Michael B. Horn: Ignoring Bad Incentives

My colleague, Katherine Mackey, and I had the opportunity to visit Covington Elementary School in Los Alto, Calif. recently, where teacher Rich Julian's 5th-grade math class has thrown out the typical math curriculum and instead given every child their own laptop, adopted the online Khan Academy math curriculum and assessments, and allowed the students to proceed at their own pace through any part of the 5th-grade curriculum.
The results are stunning. Katherine blogged about one aspect of how much the children work with each other. There are many other fascinating aspects, too, not the least of which was that every single student was on task the whole time we were there (I've visited the school twice, and it has been the same each time).
An obvious question that emerges is why don’t we see more of this happening? This happened in Los Altos because there was great leadership throughout the district. The school board, superintendent, principals, and the select teachers running the pilot all saw the potential, were willing to throw out everything they knew about how schooling worked, and make the leap.
But the reality is there are many disincentives in place for this to happen. Click here to read more of my post and find out why I believe one way to unlock innovation in our school system and help it transform into a student-centric one is to get out of our own way and eliminate these disincentives

Terry M. Moe: Behind the News

On May 28, I appeared on Berkeley's KPFA-FM with Doug Henwood, who just completed a Media Fellowship at the Hoover Institution.

We had a wide-ranging discussion on issues from the power of teachers unions, to charter schools, to the quality of education in Harlem to virtual education and the Obama Administration's Race to the Top.

We also talked about my new book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.

Click here to listen to the complete audio of my conversation with Henwood. Scroll to 23:00 for the start of my portion of the show.

Click here for more information on Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.

Tom Vander Ark: The Inevitability of Personal Digital Learning

Commentators like Andy Rotherham worry about overhyping technology. There will be lots of versions of tech-enabled schools and, like charters, some will work better than others. But this is not like other reforms, it’s a phase-shift not a reform, it’s a shift from print to digital and from groups to individual students. These shifts are irreversible historic shifts not temporal reforms.

Click here for the six reasons why I believe change toward personal digital learning will be inevitable.

Guest Commentary: Superintendent of a Kansas School District on the Future of Virtual Education and What She Learned in D.C.

Jerri Kemble is superintendent of the Centre Unified School District 397, in Marion County Kansas. The district is home to the Kansas Online Learning Program, a K-12 online public school open to students throughout the state.
This spring, Kemble traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in a conference sponsored by the National Network of Digital Schools. One of the things Kemble said she pushed for was "taking the zip code out of education."
“For Centre, that means that even though we are located in rural Kansas, our students should still be given the same opportunities that students in affluent districts have,” she said.
Kemble said she learned four things in the nation’s capital. First, the White House is watching districts such as Centre school, rural school districts where virtual education can make a difference.
Second, the landscape of education is changing. Legislators “get it;” they know that virtual education will be a vital component of the future of education.
Third, education is important to President Barrack Obama and Arne Duncan, his administration’s Secretary of Education, and it will stay in the forefront. They believe innovation is important, Kemble said, but the slow economy is a limiting factor.
Fourth, the Centre school district is on the right track and should take criticism in stride.
“We are pioneers, and sometimes pioneers are not loved,” she said.
Click here to read more about what Kemble learned in D.C. and her thoughts on state funding of virtual schools.

Guest Commentary: West Virigina Students Need Cutting Edge Technology

Priscilla Haden is president of West Virginia's State Board of Education. She is a staunch supporter of bringing technology and innovative teaching techniques into the classroom. In an opinion piece written for the Gazette-Mail, Haden said, "While we have been blessed in West Virginia to have forward-thinking leaders who saw the value and the need for putting technology in our schools, the time has come for us to further invest in technology hardware, software and infrastructure expansion.
"Most offices and places of business could not operate even one day without digital technology. Yet that is what some advocate for our students. We cannot afford to not provide teachers and students with the tools they need for global learning. They must have the infrastructure and devices, including wireless laptops or comparable devices," she continued.
Haden is also frustrated by, "the fact that not one current social studies textbook provider offers a textbook that meets the new, more rigorous West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives. West Virginia is committed to providing learning through access to high quality, interactive, engaging digital social studies content and 21st century skills whether a text is available or not."
Click here to read the complete article.

