Category Archives: Online Schools

A few weeks ago I posted some thoughts about Colorado’s implementation of the educator effectiveness law (SB 191) — including a video from Step Up Colorado — that prompted a lengthy and thoughtful comment from an area teacher who is part of the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ)’s New Millennium Initiative (NMI). Then someone else from CTQ reached out to my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow to notify him of a report, co-authored by Denver-area teachers, with thoughts on SB 191 implementation. I thought it fitting to dig in and follow up, seeing as how it was just last week Ben shared his thoughts before the State Board of Education on this very topic. Anyway, the CTQ report Making Teacher Evaluations Work for Students: Voices from the Classroom was released earlier this week. Some of the 21 teachers’ main points include:

An email blast sent out Thursday by the Education Action Group (EAG) Foundation highlighted a list of “top 10 education reforms passed by the 2011 Indiana General Assembly.” If you follow this blog at all, you know right off the top what some of the biggies are — including limiting the topics open for teachers union collective bargaining and “the nation’s largest voucher program”. Also known as #1 and #3 on EAG’s list: 1. Limited collective bargaining to wages and benefits only. 2. Ended the union-contrived “last in, first out” practice of laying off teachers with the least seniority first, regardless of teaching ability.   3. Established the broadest voucher program in the nation by allowing all families in the state earning up to 150 percent of the threshold for free or discounted school lunches to receive a voucher to attend private schools. The vouchers – worth up to $4,500 for elementary students and 90 percent of state tuition support for high schoolers – will be available to 7,500 students the first year and 15,000 in the second. The enrollment cap is lifted in year three. 4. Expanded the state’s charter school law by allowing more charter school authorizers, creating a […]

What can I say but, “Wow?” (I know, bad rhetorical question, because here goes….) All you education transformers out there should be aware of a new Innosight Institute report by Heather Staker titled The rise of K-12 blended learning: Profiles of emerging models. Doesn’t sound that spectacularly exciting, I know, unless you have joined little education policy geeks like me in catching on to the hugely important trend known as blended learning. And this snippet from Staker’s introduction gives you just a taste of what I mean: Online learning appears to be a classic disruptive innovation with the potential not just to improve the current model of education delivery, but to transform it. Online learning started by serving students for whom there was no alternative for learning. It got its start in distance-learning environments, outside of a traditional school building, and it started small. In 2000, roughly 45,000 K-12 students took an online course. But by 2010, over 4 million students were participating in some kind of formal online-learning program. The preK-12 online population is now growing by a five-year compound annual growth rate of 43 percent—and that rate is accelerating…. This paper profiles 40 organizations that are blending online […]

I’m still recovering from an Easter candy “hangover,” so this post will not be filled with my usual in-depth analysis. Instead, I want you to check out a new School Reform News feature story by my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow about a cutting-edge Arizona “blended learning” charter school that’s getting remarkable results: 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. With dozens of cubicles filling a large, open room, Carpe Diem resembles a corporate office more than a traditional school. Students in grades 6 through 12 sit at their individual stations as software loaded on their laptop computers guides them through core instructional material….

Digital learning. It’s a big educational wave of the future… and of the present. The use of online technology in formal learning can take on so many forms that it’s difficult to imagine all the possibilities of what it could look like. As digital learning opportunities began to expand, we want to keep the focus on ensuring students and parents have access to a great variety of choices. But what about quality? It seems to be the education policy issue du jour. The New York Times’ Trip Gabriel shines light on the debate, but Flypaper’s Peter Meyer says the article “gets lost in the weeds” and should pay more attention to curriculum. New forms of delivering instruction and increasing learning shouldn’t lose focus on the content at hand. That’s where I stand with Harvard’s Paul Peterson, for example:

Hey there – YOU! I mean, hear ye, hear ye…. Colorado school and school district leaders, I wanted to share news of an upcoming online event that you may find very valuable as you seek to pursue academic excellence in these trying budget times. Education Week is hosting a webinar next Wednesday, March 30, from 11 AM to noon Mountain Daylight Time: What are the 10 Elements of High-Quality Digital Learning that should be top of mind for everyone involved in education, from lawmakers to administrators to teachers and parents? How can your district or school harness these elements to develop an affordable, high-quality digital learning environment that engages students, parents and teachers? What have your peers learned from their own experiences with digital learning – and how can you use their insights to drive your success?

A random Monday posting… First of all, let me clarify that this post has nothing to do with old Star Trek movies or even older Mongol hordes. If you are interested at all in the future of education but haven’t heard of Khan Academy yet, now is the time to start getting up to speed. Khan gives every indication of being at the forefront of entrepreneurial education transformation. And you might even want to be aware of the free learning opportunities the Academy offers now! Today, Joanne Jacobs points to a California news story about Egan Junior High successfully using Khan’s online learning tools in the classroom:

Today I’m trying not to think about the past and focusing instead on the future. By the past, I’m referring to yesterday’s vote in Colorado’s House Education Committee that killed the “Parent Trigger” bill (aka HB 1270). This blogger Victor from the Education Action Group says the “education establishment won their fight.” Disappointed only begins to describe how I feel. Also sad for the kids trapped in the lowest-performing schools. But it’s time to look ahead. Not that far, either. As in tonight, a huge vote is taking place in Douglas County to approve the Blueprint for School Choice — including a first-of-its-kind choice scholarship pilot program for private school students. Please note: School choice supporters need a show of force for important Douglas County Board choice scholarship vote: 5 PM, Dougco Admin Building, 620 Wilcox St, Castle Rock, Board of Ed room (upstairs).

Last Thursday a couple of my Education Policy Center friends took part in the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families Day at the Capitol event. Although a bit cold and windy in Denver, it was a great time to see hundreds of students, parents and teachers show up and make a statement about what public school choice and virtual learning means to them. The day’s proceedings began indoors down the street from the Capitol, as students had the opportunity to work with teachers on fun projects and parents could listen to some informative presentations. One of the first speakers of the day was our own Ben DeGrow, who shared with the audience Colorado’s background with public school choice, how parents can help make school choice “work” and some of the parent-friendly resources from the Education Policy Center. Including, I’m told, this little blog of mine. Thanks for the plug! Later everyone marched down to the west steps of the State Capitol for a rally with speeches from cyberschool parents, students and leaders, as well as a couple legislators, along with award presentations to some deserving online students. And then to top it all off, a great lunch! Special thanks go to […]

You think school choice just means a state voucher program or public charter schools? Think again. We are living in an age of all kinds of creative school choice ideas. First you have our own Douglas County School District, which is moving forward to create a local voucher program — among several other school choice enhancements. Today in the Colorado legislature we have a big hearing on House Bill 1048, which would provide tax credit relief for parents who switch students to private or home schooling. As a state school choice policy with a twist, Matt Ladner and the Goldwater Institute are touting the idea of Education Savings Accounts, something reportedly being considered as a reform idea by Florida’s new governor Rick Scott. Then there’s the Foundation for Educational Choice, which has researched and promoted the idea of school passports as a way to radically re-think federal education stimulus spending. Writing today on the National Journal’s Education Experts blog, Colorado’s own State Board of Education chairman Bob Schaffer offers up another idea for a school choice initiative using federal dollars but crafted at the state level: