We advance student-centered learning for all young people, by supporting teachers as designers and deciders, and by opening policy to innovation.

Recent Blog Posts

National Leaders in Competency-Based Education Share Lessons in Minnesota June 19, 2017

Last Thursday, about 100 attendees gathered to hear and learn about New Hampshire’s first-of-its-kind Performance Assessment of Competency Education state accountability system from two of its architects—Deputy Commissioner Paul Leather, and the state’s PACE curriculum director, Ellen Hume-Howard.

Secretary DeVos Speaks, Success Academy Receives Broad Prize at National Charter School Conference June 16, 2017

This past week over 4,200 advocates, teachers, policymakers, administrators, consultants, and board members attended the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The conference boasted over 135 sessions, Betsy DeVos spoke, and Success Academy won the prestigious Broad Prize.

Minnesota’s New ESSA Accountability Plan Is Almost Ready June 7, 2017

Last week, MDE’s ESSA Accountability Committee had their last meeting regarding their recommendations for state’s accountability plan. Over the course of ten months, the Accountability Committee met to discuss the different components of the plan - the state’s measures of school quality and student success (SQ/SS) measures, graduation rates, academic growth, the state’s goals for the academic indicators, and how the bottom five percent of schools will be identified for support.

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Publications & Events

Competency-Based Education: Lessons from New Hampshire
EVENT
June 15, 2017 - 4:00pm · More Info »

What if learning were defined in terms "competencies" involving 21st century skills, and students progressed at their own pace as they demonstrated mastery? Join NH Deputy Commissioner, Paul Leather, and Teaching & Learning Director, Ellen Howard-Hume, as they describe what CBE looks like in practice at the school, district, and state level.

'Charter Schools' Is System Change Memo · June 2017

What most people call 'charter schools' is in fact system change. With a new, second, charter sector, public education can be a self-improving system. Success for the district sector might depend on its picking up innovations from the charter sector. Ted Kolderie explains.

Summaries of States' ESSA Accountability Plans Memo · April 2017

On April 3, 2017, fourteen states and D.C. submitted their draft ESSA state accountability plans. This memo contains one-page summaries of each state's plan, focusing on four primary areas or “big decisions” that ESSA requires each state to address.

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Learning
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