Peter Groff, chair of the Colorado Senate wants to see 100 new schools for students to choose from. The Initiative called Get Smart Schools will be launched shortly. Already two new schools will open next fall: Envision and Atlas. Chicago and New York are cited as having opened new schools (55 and 88 respectively) in the last few years. Florida has just passed a sweeping requirement that all districts must offer full time online learning programs for their K-12 students.
New schools have a better chance of reform or making changes. It’s been long noted how difficult it is to change existing schools in any substantive way. New schools offer an institutional bypass.
The Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) is providing courses on how to start an alternative school and on the history of alternative education. Start a School 101 begins September 15, 2008 and is taught by Jerry Mintz among others. The Theory and History of Educational Alternatives is taught by Ron Miller and will also start September 15, 2008. Both are experienced educators well versed in alternatives. You can enroll online or request information at amkaero@gmail.com. Scholarships are available.
Posted on August 26, 2008 at 11:10 am
under AERO, Alt, Ed. Res. Org., Alternatives, Conferences, Democratic schools, Mintz, Jerry, Training
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Tagged AERO, Alternative Education Resource Organization, professional development
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Dana Bennis has started a website specifically devoted to promoting democratic education and can be reached personally at dana.bennis@yahoo.com. Dana has a long standing interest in democratic education having studied it in several countries and being part of a democratic school. He advocates giving students voice in decisions about their education and their school’s operation. You will find much useful information and news at the site.
Another important development in democratic education is the annual meeting of the International Democratic Education Conference, held this year August 11-18 in Vancouver. Jerry Mintz provides a write up in his free newsletter under item #2. John Loflin provides a detailed account (IDEC 2006) of the conference. DVDs are also available
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In a certain to be much talked about book, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton M. Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, and Michael B. Horn describe how a majority of students will use online learning within a decade. They suggest we must disrupt, that is change, thinking about individualizing learning and schooling. This provocative book follows in the path of earlier “disruptive” and innovative thinking about society and business.
We’ve addressed online learning as the fastest growing section for education change in past entries. You can access this topic by searching our previous entries.
The U.S. Dept. of Education produced Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success to address the challenge of meeting diverse needs of online learners and how to assess their learning. This 80 page guide (free online) delves into the technical aspects of data gathering and organizing information for arriving at both formative and summative conclusions about program effectiveness using real school examples.
Posted on July 10, 2008 at 7:46 pm
under Alternatives, Charter schools, Choices, Online learning, Personalized Educ, Reports, Virtual schools
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Tagged book review, Christensen, Online learning, school reform, Virtual schools
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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed Readiness Schools, as a radical departure from conventional district schools according to an article in the Boston Globe. Officials said these schools would be “freed from many constraints imposed by unions, school districts, and the state. The readiness schools would adapt to community needs and offer new alternatives in school systems across the state.” Readiness schools were described as a hybred of charter schools and Boston’s Pilot Schools.
The Governor will attempt the legislation in January, 2009 with the aim of opening schools by fall, 2009 and 40 within four years. “Readiness schools would be allowed to deviate from state curriculum guidelines and experiment with teaching practices.” The schools would be a choice for parents, students and staff.
This kind of innovation typifies the ferment and impatience about over-regulated schools and the difficulty of reform efforts.
Arising from discussions with Politeia, Brazil’s democratic education institute, at the 15th International Democratic Education Conference last summer in Sao Paulo a new work “A History of Democratic Education in American Public Schools” by democracy advocate and IALA member John Harris Loflin is now available.
Supported by IALA, this comprehensive 161 page paper aims at persuading American urban public classrooms and schools to become more democratic. In doing so, he encourages public schools to enter solidly into the 21st century by questioning, rethinking and providing alternatives to 20th century concepts particularly for under-served children and youth.
Posted on July 3, 2008 at 12:58 am
under Alternatives, Articles, At risk programs, Democratic schools, IDEC, International Educ, Loflin, John, Reports, Research
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Tagged Alternatives, democratic education, Democratic schools, Reform
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The Singapore Ministry of Education says, “Teach Less, Learn More is about teaching better, to engage our learners and prepare them for life, rather than teaching more for tests and examinations.” Their website contains such refreshing gems as:
-TLLM aims to touch the hearts and engage the minds of our learners, to prepare them for life.
