IALA » Education Evolving

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.

Youth Councils as Change Agents

Wayne Jennings — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:41:59 +0000

Some feel education won’t change until the students demand it as they did during the 1960s sit-down strikes in some urban high schools to protest segregation. Much can be gained from involving youth in decisions about their education. Dana Bennis has been tracking youth participation in decisions. He writes: “In recent years several states and cities have created youth advisory councils – small groups of youth usually age 15-18 from across the region who come together to discuss policy and create recommendations (and in some cases even draft legislation) to present to legislators and/or governors/mayors. This offers a powerful way to give youth a voice (short of lowering the voting age, which is another issue many groups advocate). States that have youth advisory councils include: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, Washington.”

Related organizations include: National Youth Rights Association, theWhat Kids Can Do (published a booklet on The Schools We Need), the English Secondary Students Association, the National Youth Leadership Council, and Student Voices project of Education Evolving.

In related news, I just finished reading The Euridem Project: A Review of Pupil Democracy in Europe by Lynn Davies and Gordon Kirkpatrick of the U of Birmingham. The report is in association with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. Children in Denmark, Holland, Sweden and Germany are well ahead of English children in legal requirements on schools to involve children in a wide range of decision-making committees; participation by children in the development of curriculum and teaching methods; pupil representation on local, regional and national education committees; and, funding and support for national unions of school students.

Also related is the work of Drs. Raymond Moore (recently deceased) and Dorothy Moore who over many articles and books counseled educators and parents to delay instruction until the child exhibited readiness to learn. They encouraged following the child’s natural interests and pace for learning. Their recommended formula for learning in The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook is 30-180 minutes of study, 30-180 minutes of real work and additional time in service to others.

Students Describe a Better Approach to Learning

Wayne Jennings — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 18:14:52 +0000

Student Voices, a project of Education Evolving, provides video clips of secondary students in innovative schools describing their educational program with separate commentary by their teachers. These revealing segments show that education can be substantially better if substantially different. Project-based learning means that students select topics of personal and societal interest for research and ultimately presenting their findings to an audience. These “non-course” schools achieve the same outcomes expected by the state but in a more comprehensive way and on a different timeline. Student motivation and therefore student learning increases significantly in these programs.

A second source of student opinions about their ideal school is the 2003 book, The School I’d Like by Catherine Burke and Ian Grosvenor. “No one reading this collection will be left with any doubt that children and young people are capable and entitled to help shape their present and future learning” Becky Gardiner. A 12 year-old said, “My ideal school is no school.”

This amplifies the situation described by Ted Sizer: “Schools are places where students come to watch teachers work.” See research findings below.

Here’s some research on the positive effects of giving students a voice:
Children

How to Change Schools

Wayne Jennings — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 18:21:30 +0000

Ted Kolderie’s new book, Creating the Capacity for Change: How and Why Governors and Legislatures Are Opening a New School Sector in Public Education calls into question the assumption that the country can create the schools it wants by changing the schools it has. He says making incremental changes will not produce new schools. It never has in the past and the forces of status quo will prevent it in the future. The answer: start over with brand-new schools. It’s the only way to get the schools we want for the 21st-century.

The book is free while supplies last by e-mailing the author at tkolderie@qwest.net or downloading it online from the Education Evolving website, which has much interesting reading.

Evaluating New Schools

Wayne Jennings — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 18:17:50 +0000

A new report by Ted Kolderie is a real breakthrough on the topic of a fair and balanced approach to evaluating new schools. Though the title of the report, Evaluating Chartering, addresses charter schools, its points pertain to evaluating all types of alternatives. The report is from a thoughtful organization, Education Evolving. The report is brief and well-worth reading.

Alternative Education in Minnesota

Wayne Jennings — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 17:54:13 +0000

A new paper “Alternative-Education Programs: The