IALA » Alternatives

Alternatives, the National Scene

Wayne Jennings — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:10:45 +0000

Dan Daly, executive director of IALA wrote recently of the organization’s efforts to impact state and national policy:

This past June, IALA hosted the Tri-State Alternatives Leadership Summit in Bloomington and formed The IALA Coalition for Innovative Education. Leaders from the following ten organizations participated; IALA, MN Association of Alternative Programs, IA Association of Alternative Education, WI Charter School Association, MN Association of Charter Schools, Association of Recovery Schools, Coalition for Charter School Management, Education Evolving, EdVisions Schools and MN Online Learning Alliance. David Bly, former MAAP President and current member of the MN House of Representatives also attended.

The purpose was to find common issues, explore ways to collaborate and impact state and federal legislation/policy. Organizations in the Coalition are currently ratifying the IALA Position Paper and the following Components of Innovative Education:

A learning program that is “different” from traditional schools and/or “focused” on a specific theme
A student-centered learning program using a variety of measures to assess student performance
Staff at the site able to make decisions about all aspects of the school and control finances
Staff at the site accountable for student performance results and fiscal responsibility
Small size

The Coalition will add organizations from throughout the country to give learning alternatives a fuller voice. Contact Dan Daly at dddaly@comcast.net or 612-716-5620.

Gardner, Advocate for Educational Pluralism

Wayne Jennings — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:52:00 +0000

Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard and well known for his books including Multiple Intelligences and Five Minds for the Future, writes of the importance of a variety of educational programs to fit different students. In a recent article, he writes that after studying various approaches such as Reggio Emilia (a program he particularly likes), Montessori, Waldorf, traditional and other types of schools he is more convinced than ever of the importance of “educational pluralism.”

Obvious as it is, schools have insufficiently acted upon the fact that all children do not learn the same. Hence, the need for a variety of educational programs to meet the diverse needs of students. He states, ” The lessons I have learned over the decades are: (1) to be ever open to new and powerful ways of educating and (2) to shun those who block the roads of individualized pedagogy as well as those who seek to impose a uniform way of presenting material.”

Posted via email from waynebj’s posterous

Project Based Learning un-Conference

Peter Wieczorek — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:43:05 +0000

In July Project Foundry hosted the 2nd annual Project Based Learning un-Conference. The keynote speaker was Peter Pappas. He shared many great examples of how Project Based Learning is transforming schools and helping students explore their worlds, rather than subjecting them to the repetitive lower order thinking tasks characterized by most traditional schools. I would encourage people to visit his blog at http://peterpappas.blogs.com/ While you are there be sure to read the post “Back to school: Will It Be Test Prep or Project Based Learning.

National and State Alternative Education Conferences

Wayne Jennings — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 09:22:03 +0000

Mark your calendar for any of the following conferences about alternatives of interest to you or colleagues.

The International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention will hold its 100th annual conference September 26-30, 2010 in Chicago.

The Iowa Association for Alternative Education will hold its 23rd Risky Business conference September 27, 2010 in Des Moines.

The Green Schools Across America will hold its first annual conference Oct. 24-26, 2010 in Minneapolis.

The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network will hold its 22st annual conference Nov. 14-17, 2010 in Philadelphia.

The Texas Association for Alternative Education will hold its 21st annual conference February 3-5, 2011 in Austin.

The National Alternative Education Association will hold its annual conference February 9-12, 2011 in Nashville.

The National At-Risk Education Network will hold its 8th annual conference February 22-24, 2011 in Panama City, Florida.

The Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs will hold its annual conference February 23-25, 2011 in Duluth, MN.

The Washington Association for Learning Alternatives will hold its 36th annual conference March 3-5, 2011 in Ocean Shores, Washington.

The Iowa Association of Alternative Education will hold its annual conference April 7-8, 2011 in Des Moines.

The Magnet Schools of America will hold its 29th annual conference May 15-18, 2011 in Indianapolis.

Alternative Education Course

Wayne Jennings — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:23:27 +0000

Here is an opportunity for anyone interested in 3 semester hours of graduate credit on the topic of alternative education from an expert. For about a decade Roy Weaver served as editor of Changing Schools (national journal of alternative education for 20 years) and organized alternative education conferences during the late 1970s and 1980s. The course is offered entirely online and will run from June 21 to July 23. The course will cover the broad range of alternatives, including free schools, open schools, schools-within-schools, schools-without-walls, magnet schools, charter schools, home schools, and virtual schools. For more information: Dr. Roy Weaver, Professor of Curriculum at Ball State University rweaver@bsu.edu cell: 765.744.0913. Course Information: http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/Distance/Academics/CourseInfo/Schedule/Summer2010Schedule/EducationalStudies.aspx

Registration: https://www.bsu.edu/webapps2/see/

Lake Superior as Your Classroom

Peter Wieczorek — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:28:56 +0000

For the next 5 months Lake Superior will become a living classroom for two lifetime educators and the school groups that follow them, either physically or via the world wide web. Mike Link and Kate Crowley are currently walking the entire shoreline of Lake Superior in an effort to bring attention to the environmental and cultural changes occuring on the greatest of all our lakes. You can follow their progress via their website that includes daily blog updates and youtube videos. This is fantastic way for students to be a part of real time education and another way of using emerging technology in the classroom. Follow the progress at http://www.fullcirclesuperior.org