-It is about shifting the focus from
‘Restoring Value’ to the High School Diploma: The Rhetoric and Practice of Higher Standards, a new report raises serious questions about the standards and testing movement as a vehicle for reforming high schools. It starts, “Four themes emerge from the fray: that standards and rigor are too low; that the high school has lost its relevance, particularly to future employment; that the high school is inequitable; and that the high school is simply boring.” 
It finds the arguments of “rigor” simplistic. Most standards and tests measure the narrow curriculum confines of the late 19th Century and stress breadth rather than depth. They suggest:
-New models of rigor aside from conventional test-based and course-based conceptions.
-Examining the inequality of standards as applied to neglected issues of raising achievement for the lowest-performing students.
-Alternatives to the conventional academic program be more seriously considered. They recommend “multiple pathways through high school.
The authors W. Norton Grubb and Jeannie Oakes, both professors at the U. of California, prepared the October, 2007 report and an executive summary for the Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC) and the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU).
Doing School Choice Right, a new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education states, “Choice programs will not be implemented easily or even cheaply. The surest way to help guarantee their success will be conscious, well-thought-out strategies drawing on the best thinking of the worlds of government and philanthropy. And perhaps the surest way to encourage their failure is to implement choice programs quickly, carelessly and cheaply, optimistic that at some point things will all work out for the best.” 
The report billed as “preliminary findings” begins with questions: “Will school choice be the end of public education? Or will it be the salvation of thousands of students who would otherwise fail in district-run schools? There is only one honest answer: it all depends.” They promise further studies around choice: funding, parent information, impact on children, performance accountability and other areas.
A related report is School Choice: Doing it the Right Way Makes a Difference by the the First National Commission on Choice in K-12 Education.
In a stunning development, the Community College Baccalaureate Association fosters the conferring of a traditionally earned four year degree from community colleges, which traditionally offer a two year degree.
They say: “The baccalaureate degree is an important entry requirement for the better jobs and a better lifestyle. Therefore, every person should have an opportunity to pursue the baccalaureate degree at a place that is convenient, accessible and affordable. We will … promote the community college baccalaureate degree to governors, state legislatures, national policy boards, and other appropriate persons and organizations.”
The book The Community College Baccalaureate: Emerging Trends and Policy Issues edited by Deborah Floyd et al provides a useful source of information on this movement.
Such is the state of innovation and competition in higher education today. Now, imagine coupling the early college movement with the community college baccalaureate degree. A student could theoretically complete a college education in a much shorter period of time at far less personal expense than the traditional eight years of high school and college!
One of the newest stars in the education constellation is combining secondary education with college and it has taken off dramatically. In just one major program this year, 159 schools in 24 states operate with an expected 100,000 students served at 250 sites within the next few years. What are early college programs? 
Early college schools are partnerships between public secondary schools and higher education institutions. These small schools are designed so that students accumulate high school and college credit simultaneously. Going beyond typical dual enrollment programs, the early college curriculum is a coherent unit, with high school and college-level work blended into a single academic program that positions students to leave high school with one to two years of college credit. This initiative funded by conventional revenues but augmented by numerous foundations aims at breakthroughs with youth underrepresented in college enrollments.
A stunning example of using almost every progressive reform idea is that of the Empowering Students program of the Georgia state colleges. It begins in the 7th grade with schools on college campuses, uses students as resources, involves community volunteers, integrates curriculum and impressively raises student aspirations.
This astonishing movement is a striking example of an institutional bypass! A major initiative is coordinated by the Early College High School program of Jobs for the Future. There are others as has been noted on this weblog earlier.
A national opinion poll conducted in March, 2008 of 800 registered voters found that 81% of parents support having more public school options for their children. The poll conducted by The Glover Park Group for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools also found 60% support for charter schools.
This finding affirms the mission of IALA: to lead, promote and support learning alternatives in education.
