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Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan hosted a town hall meeting to launch the RESPECT (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching) Project, a proposed $5 billion program included in the Obama Administration’s 2013 budget. Typical of this administration’s education initiatives, this program is competitive and challenges states and district to work with teachers, unions, colleges of education and other stakeholders to comprehensively “reform” the field of teaching. 

I would have preferred that the Secretary used language that was more in line with “support and strengthen” the field of teaching since the word “reform” has been coopted by every harsh critic of public education, most of whom have  little interest in exploring solutions that could strengthen the complex nature of teaching and learning.  Having said that, the initiative provides much to celebrate and works to move the conversation around the important work of supporting public schooling to the strategy level in which all interested parties (which should be all of us) are involved. ...

I appreciate research and data, particularly when results offer evidence on successful initiatives and best practices. Every now and then, I crave some anecdotal evidence, voices with stories from individuals whose journeys are often reduced to graphs, averages and groups of statistical significance. Kappan Magazine features a diverse series of articles for February, Black History Month, on educating black male students (black and Latino males in one case). The commentary is a reminder that thoughtful questions produce thoughtful answers and conclusions. How might we constructively acknowledge that there are differences between many black male youth and their more privileged peers? What should we expect of teachers and schools with regards to the education of black male students? And, how do resulting answers or conclusions affect various recommendations, initiatives and debates in education policy more broadly? ...

On February 13, 2012, President Obama released his FY2013 budget proposal. While many analysts believe the budget is dead on arrival in Congress, those in the education community are praising the president for recognizing the important role that education plays in our economy and our society.

In his budget, President Obama called for the U.S. Department of Education to receive a $1.7 billion (2.5 percent) increase in education spending over the current budget year – one of only two departments to receive an increase. Highlights from the budget impacting k-12 education include $30 billion for school modernization, $30 billion to help prevent teacher layoffs and improve teacher quality, money for competitive grant programs (including $850 million for Race to the Top, $150 million for Investing in Innovation [i3], and a new $5 billion competitive program aimed at attracting, preparing, and rewarding great teachers), and level funding for some formula programs, including Title I and Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

All Learning First Alliance members who have responded to the budget applaud the President’s investment in education or focus on education jobs. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel, for example, praises the president’s commitment to students, saying that he “wants what every parent, student and the NEA want -- qualified, caring and committed adults in every school in America to provide the support and programs needed for students of all ages to succeed.”

However, while supporting the overall emphasis on education in the budget, some organizations had concerns with some aspects of it. One, shared by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), National School Boards Association (NSBA), and ...

Yesterday President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 10 states have been awarded waivers that provide flexibility from some of the main provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), including the 2014 deadline for 100% of students to reach proficiency in reading and math and the requirement that 20% of Title I funds be set aside for public school choice and supplemental educational services.

To receive a wavier, states had to agree to implement college and career-ready standards and to reform teacher and principal development, evaluation and support systems. They had to set new performance targets for improving student achievement and develop accountability systems that recognize and reward high-performing schools, provide “rigorous and comprehensive” interventions in the lowest-performing schools, and improve educational outcomes for underperforming subgroups of students. ...

Last week I had the privilege of celebrating the work of the 2012 School Counselor of the Year, Nicole Pfleger, at an elegant gala event held at Union Station and sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).  Nicole is a school counselor at Nickajack Elementary in Georgia’s Cobb County Public Schools and a reminder of how important individual excellence, leadership and enthusiasm are to the success of our students, schools, and districts.  Nicole is an impressive young woman with a talent for problem solving in the best interests of the students with whom she works.  At Nickajack Elementary she works to create an environment where students are respectful, responsible, and able to work cooperatively with others.  She established a school program called Rachel’s Challenge that focuses on creating a culture of compassion through acts of kindness and service projects.  This school wide program includes a curriculum, class meetings, service projects, student recognition and a Kindness and Compassion Club.

Pfleger has developed a close working relationship with a community homeless shelter for women and children where some of her students live, helping ...

Growing up, were you ever teased relentlessly by classmates? Did your parents go through a divorce, or did you lose a loved one? In high-school, were you frequently overwhelmed by classes, sports and college applications? If you managed to avoid all these scenarios, then you’re among a minority because events of this nature are commonplace for America’s children. As they cope with these stressors, learning frequently suffers and students need someone to turn to for help and support – that someone is a school counselor. ...

Much has already been written about the inaugural Digital Learning Day yesterday, which included a full day of virtual visits to schools across the country making good use of digital media to engage high schools students and address a variety of learning needs and styles and a Town Hall meeting that featured U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, among other high profile policymakers and education leaders. 

As someone who has advocated for effective and appropriate use of technology to support teaching and learning, I found much about yesterday’s event to appreciate.  For sure, the ideas expressed aren’t new or revolutionary, and Arne Duncan and ...

Today is Digital Learning Day, designated to celebrate the innovative use of digital technology in classrooms across the country. A key element of the celebration is to inspire a national conversation, one that can support educators and officials as they incorporate digital technology into individual school buildings and classrooms. Digital Learning Day is an initiative of the Alliance for Excellent Education’s Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy. The success of this initiative relies heavily on continued implementation efforts over the next five to ten years. ...

Tomorrow is the inaugural Digital Learning Day, a nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and learning through digital media and technology. New technologies are the future of learning, and it is inspiring to see how some teachers and schools are transforming the educational experience.

While celebrating these accomplishments, we must not forget that there are still a number of children who lack access to the promise that digital learning offers. Often, these children are also disadvantaged by virtue of their socioeconomic status.

Nick Pandolfo’s recent piece for The Hechinger Report really drives this point home. He highlights Bronzeville Scholastic Institute, a school that (according to the article) shares a homework lab with two others at Chicago’s DuSable High School campus – 24 computers for nearly a thousand students. Many of the school’s students (93% of whom receive free or reduced price lunch) cannot afford computers at home, and they do not have much access to them at school. Pandolfo writes that “Bronzeville Scholastic students born into a digital era struggle with basic skills, such as saving work to a flash drive and ...

Last month I learned that I had been appointed to the Recommendations for Education and Advancement of Learning (REAL) Agenda Commission whose job is to recommend an initial research and policy agenda for Digital Promise by producing a report to be delivered in April to White House Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra. Digital Promise is a national center created by Congress to advance technologies to transform teaching and learning.  The Commission is chaired by Dave Belanger, from AT&T, Arden Bement, from Purdue University, and Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, from Apollo Research Institute, and its membership includes representatives from technology companies, some of whom have been doing business with K-12 schools for some time and some of whom have not.  The commission is managed by TechAmerica Foundation and facilitated by Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow.   The only practicing K-12 educator on ...