Group items tagged

Often in groups such as this multiple variations of a tag topic are created by different users. To help ensure that our collective bookmarks are easily searchable, here is a list of preferred tags for the Rowland Foundation Group's library. When entering a tag that is more than one word, please use "quotes" around that tag. This will keep your tag singular, such as Achievement Gap rather than separating them into Achievement and Gap. Preferred Tags Achievement Gap Authentic Assessment Collaborative Teaching Community Partnerships Confrence document Experiential Education External Learning Opportunities Family and Parent Partnerships Formative Assessment Grant Opportunity PDF Place-based Education School Change Service Learning Sir Ken Robinson Student Voice Thematic Instruction video

"Implementing proficiency-based learning options for the long term requires purposeful and specific components to ensure that practices can be sustained and result in a new learning culture that improves student achievement."

"Learning Futures was a programme designed to get young people engaged actively and positively with their learning, achieving better outcomes and retaining a commitment to learning beyond school. We are now looking for people interested in becoming an 'Engaging School'."

Many great links to resources, tools, and related documents.

A recent study in the US found that: * 98 percent of students feel bored at school at least some of the time; * Two-thirds of students feel bored every day; * A quarter of students feel unchallenged by lessons

"People who accomplished great things, [Duckworth] noticed, often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take."

Short Summary of The Global Achievement Gap "In his 2008 book, The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner discusses a variety of ways to improve education in the United States. At the heart of his thinking is the need for all schools to teach what he calls the "Seven Survival Skills", which have much in common with the thoughts of Friedman and Pink (who are both cited in his book)."

1. Critical thinking and problem solving 2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence 3. Agility and adaptability 4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism 5. Effective oral and written communication 6. Accessing and analyzing information 7. Curiosity and imagination

A Step-by-Step Guide to the Best Projects Discover a project-based learning model that motivates students to pursue knowledge and drives academic achievement.

"The KED program is a concept for personalized education. This means that students, with the guidance of their coach, set and work towards their own personal goals, with the ambition of achieving high final results. Students allocate their study time based on their previous educational experience as well as their individual strengths and weaknesses."

"In Swedish, "Kunskapsskolan" means "the knowledge school." Our name is an expression of our passion for providing excellence in learning and knowledge for the next global generation."

"A continuous research and development program identifies correlations and possible common denominators for achieving excellence. In all these key areas - student outcome, student and parent satisfaction, teacher satisfaction and motivation, and financial performance..."

"Attention provides leverage. The more people we can attract and motivate to join us on a challenging quest or initiative, the more impact we are likely to achieve. So, what are effective ways to attract and retain the kind of attention that helps us to address the challenges we face? Here are five steps that build on each other."

1. Embrace mystery 2. Focus inquiry 3. Excite the imagination 4. Limit availability 5. Be authentic

I don't believe that every successful lesson learned in Corporate America translates well into education, but this article has some very applicable points. jf

Dr. Tony Wagner, co-director of Harvard's Change Leadership Group has identified what he calls a "global achievement gap," which is the leap between what even our best schools are teaching, and the must-have skills of the future:Critical thinking and problem-solvingCollaboration across networks and leading by influenceAgility and adaptabilityInitiative and entrepreneurialismEffective oral and written communicationAccessing and analyzing informationCuriosity and imagination

Shared this a couple of months ago...worth another look.

And we're thrilled to have Tony Wagner as the keynote for the Rowland Foundation's 2nd Annual Conference on School Transformation! You can preview The Global Achievement Gap here: http://books.google.com/books?ei=AWNyT-eMBOXe0gG5tsW9AQ&id=_4zBmOBP9uwC&dq=tony+wagner&q=personalization#v=onepage&q&f=false

MacArthur Fellowship grantee Angela Lee Duckworth talks about why success takes "grit," and whether it's possible to teach people to be "grittier."

The Rigor/Relevance Framework is a tool to examine curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Rigor/Relevance Framework is based on two dimensions of higher standards and student achievement.

This is great! Thanks Adam. I feel like so often schools have aspirations of quadrant D, but spend so much time focusing on quadrant A that they never reach those aspirations. This reminds me a lot of Stephen Covey's time management matrix...schools spend so much time in quadrant 1 being reactive (Putting out fires aka chasing standardized test scores.) that they never get to focus on being proactive (quadrant 2) and really think about what we want our students to learn in school.

What if we applied the principles of Formative Assessments to the district level rather than just in classroom practices? "...like unemployment statistics. Scores on standardized tests ... usually arrive too late to help individual children or schools that are struggling." "Leading indicators - indicators that provide early signals of progress toward academic achievement - enable education leaders ... to make more strategic and less reactive decisions about services and supports to improve student learning."

An Odyssey Of Creativity, Innovation and Critical Thinking An Action Research Study By The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Links to the full report: Unleashing Potential, Harnessing Possibilities, the Executive Summary and the Report At-a-Glance are all worth a look

"Under what conditions do healthy and creative individuals and organizations flourish?"

"...this work will have a significant impact on improving student achievement and well-being. This work is rooted in the belief that the more the organization recognizes, values and taps into the creative and unique capacities of everyone within and connected (to the school), the greater the opportunity to reach and teach all of the students in our care. This is the imperative in fostering a truly engaged and creative approach to learning and to individual and organizational health."

"The Campus Technology Conference is for higher education professors, instructors, administrators, curriculum developers and IT professionals who are tasked with integrating emerging technology into their programs. Over 4 days, the conference delivers the most up-to-date information on new tools, applications and services-and how they work on real campuses."

While this is for "higher ed" it might be interesting to attend. Sometimes I think that there is too much of a disconnect between what happens in high school and what happens in college. They are not exclusive of one another, but a continuing process to a student's achievement of their goals. I believe that both (hs and colleges) need to figure out how we can integrate more pieces of our work.

Maintaining a strongly supportive school system in which teachers and students share responsibility for results Finland has one of the world's best performing education systems. Thanks to years of steady progress in education reform, its secondary school students regularly achieve high scores in PISA tests.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report on Finland. Covers: * Commitment to education and to children * Cultural support for universal high achievement * Teacher and principal quality * Accountability * How money is spent * Instructional practice * School organization * Sequencing of reforms to economic development * Cultivating behaviors for the knowledge economy

"How do the Millennials work--what motivates them?

"Those who hold leadership roles within our schools must come to terms with the fact that standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments and accountability will only get you so far in improving student achievement. If you do not address the underlying issue of the student experience, these efforts might not have a discernible impact." "...if students felt as if they belonged to the school community, the more likely they would be confident of succeeding in college." "...students who feel a sense of psychological connection to their school community are more likely to be engaged in their learning and are more likely to behave in ways that promote self-development and socialization."

Simple article with profound implications for students and for working with faculty.