Category Archives: Reform

Alternatives, the National Scene

September 5, 2010 – 10:10 am

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 [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Choices, Education Evolving, EdVisions Cooperative, Policy | Comments (0)

Multiple Assessments: Hope Survey

August 9, 2010 – 5:41 pm

What effect is the current standards movement and teaching to the test having on our students? What do you know about how students at your school view the school environment? Now your school can find out by seeing the school from the eyes of your students based on their responses on the Hope Survey. This [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Assessment, High schools, Part 21st Cent Skills, Personalized Educ, Policy, Research, Students, Survey, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Prologue to Revolution: Exciting Approach

August 4, 2010 – 10:37 am

“Prologue to Revolution,” a seven page report by Francis Duffy, lists four “industrial-age” paradigms hampering school change, describes why they persist in the face of evidence to the contrary, and asks about the reader’s beliefs as a road to action. This readable piece provides a compelling argument for school transformation and suggests avenues for its [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Policy, Reports, Research, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Alternative Education Course

June 5, 2010 – 9:23 pm

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 [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, At risk programs, Charter schools, Choices, IALA, Magnet schools, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Blueprint School

April 19, 2010 – 12:00 pm

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, [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Choices, High schools, Personalized Educ, Students | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Graduation For All

January 13, 2010 – 4:11 pm

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 [...]

By admin | Also posted in Alternatives, Articles, At risk programs, Policy, Reports | Comments (0)

New Center for Research on Digital Media and Learning

November 9, 2009 – 6:44 pm

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 [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Choices, Education Revolution, Online learning, Personalized Educ, Reports, Research, Technology | Comments (0)

Constitutional Law Change Proposed

September 15, 2009 – 4:21 pm

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 [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Statutes | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Building a Better Test?

August 26, 2009 – 11:41 am

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 [...]

By admin | Also posted in Alternatives, Articles, Survey | Comments (0)

School Choice Expanding Worldwide

July 16, 2009 – 8:35 pm

Since the early 1990s when the nation’s first charter school was opened in St. Paul, MN, the scope and availability of school-based options to parents has steadily expanded in the U.S. and abroad. No longer can traditional education be a public monopoly. Sponsored by the National Center on School Choice (NCSC), this 648 page ($115) Handbook of [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Charter schools, Choices, Magnet schools, Policy, Research, Vouchers | Comments (0)

Technology’s Impact on Students

June 9, 2009 – 7:13 am

Several recent articles outline the uses of technology in the classroom and give readers lots to think about.   The first article deals with the effects of technology on students throughout their education. Lenovo to Research Tech’s Effect on Learning: Global Education Research project will study how technology affects education in and after school, from kindergarten through higher education. [...]

By admin | Also posted in Articles, Online learning, Reports, Research, Technology | Comments (0)

Valuable Resources on Alternative Education

February 26, 2009 – 5:01 pm

Here are useful resources with links to other sites: Brief descriptions in Summary of Educational Models include: Accelerated Schools, America’s Choice, Big Picture, Communities in Schools, EdVisions, Job Corps, Youth Build and 17 more. The Alternative High School Initiative (AHSI) is a network of youth development organizations with over 258 sites nationwide for creating educational [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Choices, High schools, Policy, Reports, Research, Students | Comments (0)

Learning Outside the Ivy Walls

October 12, 2008 – 1:42 pm

Recently, I attended the Macalester College celebration and was struck by the number of community based and service learning opportunities touted as powerful for their students. In fact, there was little mention of conventional educational practices of courses, classes and lectures. Mentioned were international experiences with businesses, embassies, human rights, peace organizations, world hunger and local [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Choices, Students, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

A Most Remarkable Book

October 9, 2008 – 8:10 pm

IALA promotes educational choices and there would not be the compelling call for change in district schools if they engaged students more. Here are my comments about an amazing book by an extraordinary teacher in a most democratic program. If Holden Caulfield Were In My Classroom: Inspiring Love, Creativity and Intelligence in Middle School Students [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Alternatives, Democratic schools, Personalized Educ, Students | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Democratic Education Resources and IDEC Conference

August 26, 2008 – 10:00 am

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 [...]

By Wayne Jennings | Also posted in Choices, Democratic schools, Research, Students | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)