How we developed a personalized PBL model for STEM
How can schools and districts prepare students for college and careers in STEM? Is it by asking them to passively read a textbook or listen to a teacher…
Race to the Top
Report: Race to the Top isn’t delivering big results
The Obama administration’s signature education initiative, Race to the Top, can’t deliver much educational improvement in America’s public schools because there is a huge mismatch in its mandates…
How the government can drive school innovation
Most of the funding and decision-making around education in this country occur at the state and local levels. The federal government has limited ability to effect change. That…
Strike highlights division on teacher evaluation
One of the key disagreements driving Chicago teachers to the picket lines this week is also a central component of President Barack Obama's education policy: evaluating instructors in…
Nearly 900 districts to apply for Race to the Top funding
Nearly 900 school districts across the nation intend to apply for a slice of close to $400 million in grants that the U.S. Education Department will distribute in…
Duncan discusses education reform, back-to-school changes
A more well-rounded curriculum with less focus on a single test. Higher academic standards and more difficult classwork. Continued cuts to extracurricular and other activities because of the…
District ‘Race to the Top’ rules spur mixed reaction
Proposed guidelines for school districts to vie for $400 million in new federal grants have elicited mixed reaction from education groups—from concern among ed-tech groups over how “personalized…
Feds float guidelines for school-based Race to the Top grants
Following a wave of state education reforms spurred by its Race to the Top competition, the federal Education Department (ED) said May 22 that individual school districts will…
Universal Design for Learning: The next big thing in school reform?
As educators brace for new reforms, what will these changes look like? How will assessments and curriculum differ from previous versions? How can all students get the best…
States struggle over how to evaluate special-ed teachers
Spurred by the U.S. Department of Education's $4.35 billion Race to the Top grant competition, more than a dozen states have passed laws to reform how teachers are…