential of digital electronics comes from the person in charge of education for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. In 1990 Mike Smith wrote the initial, defining paper on standards-based systemic reform. This was a talk to the Asia Society in Beijing.

A Model RFP: For "Second Generation" Evaluations of Chartered Schools and Chartering. (pdf)

Traditional evaluation of chartered schools is focusing on the wrong questions. To know 'what's working' researchers must focus on the "institutional innovation of chartering" rather than trying to generalize about the very diverse collection of schools. The RFP is designed to elicit recommendations both on ways to strengthen chartered schools and on ways to improve the state's overall policy framework for chartering. The Model RFP is also designed to gather information on whether and how districts are responding to the emergence of chartered schools.

A viable high school in a small rural district. (pdf)

Nontraditional forms of schooling do exist that are economically and educationally viable at the scale of 120 students in six grades. This has huge implications for K-12 public education in rural America's sparsely-settled areas. The trick is to think differently about teaching and learning. Most of the resources can then be devoted to learning. This is an article in the magazine of the superintendents' association in Minnesota, written for its members.

Academic competitions are a learning experience outside school. (pdf)

What do students' choices for outside-of-school learning tell us about how we could design in-school learning models and education policy? Academic competitions are a largely-unexplored and little-understood aspect of student learning. Such competitions deserve additional attention from academic researchers, professional educators, and education policy leaders to better determine how students learn, what motivates students, and what skills and experiences are most relevant to the real world.

Age3/Grade3 Schools: A new approach to early literacy

It would be wonderful to close the achievement gap...before there is one. Now when children walk into elementary school for the first time the achievement gap is so large that some never recover. The "Age 3 to Grade 3 Model" restructures the school, using existing financing, so that the literacy spans the 'early' years and the 'school' years. The model calls for restructuring child care, Head Start and other pre-K initiatives. Kindergarten literacy readiness is defined based on the "Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI's)." Grade 1-3 reading targets are based on the AIMSweb passages aligned with state standards (r < .75). Response to Intervention (RtI) is used through the entire school. Training, coaching and mentoring is provided frequently to all staff.

Allocation of General Education Revenue Among Buildings Memorandum. (pdf)

A memorandum to the superintendents of the St. Paul school district regarding the allocation of revenue to buildings in which students who generate the revenue are enrolled. Includes instructions for computing initial general education revenue by building using tools provided by the Department, and instructions for maintaining separate accounts for each building through UFARS.

Alternative-education programs: The quiet giant in Minnesota public education. (pdf)

Even those close to education policy were astonished by the size and growth-rate of 'alternative education'. Districts have been creating these new schools since the 1970s for "kids not doing well" in 'regular' school. This report includes quotes from alternative school students reflecting on their schools.

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