Guest Commentary: Guest Commentary: Virtual Education Trends and Insights - 2011 K-12 Horizon Report

The New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Project has a laudable goal. It "identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe."
In the 2011 K-12 Edition, researchers found five trends that will be key drivers of technology for 2011-2016.
According to the report:
-- In one year or less, K-12 education will have widely adopted cloud computing and the use of mobile devises.
-- In two to three years, game-based learning and open content will be broadly accepted.
-- In four to five years, personal learning environments will be commonplace.
Researchers added that there will be resistance to change. "As long as maintaining the basic elements of the existing system remains the focus of efforts to support education, there will be resistance to any profound change in practice."
Click here for the complete report.

Christina Martin: Report From the Virtual Education Movement Front

Just hours after a hearing on on a bill, SB 927, that would kill virtual charter schools in Oregon, I went on the radio to talk to Bill Post.
I explained why the Oregon Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, is against charter schools, and why they support SB 927.
During our conversation, we talked about choice, teacher pay at charters vs. traditional public schools and the promise of virtual education. We also talked about "what's next" for SB 927.
Bill posted a podcast of the May 12 show. Click here, scroll down to the May 12 show, and then go to the 13:40 minute to hear our conversation.

Guest Commentary: Responses to 'Don't Politicize Virtual Education'

Last week, Miami-Dade School Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla wrote an opinion piece for the Miami Herald in which he said politics should not prevent the expansion of virtual education.
His position generated a lot of response.
Claudia Moris of Hialeah, Fla., wrote the Herald that, "virtual education seems like another development of our technological society that will further minimize the importance of social interaction. Diaz de la Portilla seems to forget that there are many opinions in this matter.
"I think supporters of this virtual 'education' have forgotten that they learned through traditional methods and that their lives were shaped by school experiences, good or bad. I realize that there is a crisis in our school system that top educators need to fix. A virtual classroom will not solve our children’s academic problems, but shroud them," Moris added.
Kathy Giurtino of Tavernier, Fla., wrote, "Renier Diaz de la Portilla uses the words 'choice' and 'choose' several times. Unfortunately, our legislators are not giving students a choice with regard to virtual classes. They are requiring students to take an online class in order to qualify for high-school graduation.
"Virtual classes are a wonderful tool and should be made available to all students as an option. But to require students to take at least one virtual class before graduating once again shows that elected officials live in a comfortable cocoon where they think everyone has the things that they take for granted," she added.
Click here to read the responses in their entirety.

Lisa Graham Keegan: Georgia on My Mind

This week's decision by the Georgia Supreme Court does not eliminate public charter schools in Georgia. It is simply a devastating reminder of how incredibly wrong our state laws for funding students are. And worse, how we wear out our best advocates through mind-numbing and repetitive defeats like this.
The time has come and gone and come again for states to quit funding districts, and to start funding students. Money in backpacks, traveling to any school that will openly accept all students and report on their progress via state measurement systems.
Click here to read more of my thoughts on what's happening in Georgia and for more links on background information on this issue.

