Publications

In November, 2014 the U.S. Department of Education proposed a set of priorities, requirements, and criteria for the federal charter grants to state education agencies. Here is the response of three senior E|E associates, to that proposal.

All known teacher-powered (i.e. teacher-led) schools, both in list form and plotted as pins on a map. A resource of the Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative.

To get innovation in K-12 we need to free those closest to the action—the teachers—to innovate and meet the needs of their students. Ted Kolderie draws lessons from World War 2 to make this argument, in a commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"The Futures of School Reform" is a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, coordinated by Jal Mehta. In October 2013, E|E invited Mehta to Minnesota to talk about the five alternative futures. Here are notes on the project from E|E's Ted Kolderie, and on what he thought was most significant for the education policy discussion in Minnesota.

Kolderie raises some questions about the one-dimensional definition of 'achievement' currently accepted essentially unquestioned. Challenging un-stated premises—though likely to upset people—is a 'must' for good decisions and successful policymaking. A commentary by Ted Kolderie in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, invited Ted Kolderie to discuss "The Role of Innovation in the Charter Movement" with the heads of state charter associations and resource centers. These are his remarks; edited to include some of the points made in the hour-long discussion that followed.

Lately, our nation’s strategy for improving our schools is mostly limited to “getting tough” with teachers. Blaming teachers for poor outcomes, we spend almost all of our energy trying to control teachers’ behavior and school operations. But what if all of this is exactly the opposite of what is needed? What if trusting teachers, and not controlling them, is the key to school success?

Pasi Sahlberg had a day of conversations with Minnesotans on July 19, 2012 about the schools in Finland. An official in the Ministry of Education and Culture in Helsinki, Sahlberg is probably the person most involved with explaining to countries around the world about the education system that Finland developed beginning about 1970.

If you want to know more about Avalon (a school with collective teacher autonomy) without visiting in person, this is probably the best you could do. A compilation of stories, studies and other publications by people who have been there; the founders, current advisors, former students, and national researchers. Edited by EE Senior Fellow and Hamline University Education Professor Walter Enloe, Avalon Alumna Holly Marsh, and David Pugh from Golden Hill Alternative Learning Center.