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New report - Optimal Learning Spaces Optimal Learning Spaces Design Implications for Primary Schools. Report is for primary schools, but same principles apply. Laura and Lauren, thought you might be interested in this fairly extensive report. Link to report on page is broken. Here is the report. Optimal Learning Spaces Design Implications for Primary Schools

"... enhancing teaching and learning outcomes by creating better built environments. It aims to link scientific knowledge to case-study examples "

"...three design principles emerge to support application in practice: the role of naturalness, the opportunity for individualisation and appropriate levels of stimulation."

This excellent Horizon Report, generated by the New Media Consortium, sets a remarkable and aggressive timetable for significant changes in teaching and learning due to emerging technologies.

It's been a lot of fun to work on.

Thanks so much Jim for this post. It's a great piece with lots of very interesting links. The RF is investing directly in learning about the two technologies--cloud computing and mobile devices-- on the report's most immediate time horizon. These two, among the others, are poised to take education in new directions. They are transformative, in and of themselves, and it's exciting to think about how they can and will (and do) support the other many initiatives being worked on by RF Fellows.

"...summarizes the research on five categories of noncognitive factors that are related to academic performance: academic behaviors, academic perseverance, academic mindsets, learning strategies, and social skills..."

Publication Summary Page of CCSR Report http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/teaching-adolescents-become-learners-role-noncognitive-factors-shaping-school Great related blog post on Grit by Jonathan Martin "Developing Grit via Mindset and Learning Strategies: Learning from the CCSR report" http://21k12blog.net/2013/05/19/developing-grit-via-mindset-and-learning-strategies-learning-from-the-ccsr-report/

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."

Dr. Helen Barrett shows how portfolios can be used as reflective work tools and and also to report out on student learning--two different purposes obviously.This is a follow-up to the discussion led by Jean Berthiaume at our Rowland Fellows Meeting this week. Here is her lecture on the topic: http://blip.tv/eportfolios/balancing-the-two-faces-of-eportfolios-3162109

I wonder if there could be some mutual advantages of a high school and a college working together on a framework around ePortfolios?

This is the report we discussed in my reading group at the Rowland Fellows meeting this week. The Pew research Center's report on the Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 1997, is full of interesting findings which have implications for how schools will need to change in order to reach the Net Generation.

In December 2010, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel created a national, independent commission to study the teaching profession and make recommendations on maximizing teacher and teaching effectiveness. Drawing on the wisdom and experience of accomplished teachers, expert researchers, policymakers, and academicians, the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching (CETT) examined the policies and practices governing the teaching profession and crafted a teacher-centered vision of teaching and the teaching profession. On December 8, 2011, CETT presented the NEA with its final report, Transforming Teaching: Connecting Professional Responsibility with Student Learning, which outlines the Commission's vision and recommendations for the teaching profession.

"At the core of the project is building collaborations among schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations as a means to get everyone working together."

"The report argues that our national strategy for education and youth development has been too narrowly focused on an academic, classroom-based approach.Other advanced industrial nations are succeeding with an approach that places greater emphasis on career and technical education and work-based learning. Pathways to Prosperity contends that in order to regain the educational leadership we held for more than a century, the United States must build a more comprehensive network of pathways to serve youth in high school and beyond."

"This thoughtful paper makes a strong case for the development of multiple pathways leading from high school to post-secondary education or career training. Those of us who support a single-track system through high school need to carefully consider the questions raised in this provocative report." Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee (2003-2011)

Students taking part in the My Education debate groups often said it was difficult for them to connect the relevance of school and learning to their future work aims. There appear to be three causes of the disconnection: 1) Little association between lesson content and career preferences; 2) Teachers not knowing their pupils' hopes and dreams; 3) Inadequate opportunities to gain foundation 'life' skills. Students expressed the need for learning that relates to their goals. They are hungry for that connection, and speak easily and specifically about what they want to do with their lives. Many aspire to go to university, and understand that means doing well in core subjects. But they also enjoy lessons that link clearly to their career ambitions.

"Internships came back as the most important thing that employers look for when evaluating a recent college graduate," says Dan Berrett, senior reporter at the Chronicle. "More important than where they went to college, the major they pursued, and even their grade point average."

What does this mean for high school students? If colleges are looking at putting more students in internships themselves...will they recruit students who already have some level of experience in an internship during high school?

Here is the link to a Pew Research survey about teachers and tech use. You can read the summary at this page, and/or download the pdf from there to read later. The document is pretty long, but has some interesting data, even given the fairly narrow survey sample.

LONDON - The global financial crisis has amplified the value of a good education, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "The people who really paid the price for the financial crisis are those without baseline qualifications," Andreas Schleicher, the O.E.C.D.'s deputy director for education and skills, said last week at a London news conference.

"Regardless of the number of years someone has been on the job, anyone can benefit from a coaching experience."

An excellent, more substantive article on Coaching was added by Greg Young back in October. It is worth a second look.Personal Best: Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you? http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande

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

"What happens with this is that time is the variable and learning is the constant," said Kristine Kirkaldy of Vergennes Union High School. This fall's freshman class is piloting new performance-based graduation requirements-- shifting the focus for earning a diploma from a traditional report card and hours logged in a classroom to one that includes a 4-year, cross-curriculum portfolio. "You will have a portfolio into which you have placed pieces of evidence showing your growth and learning in the various areas that were asking," Kirkaldy said.

"Student voice" is talked about a lot in education, but what does it actually mean? Does it mean listening to students' opinions? Does it mean involving students in decisions about their learning? Does it mean students should have an equal say in decisions made about their entire educational experience, including decisions made at the level of school management and governance?

"This working paper describes a series of recent 'student voice' projects … varied in … specific contexts and processes. …Elicit(s) young people's perspectives about learning, education and/or other aspects of their lives…"

When presented with the statement there is too much emphasis on 'student voice' and similar ideas nowadays, teachers were almost divided in thirds: 26 percent agreed or strongly agreed, 34 percent were unsure, and 39 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed (See p. 89 of this report). Why did these teachers have such divergent opinions? More importantly, how exactly did each teacher interpret the term "student voice"?

"Principals report that service-learning has a positive impact on teacher satisfaction, school climate, academic achievement, and school engagement."

"... innovation ... goes beyond telling people in one place to replicate someone else's reported success. It means letting the people in the schools try things they believe will work for their students." Other Systems Are Innovating, Dramatically - Traditional School Suppresses Innovation - To Succeed We Will Have To Innovate with School - How Might Innovative Schools Be Different? - 'Innovation' Is a Strategy for Systemic Reform - We Cannot Afford the Risk of Failing to Innovate -