Guest Commentary: Using Technology to Move Beyond Schools

For the past few weeks, a working group on the "Futures of School Reform," organized by the Harvard Graduate School of Education has posted essays on an Education Week blog.
The goal of the group is to "engage a wider audience in an 'urgent' conversation—one that it hopes can advance the national dialogue on improving public education for all children.
"Using Technology to Move Beyond Schools," was written by Richard F. Elmore,the Gregory Anrig professor of educational leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Elizabeth A. City, executive director of the doctor of education leadership program and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Elmore and City write, "With rare exceptions, schools currently treat the digital revolution as if it never happened. Computers, more often than not, still sit in dedicated rooms, accessible only with adult supervision. Laptops, when they are used at all in classrooms, are frequently employed as electronic worksheets, digital typewriters, and presentation producers, rather than as extensions of students’ access to knowledge. When students do use technology to extend the reach of their learning, they typically do so by visiting predigested information sources and cutting and pasting information into predetermined, teacher-driven formats."
But, they continue, "When students step out the door of the institution called school today, they step into a learning environment that is organized in ways radically different from how it once was. It’s a world in which access to knowledge is relatively easy and seamless; in which one is free to follow a line of inquiry wherever it takes one, without the direction and control of someone called a teacher; and, in which, with a little practice, most people can quickly build a network of learners around just about any body of knowledge and interests, unconstrained by the limits of geography, institutions, and time zones."
Click here to read the complete post and the three possible school scenarios for the next generation of learners.

Guest Commentary: Don't Politicize Virtual Education

Renier Diaz de la Portilla is a member of the Miami-Dade School Board and wrote an opinion piece on the game-changing impact virtual education can have for the May 15 Miami Herald.
"Expanding the use of virtual education in our school district would allow us to focus more on remediation strategies for students who have fallen behind in bricks and mortar classrooms, while those who are more academically advanced can participate in virtual classes," he writes. "In a time of increased budget cuts to education, many schools across the state are reducing or eliminating elective courses. Online education offers students the opportunity to take a wide range of elective courses and Advanced Placement classes, which may be lacking or simply unavailable altogether in their schools."
"Sadly, some critics, including teachers' unions, have been reluctant to embrace all forms of educational reform, including charter schools, merit pay, school choice and virtual education, Diaz de la Portilla continues.
Click here to read the complete opinion piece and find out why Diaz de la Portilla believes that it is "unfortunate that when it comes to the modernization of our educational program offerings, some choose to politicize the issue."

Tom Vander Ark: Carpe Diem--The Best of Leadership and Management

Carpe Diem, a charter secondary school in Yuma, Arizona, uses an online learning system called e2020 for primary instructional delivery. It's not as engaging as some web 2.0 components and apps, but it is comprehensive and offers a strong management and monitoring system. This week, students at Carpe Diem had the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the vendor (so watch for shorter and better instructional videos from e2020!).
While it's true that most of the learning is done independently and online, a talented group of teachers play an integral role in the school's academic success. Founder and director Rick Ogston says, "Rather than nursing students to passing grades, teachers here act as doctors creating surgical interventions or as personal trainers extending and deepening learning."
On a typical day, teachers run a series of topical workshops. If a teacher is out sick, there are no workshops in that subject (no subs here). One math, one science, and one social studies teacher ensure the progress of all 300 students.
Carpe Diem is a good example of blending multiple modes of instruction to boost learning and sustainability. Even with Arizona's thin charter funding, Carpe Diem is self-sufficient. The mix of online learning and teacher-driven workshops is quite effective, but the culture is the secret sauce.
Click here to read more of my take on this impressive school.

Guest Commentary: One Teacher's View of the Highs and Lows of Virtual School

Rian Meadows, an economics instructor at Florida Virtual School, recently sat down with a writer from MindShift, a NPR/Argo Network website the focuses on technology is revolutionizing education.
In the interview, Meadows talks about moving from the traditional classroom to a virtual one. She is frank about the positive and negatives of teaching online. She also is blunt about the responsibilities teachers and students have when the classroom is virtual.
Click here to read the complete interview.

Guest Commentary: A Succinct Ratioale for Individualized Learning

Ronald A. Wolk is the founder and former editor of Education Week. He has written a book, Wasting Minds: Why Our Education System is Failing and What We Can Do About It (ASCD, 2011) that takes an unblinking look at America's K-12 education system. This book is not just a critique. It provides solutions. One of the solutions Wolk says that will help fix America's school is individualized learning using widely available technology.
In a review of Wasting Minds, Renee Moore of Teacher Leaders Network writes, "Most impressive, however, are Wolk's suggestions about what we need to do to correct many of these problems, and primary on that list is a compelling argument to redesign education around more individualized student learning."
Click here to read the complete review.

