WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation
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Blogs on Education Reform

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1
The Digital Lives of Teens: Revolutionary "Bliss"?
Matt LevinsonMay 22, 2013
Tags Education Reform, , Student Engagement, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

English novelist and playwright E.G. Bulwer-Lytton once wrote, "A revolution is a transfer of power." We might just be on the brink of a revolution when it comes to kids, technology and schools.

High school student Jeff Bliss' recent, public and viral rant about his teacher has unsettled the minds and hearts of every teacher working with kids right now. At the drop of a hat, a student can go public with dissatisfaction or disgruntlement, unleashing a torrent of response and reprisal.

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The Arbitrary Albatross: Standardized Testing and Teacher Evaluation
Aaron PribbleMay 15, 2013
Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Performance Assessment, Standardized Testing, All Grades

On Chicago's streets and Hollywood's silver screens, education reform has been cast as a false dilemma between students and teachers. Reputable actresses and liberal mayors have both fallen prey. At the center of this drama lie teacher evaluations. A linchpin of the debate, they weigh especially heavily around the necks of educators like me.

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10
"School Time" in New Zealand
Adam ProvostMay 6, 2013
Tags Alternative Scheduling, Education Reform, Global Education, Professional Development, All Grades

I've interviewed hundreds of people over the last decade about how schools in the United States often choose to structure time. Most often, I pose the question to people in the places I visit, "Can you explain how the school day is structured, and why?"

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What the NFL Scouting Combine Can Teach Us About Teacher Evaluation
José VilsonApril 26, 2013
Tags Education Reform, Performance Assessment, Professional Development, Teacher Development

Last week, the National Football League released its schedule for the 2013-14 season, to the joy of die-hard pigskin fans and the chagrin of the rest of America trying to watch their Sunday evening programming. For the last month and a half, teams had been carefully analyzing the results of the NFL scouting combine to see which players best match their system and show the most promise for their future success. (Quick note: the combine is a weeklong display of different workouts and challenges that may demonstrate prospective players' mental and physical abilities.)

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7
Music and the Spirit of Schools
Mark PhillipsApril 23, 2013
Tags Arts Education, Education Reform, Student Engagement, High (9-12), Music

I love all types of music, from John Coltrane playing "My Favorite Things" to Bruce Springsteen shaking the rafters with "Promised Land" to Hilary Hahn's rapturous performance of a Bach Partita. And lately I've been thinking more about the place of music in schools -- all music, but especially classical music.

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2
"How Do I Teach This?" vs. "What Did We Learn?"
Shawn CornallyApril 18, 2013
Tags Curriculum, Education Reform, Integrated Studies, Student Engagement, Science

In light of last week's release of the Next Generation Science Standards1 (NGSS), I'm reminded of a quote from a veteran teacher in my building:

"Do they really think the reason kids aren't proficient is because we don't know what to teach?"

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Penn-Finn Learnings 2013: A Wealth of Resources for Connected Educators
Dr. Joe MazzaApril 12, 2013
Tags Education Reform, Global Education, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Teacher Development, All Grades

Last week, the annual Silfen Forum was held at the University of Pennsylvania. The theme, Open Learning and the Future of Higher Education, brought together educators from around the country, including the panelists Amy Gutmann, Martha Kanter, Thomas Friedman, Daphne Koller and William Kirwan. A common thread during the one-hour conversation was on how the world has gone from connected to hyper-connected over the last seven years. The rise of MOOCs (Massive Online Open Classrooms) has forced us to re-evaluate what traditional college and university teaching and learning look like. A full sharing of tweets from and about the forum can be found on Storify.

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Tomorrow's Leaders Can't Wait to Take Action
Suzie BossApril 11, 2013
Tags Business Partnerships, Education Reform, Leadership, Mentoring, High (9-12)

For more than 1,300 youth gathered at Washington University in St. Louis last weekend for the Clinton Global Initiative University (#CGIU), the focus was squarely on the future. Delegates from around the globe arrived with commitments to tackle projects with world-changing potential, from ending human trafficking to increasing the number of girls pursuing engineering. (Read more about the event at www.cgiu.org.)

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2
Another Person's World: Ed Reform Through True Understanding
Lori DesautelsApril 4, 2013
Tags Community Partnerships, Education Reform, Service Learning, , Urban Schools

Anthropologist and humanist Ashley Montagu stated: "Love is profound involvement in the well-being of others." Several weeks ago, I experienced this kind of love in West Humboldt Park, an impoverished, gang-and-violence-infested inner city Chicago neighborhood.

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4
Replacing Teachers with Emotion
Terry HeickApril 3, 2013
Tags Brain Research, Education Reform, Mental Health, , Student Engagement

Teachers mean well. By teachers, I mean you.

You mean well.

After all, you're here, aren't you -- looking for resources to become a better teacher or administrator? And you're in education to begin with -- that's a selfless and Sisyphean pursuit in itself. You want what's best for the future of mankind, so you decided to teach. Went to college, learned about Vygotsky and Piaget, and here you are on Edutopia, finding out what makes learners tick.

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