Arizona has every opportunity to provide an accountable education system that will dramatically impact the future of Arizona's workforce and economy - and especially the lives of those we teach. The issues before us are not simple, and addressing them requires maximizing every available resource.
One feature of the fastest-improving classrooms in the state is the availability of advanced technology. While technology changes the way all of us run our lives (how many of you are reading this online?), it also changes the possibilities for the classroom and school.
We know that schools can literally add hours to their week by relying on sound data systems for everything from test scores to payrolls. We also know that technology can enhance any teacher's classroom by offering personalized "tutoring" in addition to a teacher's foundational teaching.
Click here to read my complete op-ed which was published in the Arizona Republic.
Showing posts with label Lisa Keegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lisa Keegan. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Lisa Graham Keegan: School Choice and Funding Options
What is at the top of my education reform wish list?
Watch this quick-hit video with my answer, which includes online schools as an option.
Watch this quick-hit video with my answer, which includes online schools as an option.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Lisa Graham Keegan: My Testismony Before the House Committee on Education and Workforce
On Feb. 10, I was one of four witnesses who appeared before the Education and Workforce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Interestingly, all of us--in some shape or form--came down on the side of expanding virtual education opportunities.
I told the committee about a newspaper article from my home state of Arizona that spotlighted the shift from schools of assignment to schools of parental choice. In one Phoeniz school district highlighted in the article, 75% of students opt out of their assigned school into another school. Instead of their assigned school, parents are a public charter, a private school, an online school, or simply home school.
Bottom line: School choice has gone mainstream.
I also told the committee that our states are welcoming new learning technologies and online schools, with fully half of the states now offering full-time online schooling. And online instruction has in turn led to the creation of "hybrid" schools, where technology and traditonal blend to create some of the fastest pace achievement we have seen to date.
Click here to read the written transcript of my testimony.
Click here for a link to a video of the hearing.
Interestingly, all of us--in some shape or form--came down on the side of expanding virtual education opportunities.
I told the committee about a newspaper article from my home state of Arizona that spotlighted the shift from schools of assignment to schools of parental choice. In one Phoeniz school district highlighted in the article, 75% of students opt out of their assigned school into another school. Instead of their assigned school, parents are a public charter, a private school, an online school, or simply home school.
Bottom line: School choice has gone mainstream.
I also told the committee that our states are welcoming new learning technologies and online schools, with fully half of the states now offering full-time online schooling. And online instruction has in turn led to the creation of "hybrid" schools, where technology and traditonal blend to create some of the fastest pace achievement we have seen to date.
Click here to read the written transcript of my testimony.
Click here for a link to a video of the hearing.
Monday, January 24, 2011
It's National School Choice Week
That's right, it's a time to reflect on the progress of the school choice movement and rededicate efforts to move forward.
Liberating Learning blog contributor Lisa Graham Keegan helped pioneer the school choice movement in Arizona. In 1990, an organization called Arizona Business Leaders for Education (ABLE) created a state plan for education reform. Key components of that plan were public report cards for schools, student testing and school choice.
Click here to read more about ABLE and Graham Keegan's memories of this fledgling effort.
Christina Martin is another Liberating Learning blog contributor. Martin is a policy analyst for the School Choice Project at the Cascade Policy Institute. This week, Martin writes, the institute has several events to increase awareness and build support for school choice.
Click here to read about them.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, was a pioneer in the push to expand education choices in Georgia. The foundation is one of about a dozen organizations that will gather at the state's capitol on Jan. 25 for a school choice celebration and rally. Click here for more information.
The Center of Education Reform is another early advocate for school choice and provides a wealth of information about choice and other education reform issues. This week, the center is featuring a series of lunchtime (noon Eastern) interactive events that focus on school choice issues.
On Jan. 27, the center's series spotlights "A Virtual Choice," and features Mickey Revenaugh, senior vice president of Connections Academies and board vice chair of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Click here for a complete list of all programs.
There are lots of events this week, and also sure to be lots written about school choice and the virtual education movement. The Liberating Learning website will keep you informed on it all. In the meantime, for more information on National School Choice Week, click here to find an event or to learn more about the movement.
Liberating Learning blog contributor Lisa Graham Keegan helped pioneer the school choice movement in Arizona. In 1990, an organization called Arizona Business Leaders for Education (ABLE) created a state plan for education reform. Key components of that plan were public report cards for schools, student testing and school choice.
Click here to read more about ABLE and Graham Keegan's memories of this fledgling effort.
Christina Martin is another Liberating Learning blog contributor. Martin is a policy analyst for the School Choice Project at the Cascade Policy Institute. This week, Martin writes, the institute has several events to increase awareness and build support for school choice.
Click here to read about them.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, was a pioneer in the push to expand education choices in Georgia. The foundation is one of about a dozen organizations that will gather at the state's capitol on Jan. 25 for a school choice celebration and rally. Click here for more information.
The Center of Education Reform is another early advocate for school choice and provides a wealth of information about choice and other education reform issues. This week, the center is featuring a series of lunchtime (noon Eastern) interactive events that focus on school choice issues.
On Jan. 27, the center's series spotlights "A Virtual Choice," and features Mickey Revenaugh, senior vice president of Connections Academies and board vice chair of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Click here for a complete list of all programs.
There are lots of events this week, and also sure to be lots written about school choice and the virtual education movement. The Liberating Learning website will keep you informed on it all. In the meantime, for more information on National School Choice Week, click here to find an event or to learn more about the movement.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Lisa Keegan: The Future of Education is Already Here
What if all the desperate problems in American education had already been solved?
Let's imagine that there were a burgeoning,truly, bipartisan movement of parents, teachers, school leaders, political leaders, and regular, run-of-the-mill citizens who have had it with American failure in education and want the nation to know there is a whole sector of success out there, getting the job done for kid, and it's tired of being treated as though it doesn't exist.
Imagine no more ... welcome to the Education Breakthrough, and the reality of emerging school choice in America.
The next few years may well be the most exciting time in the history of American education, becuase emerging in the shadows of its moribund and desperately underperforming big sister comes a baby the nation can be proud of.
This is the world of school choice, where parents choose schools that work for their own children and take an active role in their children's education. These are the nation's private schools, public charter schools, home schools, online schools, special needs schools--these are the schools that re tailored for the students they serve. This is the fastest growing, most efficient and undeniably the most effective sector of American education. This is a sector where being the best truly matters.
Click here to read more on why I believe the future of education is here.
Let's imagine that there were a burgeoning,truly, bipartisan movement of parents, teachers, school leaders, political leaders, and regular, run-of-the-mill citizens who have had it with American failure in education and want the nation to know there is a whole sector of success out there, getting the job done for kid, and it's tired of being treated as though it doesn't exist.
Imagine no more ... welcome to the Education Breakthrough, and the reality of emerging school choice in America.
The next few years may well be the most exciting time in the history of American education, becuase emerging in the shadows of its moribund and desperately underperforming big sister comes a baby the nation can be proud of.
This is the world of school choice, where parents choose schools that work for their own children and take an active role in their children's education. These are the nation's private schools, public charter schools, home schools, online schools, special needs schools--these are the schools that re tailored for the students they serve. This is the fastest growing, most efficient and undeniably the most effective sector of American education. This is a sector where being the best truly matters.
Click here to read more on why I believe the future of education is here.
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