Terry M. Moe: More Reviews for 'Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools'

Here are two more reviews of my new book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.

"Special Interest constitutes the most serious and sustained inquiry into teachers unions ever conducted. It has the signature markings of Moe's scholarship: impeccable writing, clear and persuasive argumentation, sound empirics, and an utter unwillingness to pull any punches. In the ongoing debate about teacher unions and school reform, this book is a game changer." --William Howell, University of Chicago.

"An exquisitely researched, compellingly reasoned treatise on the role of teachers unions and their impact on America's schools. Terry Moe has read everything, collected mountains of data, and thought more deeply on this topic than anyone in America. Special Interest immediately becomes essential reading for policymakers, would-be reformers, and anyone concerned about the future of American education." -- Frederick Hess, American Enterprise Institute.

Click here to learn more about Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.

Christina Martin: Oregon Showdown OverAnti-Virtual Charter School Bill is at Hand

It started this morning. The Oregon House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education will hold a public hearing for a bill that essentially would force Oregon’s virtual charter schools to close.
The bill (SB 927) closely resembles an idea that the OEA (Oregon Education Association, a union) proposed last year to the Oregon State Board of Education. The bill in its current form would:
*Force all existing virtual charter schools to close and to reopen as alternative schools, which in Oregon are generally only for at-risk students.
*Make existing districts the creators and providers of online content, managed by a consortium called the Oregon Option Consortium. Individual districts would be able to purchase courses from the consortium (which would be run by the Oregon Virtual School District).
*Each student could enroll in the consortium’s classes only if a district-appointed advisory team decides the classes are suitable for the student.
Click here to read more about this anti-virtual charter school bill and what you can do to help defeat it.

Tom Vander Ark: The New Normal Summit and the 3 'Cs' of Education

Next week, I’ll be heading to the New Schools Summit–the Sundance of edreform. I wrote a blog post for the New Schools Venture Fund, a group that helps education organizations and schools develop strategies, business, financial, and technology plans.
In that post, I said that this summit will be different. It’s the first summit held under “new normal” conditions. We went over the cliff. We are getting ready to live with less and many have more cuts to come. The hangover of the Great Recession took its toll on education, but for some leaders it forced a new round of learning as a result of asking difficult questions.
But, I continued in the post, we’re still fighting old battles framed around obsolete schools. It’s time to forge a “new normal” vision around the power of personal digital learning and reframe old problems around new opportunities. It’s time to invent new ways to boost learning productivity and operating sustainability. State and districts policy makers should focus on reducing barriers to online learning and should use the 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning to create a 3C framework:

-- Customized learning. Personal digital learning allows each student to vary learning by level, time, location, pace, and increasingly by mode.
-- Continuous feedback. Personal digital learning provides students and teachers continuous feedback. A typical fifth grade’s 5,000 keystroke day will provide lots of feedback and building a smart learner profile that helps to customize learning.
-- Competency-based learning. Personal digital learning allows students to advance based on demonstrated performance. A competency-based system requires frequent and on-demand assessments

Click here to read my complete post and to learn more about the summit.

Guest Commentary: Bypass Union Teachers Through Independent Online Schools

Lance T. Izumi is senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute and co-author of Short-Circuited: The Challenges Facing the Online Learning Revolution in California (Pacific Research Institute, 2010). In an essay published by the Washington Times, Izumi took a look at the recent union protests in Wisconsin and how virtual education may play a part in changing the dynamics between unions and public education.
"If parents had greater school-choice alternatives, students could have quickly left the regular government school system when their government-union teachers abandoned them. One promising choice alternative is online and virtual learning," Izumi writes.
"If reformers like (Gov. Scott) Walker want to overhaul their unionized school systems, they should attach funding to each individual student so he or she can take that funding to the school of his or her choice, whether a regular public school, brick-and-mortar charter school, virtual charter or private school," Izumi continues.
Click here to read the complete essay.

