Co-Creator Camper proposes a set of next steps to help bring vision developed at Camp to fruition.
A Next Step
by Riley Eynon-Lynch, Co-Founder of ActiveGrade.
On April 14th at the Co-Creators Camp for Transforming Education we spent our time dreaming about the future. Three things stuck out to me:
● Our dreaming was positive. We talked about what we might do more, not about what we should stop doing, so we identified fundamental values.
● This wasn’t just a few teachers in a teacher’s lounge, or parents at a neighborhood party, or businesses looking for ways to improve their bottom line. Many interests were present.
● We proved we’re all willing to invest. Everyone put in money, time, and effort.
Such a group effort, with so much attention paid to basic principles of community, and so much money invested in making it possible… I think this is real!
Superintendent Makes Reasoned Appeal to Legislature to Refocus Their Educational Discussions
Ben Petty, Superintendent at GMG and BCLUW posted an interesting “Letter to Iowa Legislators” today on his blog. It is well worth the read. Click here to read it. Follow Ben on Twitter at @benpettyiowa
Read MoreAnother Take on Iowa Education Reform
Bridgette Wagoner and Trace Pickering, leaders in innovative education in Eastern Iowa, have each published responses to the Governor’s Iowa Education Blueprint. Get the links here.
Read MoreCedar Rapids charter school: innovation or indulgence?
While charter schools are commonplace components of education reform in other states, Iowa’s charter school law is comparatively strict, especially compared with neighboring Wisconsin and Minnesota. Charter schools can only be opened by school districts with board approval, and the district must own the building where the school plans to operate. Applications must be submitted with all components ready and in place to open in the following fall semester.
This puts a rather steep set of obstacles in front of the school. Developers hope to submit an application this December and to open for the 2012-2013 school year, but many elements of their application still are not in place. They do not have any funding yet, and the building they hope to use — The Gazette building at 500 3rd Ave SE — is not owned by the Cedar Rapids school district. The district has not been receptive to the proposed school, as the school board recently set policy directing Superintendent Dave Benson not to dedicate resources toward it except when required by law. The school board feels that, given uncertainty in state funding for local school districts as well as Cedar Rapids’ declining enrollment, it would be foolish to commit to a new building.
What are your thoughts on the proposed school? If you have any links, facts, opinions or other information that are relevant to this issue, please use the public stream below and share them with the rest of the community.
Standards-based grading: Making assessments matter to students
Grading hasn’t changed much over the last century: students complete an assignment and their teachers assign a grade based on how well the student did. Those grades then are averaged at the end of the semester into a single letter grade that communicates their progress during the length of the entire course. It’s a fundamentally simple system, but many argue it is a fundamentally flawed one.
Some teachers are looking for ways to assess students that allow them to take into account whether or not their students actually have learned the material, rather than averaging their homework, quizzes and test results together. This approach, called standards-based grading, focuses on making sure students learn the standards, rather than simply grading them on whether they have or not. It can be a difficult approach to explain as parents often are hesitant to trust an irregular grading approach, while students are conditioned to work within the traditional grading structure from a very young age.
This is a complicated issue that no one approaches the same way, but many Iowa educators have taken up the cause. Waukee schools recently announced they would restructure their middle school grading policies along these lines.
Read More1:1 Computing: Putting computers and tablets in the hands of all students
Computers have become a ubiquitous part of the landscape in public schools, but many argue they’re still not common enough. The requirements of the modern workplace means that every student needs to be intimately familiar with the functioning of a modern computer. The idea behind 1:1 computer programs is to give students that level of personal interaction by providing every student within a particular grade range with their own laptop computer.
Obviously money is a large factor towards determining whether or not a district can have a 1:1 program, but it isn’t the only one. When the entire student body is equipped with laptops, it is more essential than ever to ensure teachers are positioned to take advantage of that computing power. It requires a different type of lesson plan to leverage the student’s access, otherwise the laptop might as well be a slate and chalk.
Several Iowa school districts already have adopted 1:1 programs, including Van Meter, Lisbon and Central City, while College Community school district currently is evaluating whether or not to start one.
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