You may be skeptical of edcamps, but you shouldn't be. They are much more engaging, and widely held than you may think. According to Kristen Swanson, Senior Educational Research Leader at BrightBytes, and co-founder of the Edcamp Movement, "Edcamps are more than just an idea or theory; they're an international movement. The model has been replicated in 41 states and dozens of countries worldwide. Over 25,000 educators have participated in a regional Edcamp event, and many more have participated in an Edcamp-style event at their school."   Considering how grassroots edcamps are, it's going to be interesting to what happens, when the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) holds their edcamp in June.

On the educational value of coding, the piece quotes Adam Enbar, founder of New York's Flatiron School, which offers a number of pricey computer-programming courses, including a two-week session for high school students:   "I equate coding to reading and writing and basic literacy. Not everyone needs to be Shakespeare, just as not everyone needs to be an amazing developer," he says. "But ... we're entering a world where every job, if not already, will be technical."

The Common Core State Standards and accompanying K-12 assessments have recently sparked a fierce national backlash against testing. Sound educational testing and assessment are integral to good teaching and learning in classrooms and necessary for evaluating school performance and assuring quality in education. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, I propose a more considered, "mend, not end" approach to testing, assessment, and accountability in America's schools, with validity at the forefront of the conversation.

Mending begins with understanding that most commercial standardized tests are designed to serve particular purposes well, for particular populations, and can support only particular decisions at best. To uphold validity principles in practice, it is worthwhile to ask: Are we using the test for the originally intended purpose, or for another purpose that taxes the tool beyond its technical limits? Multi-purposing a test indiscriminately is not a good idea from a validity standpoint, despite its efficiency.

The preschool program is counted as a bright spot in the troubled district, and an example of the working partnership between Kelvin R. Adams, 57, the district's superintendent since 2008, and Mary J. Armstrong, the president since 2003 of the St. Louis Teachers Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. Born and raised in St. Louis, Ms. Armstrong, 60, has spent her entire career in the district. In February, Mr. Adams' contract was renewed for an additional two years, until 2016.

So now let’s look at the latest PISA. It found that the most successful students are those who feel real “ownership” of their education. In all the best performing school systems, said Schleicher, “students feel they personally can make a difference in their own outcomes and that education will make a difference for their future.” The PISA research, said Schleicher, also shows that “students whose parents have high expectations for them tend to have more perseverance, greater intrinsic motivation to learn.” The highest performing PISA schools, he added, all have “ownership” cultures — a high degree of professional autonomy for teachers in the classrooms, where teachers get to participate in shaping standards and curriculum and have ample time for continuous professional development.

There is a lot of federal money available for training and professional development for teachers but no systematic federal strategy that I can discern for turning that money into systems of the kind top-performing countries use to support long-term, steady improvements in teachers' professional practice

Knowledge workers would fail unless they were managed like professionals: given a lot of autonomy, trusted to make the right decisions and supported rather than directed.

Pink draws on four decades of research to argue that most workers are capable of much more and better work than they currently do, but they will be motivated to do it not by the old extrinsic rewards and punishments, but rather by the intrinsic motivation that comes from being treated like the true professionals described by Drucker.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve seen several exceptional posts and articles on teacher and student assessment, and thought I’d bring them all together in one post. I’ll be sharing to which “Best” list I’ll be adding each one, but you can also find all my lists on assessment at A Collection Of “The Best” Lists On Assessment.