Guest Commentary: Military Shouldn't Limit Online Education Grads

A story by the Associated Press got a lot of mileage in the past few days. It is the tale of a Lexington, S.C. virtual student who was told by Air Force recruiters that he could not enlist because his virtual education was considered to be "Tier II" and the Air Force
was enlisting on graduates of "Tier I" high school programs.
The unfair ranking of virtual schools is the same throughout the U.S. military.
An editorial in the Battle Creek Enquirer succinctly explained the situation. "The armed forces have a policy of limiting the number of applicants with 'non-traditional diplomas' to 10 percent of its total recruits. That 10 percent includes young people who have been home-schooled, acquired their General Education Development (GED) certificate or received diplomas from online institutions."
This injustice may be about to change.
Members of an Armed Services and Education subcommittees have inserted language into its portion of the Pentagon fiscal year 2012 budget bill instructing the military to treat students from online high schools equally if the schools are in line with state education laws. The full committee is due to take action on the bill on May 11.
Editorial writers for the Battle Creek paper said it best. "While not all non-traditional schools may adhere to quality standards, many - especially virtual programs - cater specifically to gifted students who are not challenged by their traditional school choices and instead want to excel and take advantage of advanced online courses.
"The military needs to revise its recruiting rules so that it is better able to tap into that pool of technological talent."

Guest Commentary: Florida Expands Virtual Education, But Obstacles Remain

Florida expanded its virtual learning horizon, even as it once again reminded us that age-old education boundaries won’t easily cede to global technology.
That's how Jon East, the director of policy and public affairs for Step Up For Students, a nonprofit scholarship organization that oversees the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low-income children sees it in an article he wrote for redefinED.
East says the "Digital Learning Now Act" waiting for Gov. Rick Scott's signature "was a clear victory for online education, adding more public and private options."
"Florida Virtual School, the nation’s largest and most successful public virtual school, will be allowed to provide full-time programs for all grade levels and part-time not only for high and middle school students but also for accelerated fourth- and fifth-graders. High school students will be required to take an online course for graduation. All providers will be held to similar academic accountability standards and will receive similar reimbursement," he writes.
However, East continues, "the bill did contain reminders of the obstacles that remain. Legislative staff attorneys and education analysts refused to accept a broader strategy offered jointly by Florida Virtual and its private competitors that would have allowed both to operate statewide, giving simpler options to all students. They deemed, with some justification, that such an approach would be challenged and found unconstitutional. That’s because Florida’s constitution, like that of many states, apportions oversight of education based on the physical location of students and schools. That means school boards are in charge, even when they need not be"
Click here to read East's complete post.

Guest Commentary: How Carpe Diem Charter Schools Seizes Tomorrow's Innovations Today

Ben DeGrow is senior education policy analyst for the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Golden, Colo. He recently took a look at Carpe Diem Charter School, a middle and high school "elearning community" in Yuma, Ariz., that has embraced blended learning.
"Explaining the success of Carpe Diem Collegiate High School and Middle School requires more than simple answers, but the school’s innovations hold great promise for expanding educational excellence and opportunity," DeGrow writes.
"School leaders insist there is no magic in the circuitry or fiber optics," DeGrow continues. He the quotes Carpe Diem founder and executive director Rick Ogston:
“It’s not about technology. It’s about how students learn nowadays.” He believes engaging students in their education requires a proper understanding of the art of instruction, and technology provides the critical leverage," according to Ogston.
Click here to read more of DeGrow's take on Carpe Diem and its success with a blended learning model.

