If you haven’t seen it, Goldman Sachs is hosting an essay contest highlighting ideas to boost innovation in U.S. education.

Essays have run the gamut from “birth to three education” to “unified reform theory”.

Take a look at the finalists:

1) Community Schools

2) Focal Points for 21st Century Education Reform

3) Schools for the Future

Both #2 and #3 (author names are not public) touch upon what I and a growing number of others around the country feel is the most important change necessary for our schools to serve teachers and students in highly personalized environments based not on age or time in a chair, but rather understanding and demonstration: competency-based programs.

Competency (or mastery) allows students to learn at their own pace and “show what they know”. It also allows teachers and schools to educate children as individuals and know exactly where they are along the learning continuum at all times.

That’s the real game-changer.

To show my hand a bit here, while both #2 and #3 focus on mastery, #3, Schools for the Future, is unique among the finalists in its honest take on policy barriers. #1 and #2 outline nice system designs but don’t acknowledge the incredible uphill climb their recommendations would face on the way to implementation.

Entrenched policies are the greatest obstacle to education reform, and any plan to shake up the status quo must incorporate this fact into its transformative roadmap.

With John Danner, Michael Horn, Deborah Stipek, and Randi Weingarten counted among the  judges, you can be sure there were some interesting conversations leading up to the finalists.

Now it’s up to the public. The voting period ends today (3/28). Take a look and see if you are moved to support one:

Contest site

Public voting site
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An unpublished Letter to the Editor in response to Tuesday’s New York Times editorial, “The Trouble With Online College” (link)

To the Editor,

Today’s editorial on the growth of online offerings in higher education was right to acknowledge the benefits of blended learning models of instruction, but erred in its treatment of fully online courses and their potential ability to reach and teach students.

For years, quality online courses and schools have served students through the entire spectrum from elementary through college who look for or require flexibility. Online learning is a delivery model for faculty and teachers providing instruction online in a highly personalized and engaging learning environment. Online learning may not be the choice for every student, nor is it for every teacher. To those students for whom it is the right answer – for myriad reasons – online learning can mean the difference between educational access and no option at all.

The advent of the MOOC has stirred the pot by challenging a long-held belief of “what school looks like”, but to dismiss the form in its nascent stage is a dangerous trend that could deny access to an affordable world-class education until now unavailable to far too many. What MOOCs do call into question is whether we should consider competency-based credentialing for students who can demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed for certification or a degree.

Poor course design is damaging to students regardless of how, when, or where they learn, and not limited only to our most vulnerable learners. To insinuate that poorly constructed courses are somehow unique to the online learning experience is naive at best.

Instead, take a moment to reflect upon the possible positive ramifications of embracing the potential for our greatest teachers to reach tens of thousands of eager students, imparting knowledge around the financial, cultural, and geographic constraints of the education system as we’ve known it. New models are emerging and we should be cautiously optimistic to consider what changes to improve the system can be realized. Through our own Socratic method, we can bring to light solutions by critically examining why it is we continue to educate students in the same manner we have for hundreds of years while technology is transforming every other area of our lives.

Yesterday, friend and colleague John Bailey (Digital Learning Now!) joined me for a conversation about upcoming trends and concerns regarding federal and state policy for digital learning. I always learn something new from John and this conversation was no different. One fun fact: 197 legislative bills in 36 states on digital learning in 2012-13…

New models of instruction and competency- based learning will ensure student success

Over the past four years, President Obama has used both his policy and his pulpit in Washington to support education reform at a level that rivals many of his predecessors. He has allowed Administration leaders such as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement, and Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, the freedom to develop, fund, and promote programs that reward states for making dramatic alterations to their education landscapes. And tonight, he again impressed upon Congress that our students and our country must be better prepared to compete in the developing 21st century workplace if we are to rise above our current economic state and enter into a trajectory of growth.

Unfortunately, as with too many leaders in Washington and in the states, the prescription offered by the President this evening does not go far enough to address the challenges our schools face with respect to reaching all students where and how they learn throughout their academic career. The demands of a 21st century world cannot be addressed merely by tweaking a 19th century education delivery system. Teaching the ‘vast middle’ of American schoolchildren in a time-based system – counting hours in a seat with swiss cheese-like holes in their knowledge evident through skills gaps – is no longer acceptable.

