The Education Evolving Blog

The first weekend of December, more than 320 educators and supporters convened in Boston for the third Teacher-Powered Schools National Conference. Designing for Success, the theme of the sold out 2018 gathering, was tailored to attendees interested in professionalizing teacher roles and moving school decisions and design toward those closest to the students—teachers.

For attendees, the conference was a welcome chance to...

Last week, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) adopted rule for the new, four-tiered teacher licensure system. This is a huge milestone in what has been a long and sometimes contentious rulemaking process. In particular, the past couple of months have been very busy for PELSB, as they have had to make rule changes to address...

On August 30, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) released the first round of 485 schools identified to receive support under the state’s new North Star accountability system, as required by the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Specifically, schools can be identified for comprehensive support, targeted support, or more general support from MDE.

Immediately following the release, news coverage spoke about the new accountability system overall, provided names of the identified schools, and...

Conflict resolution. Statistics. Self-advocacy. Science and math. Entrepreneurship. Job interviews. Problem-solving. Types of power. Building strong networks. Their own history.

These were some of the answers students, staff, families, and community members of Patrick Henry High School gave during a gathering last Friday to the question, “What topics should students learn about in school?”

Patrick Henry, a district high school in North Minneapolis that serves primarily low-income students and students of color, is part of a growing movement of public schools and districts...