IALA espouses this policy as its core mission.

The first annual School Choice and Reform Academic Conference will be held January 14-17, 2012 at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Texas Association for Alternative Education will hold its 22nd annual conference February  2-3, 2012o the in Austin.

The National Alternative Education Association will hold its annual conference February 8-10, 2012 in Nashville.

The Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs will hold its 29th annual conference Feb. 15-17, 2012 in Rochester, MN.

The National At-Risk Education Network will hold its annual conference Feb. 21-23, 2012 in Panama City, FL.

The Washington Association for Learning Alternatives will hold its 37th  annual conference March 1-3, 2012 in Vancouver, Washington.

The International Democratic Education Conference will hold its 20th annual conference March 24-28, 2012 in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

The California Continuation Education Association will hold its annual conference April 26-29, 2012 in North Hollywood.

The Magnet Schools of America will hold its 30th annual conference May 18-21, 2012 in Dallas.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will hold its annual conference June 19-22, 2012: in Minneapolis.

The Alternative Education Resource Organization AERO will hold its annual conference August 1-5, 2012 in Portland, OR.

From IALA’s standpoint, this is an overdue but welcome affirmation of our position that all students should have a choice of distinctively different programs.

Take the time with this webinar to consider the impact of this rapidly growing segment of computer use. The implications may blow your paradigms.

This pathways system would be based on three essential elements. The first is the development of a broader vision of school reform that embraces multiple pathways to help young people successfully navigate the journey from adolescence to adulthood. The report contends that at present, we place far too much emphasis on a single pathway to success: attending and graduating from a four-year college. Yet only 30 percent of young adults successfully complete this preferred pathway. Meanwhile, even in the second decade of the 21st century, most jobs do not require a bachelor’s. The report notes that while the United States is expected to create 47 million jobs in the 10-year period ending in 2018, only a third of these jobs will require a bachelor’s or higher degree. See reference for other points.

• Self-directed, project-based learning primary focus; driven by constructivist pedagogy (Adults explain; Students explain)
• Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) for all students emphasizing student needs and interests (view video)
• Personalized work space for each student; Internet access (view video)
• Technology infused environment; technology as a tool
• Individual/group projects complemented by multiple teaching approaches based on student needs and interests (view video)
• Achievement demonstrated publicly; highest work place standards are quality goal (view video)
• All students prepared for post-secondary education, workplace and active citizenship (view video)
• All students and staff engage in quiet reading every day (view video)

Other major categories with numerous videos include:

• Authentic Assessment
• Teacher Ownership/Democratic Governance
• Small Learning Communities

The Design Elements professional contributions shows student-centered learning in action, the best I have seen! Thanks to the award winning New Country High School and Avalon School students and staff for their exemplary videos.

 Nonetheless, other states (GA, IA, IN, MA, NJ, NC, ND, WV to date) are considering similar parent trigger laws as a procedure for dealing with “failing” (low scoring) schools. Fasten your seat belts, educators!

This powerful article deserves careful study to make significant improvement in schooling. I highly recommend it. Prensky makes the article available for widespread distribution. His website contains much other useful information.

From their site: Options basically fall into two categories. First are schools of choice, all schools that aren’t regular public schools—magnet, private, charter, homeschools. In the U.S., there are about 133,000 schools; of those, about 40,000, or one third, are schools of choice. Second are choice programs, like open enrollment, school transfer options, vouchers, and tax credits. Currently, 47 states have some kind of open enrollment policy; all 50 have the school transfer option under No Child Left Behind, 9 states offer public or privately-funded vouchers, and 7 states offer tax credits.

Two major criticisms of these studies have been made aside from their conflicting findings. One regards a definition of charter schools. Are we talking about innovative charter schools vs. those following traditional approaches, charter schools in their first few years vs. well-established ones, charter schools with mostly beginning teachers, schools serving mostly at-risk students, etc.? One may as well say parochial schools achieve better than public schools; that would dismissed as making an incomplete and unwarranted comparison.

The second major criticism of charter school studies regards a level playing field on finances. Repeated studies by Ball State University show that in all states, charter schools receive fewer revenues and in many states substantially fewer revenues–on the order of 20 percent less revenue. This factor also makes student achievement comparisons suspect and unfortunately is rarely mentioned or factored in. The study, Charter School Funding: Inequity Persists updates an earlier study which also found a considerable difference in the resources available to charter schools as compared to district schools in the same locales.

People want to know about this major reform effort, charter schools and its degree of success. Once again, the complexity of valid research rears its annoying head. I, for one, want to see charter schools actually depart from conventional practices. That is the primary purpose of charter school statutes! My observation and experience with charter schools from the earliest years show that the majority of charter schools reconstitute the conventional school. A small percentage, perhaps 30 percent, (my estimate) pioneer different approaches to education. Those interesting schools have much to teach us about learning and the results for producing responsible citizenship, productive careers and lifelong learning. How about research along these lines rather than the repeated flawed and unhelpful existing studies?

In her new book The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education) Linda Darling-Hammond share her views on how schools can be improved for all students from all backgrounds.  She poignantly describes what the United States needs to do in order to build a stronger, more equitable educational system.  Recently she appeared via audio cast on Elluminate talking about both The Flat World and Education, as well as, The Right to Learn.  http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/lindadarlinghammond.mp3

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:

1. A learning program that is “different” from traditional schools and/or “focused” on a specific theme
2. A student-centered learning program using a variety of measures to assess student performance
3. Staff at the site able to make decisions about all aspects of the school and control finances
4. Staff at the site accountable for student performance results and fiscal responsibility
5. 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.

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

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.