Guest Commentary: How a Typical School District can Find the Money for 21st Century Technology

Writing for School CIO (Chief Information Officer), Greg Limperis succinctly outlines a challenge facing many public school districts.
"The current formula for funding technology in education just does not work. Daily, we talk about the need to get technology in the hands of every child. With new and up-and-coming advancements in technology, there will be more of a need to improve infrastructure, bandwidth, servers, wiring, wireless technology and much more if we are to remain current and on the cutting edge. This will all cost money—and lots of it," he says.
"Districts find it hard just to put a few computers in a classroom, let alone one in every child’s hand. Yes, it can be done—and some districts are making it happen—but in this day of ever-shrinking budgets and more of a focus of passing standardized tests—money, rightfully so or not—is often funneled toward that cause," he continues.
What's a school district superintendent to do? Limperis has some suggestions. Click here to read his entire post.

Michael B. Horn: The rise of K-12 Blended Learning--Profiles of Emerging Models

Across America, a skyrocketing number of K-12 students are receiving their education in a “blended-learning” environment, through programs that mix online learning into brick-and-mortar schools. Today, more than 4 million students are participating in some kind of formal online-learning program, often blended into the traditional schoolhouse.
But how is the emerging blended-learning market taking shape? What models are becoming the most popular, and how are organizations implementing them? What new technologies are gaining market share?A new 178-page study by Innosight Institute and the Charter School Growth Fund reveals a broader picture of the emerging blended-learning market. In The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning: Profiles of emerging models, we highlight 40 influential blended-learning organizations across the country, categorize them by model, and document their effectiveness in reducing costs and improving academic performance. We discuss emerging technology trends, and then conclude with advice for policymakers, school leaders, and entrepreneurs about how to shape the playing field to optimize results.The study begins to reveal what makes blended-learning programs successful in delivering cost-effective, high-quality, personalized instruction to all students, thereby transforming America’s outdated education system.
To learn more about blended learning and support innovation in education, click here for the full report and join Innosight Institute's “I’m Disruptive” campaign on Twitter and Facebook.

Tom Vander Ark: P2P: Learning Together Online

I’ve been thinking about innovations in learning outside the formal system and the pathway into the system.
Semil Shah wrote about peer-to-peer networks, a category worth watching, on TechCrunch:
"The driving force behind all of this P2P activity is the fact that today’s technologies make many more types of transaction possible between average consumers by finding an equilibrium between time and money, supply and demand. Transactions once locked up and never realized now create entirely new economies, free of established brands and fat middle-men….It will be fascinating to see what new types of businesses are built on top of these P2P engines, and what traditional businesses they will disrupt."
Click here to read more of my thoughts on P2P.

Terry M. Moe: Reviews are in on 'Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools'

Here are two reviews of my new book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.
"This is a superb and historic book. Terry Moe, the first scholar to brave unions' wrath by revealing how they operate, now also shows how their dominance of public education will wane, due to political change and productivity-enhancing technology. Reformers, foundation heads, elected officials who have up to now been afraid to cross the unions, and union leaders and their allies should read this book as soon as they can get their hands on it."
--Paul Hill, University of Washington
"Anyone who wants to understand education reform and its challenges should read this extraordinary book. Over the past few decades, teachers unions have become some of the most powerful actors in American public education. Terry Moe fills a crucial gap by exploring how the unions work; how they veto important reforms in ways that are detrimental for children; and how their power might be waning. As with his prior work, this book will make a tremendous difference in how we run our schools."
--Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools
Click here to learn more about Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools.

Guest Commentary: It's an Amazing Time to be a Learner

"Whether it’s the two billion teachers we can now connect to on the Web, the myriad of entertaining and at the same time educational video games we can play with our friends (or by ourselves), or the potential to answer almost any question we can pose through a few keystrokes on the phones in our pockets, we live at a moment of ubiquitous learning, one few of our ancestors could have imagined. It’s a moment that in many ways we ourselves are still struggling to make sense of, struggling to imagine the endless possibilities that we find ourselves swimming in."
That's why Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom, says that "it’s an amazing time to be a learner."
It an article adapted from the upcoming book Spotlight on Technology in Education (Harvard Education Press), Richardson says today's students are "getting used to learning what they want to learn, when they want to learn it, with whom they want to learn it, and they’re wondering why they can’t do more of that in school."
Click here to read his entire post.