Innovators working on the development of competency-based, online, and blended learning models must be put both in the spotlight and under a magnifying glass to determine emerging best practices if we are to make certain our schools reach and teach every student on their own learning edge so they might reach their full potential and the United States can move beyond our agrarian roots and truly enter the 21st century. (more…)

Sometimes we look back on our childhood schooling experiences and reflect on a memorable or transformative field trip—say to the American Natural History Museum, Smithsonian, an art gallery or Washington, D.C.—where something in our minds clicked, and we knew we wanted to study to become an archaeologist, architect, astronaut or become president.

Unfortunately, our country’s cultural learning centers, high-profile museums and other educational landmarks may not be easily accessible for teachers wishing to take their students on such a field trip, possibly because they are too expensive or too far away. Virtual field trips can help schools overcome tight budgets and geographic obstacles while still providing quality learning opportunities for eager young minds—exemplary of how online and blended learning is transformational to the modern educational experience.  (more…)

What’s been on my mind: new learning models, role of philanthropy, practice and policy (including new accountability)… all student-centered.

As we think about what is possible to help all students access a world-class education today, there remain major issues and barriers to increasing access for each child to high-quality learning opportunities. A major focus must be on transforming education – and on creating models to expand access and drive a future of equitable systems with systems of supports. The key barriers I am focused on are 1) policy barriers such as seat-time, 2) quality assurance models, and 3) new learning models that can transform to more effective, student-centered, competency-based learning. (more…)

(First of all, thanks to the great work being done by Achieve’s Competency-based Pathways Working Group – of which Chris Sturgis (MetisNet, CompetencyWorks) and I are members. It is a pleasure to work with such a forward-thinking team.)

Achieve’s Cory Curl has presented a nice summary of a ground-breaking report released by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (NMEF):

 Making Mastery Work: A Close Up View of Competency Education (link)

 The report captures lessons learned from 10 schools implementing competency-based programs through their involvement with the Proficiency-Based Pathways Project (supported by NMEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). (more…)

The Portland (Maine) Press Herald recently ran a few stories on K-12 online learning in the state that greatly mischaracterized  the power and promise of digital learning – so I set out to correct the record.  You can read my full response here.  An excerpt is below.

“Education is perhaps the most important civil rights concern in the United States today. The academic equity and excellence we seek, however, will come only when we offer students a broad selection of learning environments and allow them to identify the proper solution for their individual learning styles and interests. The digital world is here and technology literacy skills are going to be a valuable part of the 21st century skill set students need for success, along with critical thinking, problem solving and communication — both working in groups and as part of virtual teams. These tools are essential in order for our students to become globally-competitive, and college and career-ready.”

 

Watch:

John Bailey, Karen Cator, Tim Magner,  Linda Roberts and I discuss the State of Education Today in this archived webinar of their Kickoff Panel for Connected Educators Month.  (Watch the video here.)

“Getting Schooled by a Third Grader,”  an event hosted by the New America Foundation.   (Watch the video here.)

And read:

Q&A with Heather O’Mara: Teacher-student relationship remains vital in online learning

Hechinger Report

In Colorado, a state where just this week there’s been controversy as three foreign-language teachers lost their jobs when their classes moved online, there are differing perspectives on the value of online education and technology’s ever-increasing role in education. Colorado has it all: fully online… (read)

Va to require all high school students take an online class starting with next year’s freshmen

Associated Press

Beginning next year, all high school students in Virginia will have to take some sort of online course in order to graduate. The General Assembly passed the law this year, fueled by the belief that today’s students need the experience of taking coursework online to do well in college and the workforce… (read)

WAY offers online learning alternative to public school

MLive

Jessica Cooper was so turned off by all the drugs and the social drama at her Livingston County high school that she finally dropped out during her junior year. “You had to be popular, or in a specific group,” she explained. “It just made me want to be alone.” Soon after she enrolled in the area’s alternative… (read)

Educators embracing technology for e-learning

Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC

The classroom has changed a lot in the last decade or so as technology continues to advance. Educational institutions around the country are embracing technology including Aiken County Schools. From iPads to online learning, Aiken County schools are riding the technology wave. Terry Hallman… (read)

The following piece by Susan Patrick appeared this week on National Journal’s Education Experts Blog:

Tom Vander Ark makes several strong points in his post, so I hope that I might just add a few additional thoughts.

Online learning is not simply a videotaped lecture, an online chat, a Skype-like conversation, an e-book, or a series of multiple choice quizzes popping up on a computer screen.

Online learning starts with students having access to excellent teachers – most online teachers have at least eight years of classroom experience. These seasoned educators are professionals empowered with the digital tools and engaging content we are able to access on-demand in our daily lives. They harness their power and efficiency to individualize instruction and engage students in a learning process that can transform the way they learn in the modern world.

Online learning is not about technology for its own sake, (more…)