Ethics and Excellence in High School

Peter Wieczorek — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:11:08 +0000

A report recently released outlines eight strengths of character that can helpboth students and schools achieve ethical and productive futures.

http://www.cortland.edu/character/highschool/chapters/SnGReport.pdf

Blueprint School

Wayne Jennings — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:00:53 +0000

I’ve waited for years for this marvelous book, Lives of Passion, School of Hope: How One Public School Ignites a Lifelong Love of Learning. It tells a story of a K-12 progressive school (Jefferson County Open School, Colorado) that combined the best features from research and practice such as: strong advisory system, personal learning plan, learner centered environment, world as classroom, service learning, travel study and competency based graduation. I began such a school in 1971 but it did not have sustained progressive leadership after my first seven years as principal. Nor has it documented its successes, both immediate and long term in the graduates’ lives. This book does all that with statistics and a rich assortment of anecdotes. If ever we needed a blueprint about schooling, one could hardly do better than this book. Every student is expected to become an effective communicator, a complex thinker, a responsible citizen, an ethical person, and a quality worker. How’s that for a set of outcomes? This is one of the most important books I have read and I highly recommend it. The author, Rick Posner worked in the school and has produced a most readable and essential book for educators and the public.

High School Graduation in Four Years – Why Not Two Years or Even Six?

Peter Wieczorek — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:57:15 +0000

High Schoolers have many more options today then they did even a decade ago. There are Alternative, Charter, Private and On-Line options, and now there are options in many states to graduate early or if necessaryto stay one, two or even three additional years. Recently both the New York Times and U.S. Today had articles reflecting these new options.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-02-25-senioryear25foronline_st_N.htm

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/a-diploma-in-10th-grade/

Green the New Alternative in Education by Peter Wieczorek

Peter Wieczorek — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:01:13 +0000

Schools have been involved in environmental education and the “Green Movement” for nearly 40 years now, but now with advances in technology and connections with the internet schools and students are able to connect, create and learn in ways that were not possible in the past. Several sites of interest are available that either directly or indirectly deal with “Green” and environmental topics in education:
http://www.greencharterschools.org
http://www.janegoodall.org/
http://www.inhabitat.com/
http://www.next.cc/

Graduation For All

Peter Wieczorek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:11:47 +0000

Here are a couple of very interesting and extensive articles on graduation rates and the need to promote graduation for all students. The first article talks mostly about the graduation gap between the upper 2/3 of high school students and the lower 1/3, made up mostly of urban, low-income African American and Latino students. The other article is from the Governor’s Guide to Dropout Prevention and Recovery.

http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0910ACHIEVINGGRADUATION.PDF

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=450020&subsecID=900201&contentID=254746

New Center for Research on Digital Media and Learning

Wayne Jennings — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:44:06 +0000

There’s little doubt that the Internet will transform schooling (read choices) and how students learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. A newly-created Digital Media and Learning Research Hub at the University of California-Irvine will explore the impact of digital media on learning and its potential for transforming education. The Center is funded by a $2.97 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The foundation has invested substantially ($50 million since 2006) researching digital learning and gaming with positive results and continues with a variety of media projects including astonishing findings of the positive impact on youth in the three year research report, Living and Learning with New Media.

Constitutional Law Change Proposed

Wayne Jennings — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:21:41 +0000

David Bly, former President of the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs and a co-founder of IALA has written a powerful booklet, The Middle Class Amendment, which you can read online. Bly, a Representative from Northfield, is a member of the Minnesota Legislature. While IALA does not make political endorsements, we think the topic of interest to alternative educators and students because Bly like many of us believe education change is nearly impossible. Thus, Bly proposes a constitutional amendment.

Education Without Walls

Peter Wieczorek — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:46:09 +0000

The technology revolution has entered into every part of our lives, and now it seems that the implications for education are about to bring major changes to the way students and indeed all of us learn and gain information. There are a multitude of options for students of all ages to gather and disseminate information on multiple platforms. Many people have already discovered the multitude of useful websites providing information regarding distance learning. The Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning http://mediasite.ics.uwex.edu/mediasite5/Viewer/?peid=a863be1f5bc348bbb1c875366dafe581# has a great presentation with many thought provoking ideas for educators. Another intriguing site is ted.com TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED’s world class presenters on video stretch users with valuable information on a wide variety of topics.

Building a Better Test?

Peter Wieczorek — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:41:25 +0000

After school budgets, testing remains one of the most controversial and talked about subjects among administrators, teachers, parents and students. Edutopia has an interesting article along with several links regarding the future of standardized testing. The article Reinventing the BIG test http://www.edutopia.org/reinventing-big-test-the-challenge-of-authentic-assessment gives examples of several promising alternative assessments to the standardized multiple choice tests that are so prevalent across the country.

Some say tests can’t assess important characteristics such as responsibility, autonomy, engagement, affiliation, hope and other aspects of major school outcomes. For a huge sample of tests see Compendium of Assessment and Research Tools and the newly developed Hope Survey (see products).