Can we envision a system in which the local needs dictate the length of class sessions, the school day and year, the way subjects are organized and taught, and the manner in which external partnerships contribute to the education of teachers and their students? The design of the schools needs to be dictated by what we know about children's learning and organization capacity enhancements; then goals for the design of the instruction, and partnerships follow. The changes local school districts…

After six years of teaching, Josh Waldron gave up. He was perfectly qualified, an excellent teacher,  smart and sincere, everything we want in the classroom. But he had not anticipated all the hoops he would have to jump through, all the ridiculous paperwork he would have to fill out, all the  trivial requirements he would have to attend to.  He finally had to make a practical decision on how to best serve his family and himself.

 At the time I first heard about Josh…

Identify the needs that are most important and find a private sector partner that understands the local workforce needs and has a vested interest in the success of the local community. The most successful partnerships are between organizations with similar goals. This allows both partners to contribute their expertise and resources to create measurable and enduring value. An ideal partner will provide the resources to begin a program and see it through to successful and sustainable…

Engagement Does Not Always Equate to Learning…

Kids Get Enough Tech Outside of School—Shouldn’t the Classroom Offer Them Something Different?

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

One thousand hours: That’s approximately the number of instructional hours …

Partnerships between the private sector and education have the ability to leverage a unique set of resources, talent, involvement, and know-how from each partner that can maximize collective efforts. In this two part series on school-business partnerships, bloggers Ann Myers and Jill Berkowicz asked the same set of questions of Dr. David Evans, NSTA Executive Director and Blair Blackwell, Manager of Education and Corporate Programs at Chevron Corporation. Today's answers come from Dr. David…

14 Virtual Tools for the Math Classroom

The Common Core and PARCC debacle continue to rage at conferences, in articles and blogs, at board meetings, in faculty meetings, PTA meetings, and in living rooms and legislative hallways. Actually we think this is a good thing. The attention of parents, board members, teachers, community members, politicians, and candidates on the quality of education is certainly larger than in recent memory. There are questions about the value of national standards, the appropriate nature of some…