Welcome to the Summit Weblog
Reenvisioning Assessments
May 21, 2007 12:00 PM
LFA Summit participants repeatedly voiced concerns that the current testing regime subverts the kind of learning that will prepare students for the new century. A new Education Week commentary by Summit speakers Charles Fadel and Margaret Honey lays out the need for much more sophisticated assessments.
Read More…Ed in '08?
May 4, 2007 12:36 PM
The education press has been abuzz with news that the Broad and Gates Foundations are pumping a combined $60 Million into a campaign to elevate education to the top of the '08 Presidential campaign agendas. This campaign certainly has our attention, given LFA's own plans to foster a more constructive national conversation on public education. It may offer us some opportunities.
Read More…Are American Public Schools Failing?
May 3, 2007 7:04 AM
Gerald Bracey has an editorial in today's Washington Post questioning common rhetoric about the failure of American public schools to measure up to schools in other countries. (See "A Test Everyone Will Fail."). He points to a recent American Institutes for Research study that raises serious questions about the conventional wisdom that American students lag far behind their peers in other countries.
Read More…Defending Technology
May 2, 2007 6:22 AM
In a new Edweek Commentary, LFA Summit presenter Henry Kelly argues that the nation is squandering the promise of technology in schools by underinvesting in technology development, teacher training, and other tools that could make educational technologies most effective
Read More…A New Day for Learning
May 2, 2007 5:58 AM
I'll admit it--it has been a long time since I last contributed to this blog. A million post-Summit administrative details have diverted my energies. Still, the appearance in Edweek of two separate commentaries written by Summit speakers caught my attention. The first of these--"A New Day for Learning," written in part by George Lucas Education Foundation Executive Director Milton Chen--argues that outmoded classroom forms and schedules are hampering school improvement. You may remember that the Foundation's new COO, Cindy Johansen, presented at the Summit a brief video highlighting schools and programs that follow a more expansive model of learning
Read More…LFA's "Guiding Document' available for download!
February 22, 2007 7:35 AM
At the Learning First Alliance Summit on Public Schools in 21st-Century America, you will be asked to help create a shared agenda for future work by the Alliance. Today, we are releasing a “Guiding Document” that will help frame our conversations at the Summit, where we will begin shaping this agenda together. (You can download this Document here.) You can use this blog to offer your input into this draft.
Read More…Creating the right conditions for educational technology
February 18, 2007 7:06 PM
While educational technologies have shown promise, it has become a truism that we cannot simply graft them onto current educational structures and expect miracles. Yet, truism or not, that's precisely what happens in too many schools, where technology diverts scarce resources with little or no payoff in student learning. Wiith generous support from Cisco Systems, Inc., an important Summit breakout session willl examine what schools and districts should do to ensure that technology truly supports student learning.
Read More…Teaching 21st-century skills
February 18, 2007 2:47 PM
The national debate about public education and U.S. economic competitiveness tends to focus too exclusively on the number of engineers and scientists we churn out every year. Important as home-grown engineers and scientists may be to our future national prosperity, education and business leaders alike realize that the skills our students will need for success in the new century encompass much more than only math and science. Many also agree that current education policies are giving short shrift these new skill demands. An important and engaging breakout session at LFA's summit will examine what these skills are and what kinds of policies and practices can promote them in our nation's public schools.
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