8Th Annual Knowledge Alliance Communicators Institute

“Change is in the Air, or on the Ground? Communicating in a New Era”

8th Annual Knowledge Alliance Communicators Institute April 23rd and 24th, 2008

Learning Point Associates 20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1231 Chicago, IL 60606 Phone: (800) 252-0283

2 Table of Contents

Welcome letter……………………………………………………………………………3

Agenda…………………………………………………………………………………....4

Presenters ………………………………………………………………………………...7

Participants……………………………………………………………………………….11

About Knowledge Alliance ……………………………………………………...... 12

Reading Materials………………………………………………………………………...19

3 815 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 220 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 518-0847 www.knowledgeall.net

April 16, 2008

Dear Knowledge Alliance Communicators,

Welcome to the 2008 Knowledge Alliance Communicators Institute, “Change is in the Air, or on the Ground? Communicating in a New Era”. By our unofficial count, this is eighth time we will be convening some of the finest communicators in the education R&D arena to share ideas, examine critical issues, and advance the collective cause of our trade association.

You will see in this year’s agenda that we aim to stretch our collective thinking about blogging and the future of web-based messaging in the education space, share ideas that “sizzle” (and perhaps fizzle) within your respective organizations, and critique a prototype of the redesigned Knowledge Alliance web site. We have an exciting group of presenters/discussants including education policy expert, Paul Kimmelman from Learning Point Associates, blogger/journalist Alexander Russo, and associates from Lipman Hearne, who have been involved with the re-branding of Knowledge Alliance. With our flexible, interactive format, there will be plenty of opportunity to share ideas and raise issues big and small with your colleagues.

We would like to thank the members of the planning committee—Leslie Blair, Melissa Burns, Bryan Goodwin, and Ann Kinder —who provided great ideas and insights for this year’s gathering. We all look forward to a dynamic, entertaining, and productive time together.

Until then,

Jim Kohlmoos John Waters President Advocacy Coordinator/ Office Manager

4 AGENDA

5 “Change is in the Air, or on the Ground? Communicating in a New Era” 2008 Knowledge Alliance Communicators Institute

Purpose Examine and develop new ideas and directions for communicating in a dynamic education environment

Objectives  Gain better understanding of current and future trends in education and educational communications, particularly blogging and web-based messaging  Share and examine effective approaches and practices  Review and critique prototype of Knowledge Alliance’s redesigned web site

Wednesday, April 23rd Transportation from Wyndham: Attendees staying at the Wyndham will meet in the lobby at 9:30 and share cabs to the LPA office.

10:00-11:15 a.m. Introductions, Presentation and Discussion “Education Policy and the Knowledge Agenda” Paul Kimmelman and Jim Kohlmoos

11:15-Noon Short presentations “Ideas that Sizzle or Fizzle” Rhonda Barton Debbie Ritenour

Noon-1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00-1:30 p.m. Short presentations “Ideas that Sizzle or Fizzle” Jackie Burniske Larry McQuillan

1:30-2:15 p.m. Presentation and Discussion “Communications 2.0: The Future of Web-based Messaging” Rodney Ferguson and Lee Reilly Lipman Hearne

2:15-2:30 p.m. Break

2:30-3:00 p.m. Short Presentations “Ideas that Sizzle or Fizzle” Bryan Goodwin Ann Kinder

6 3:00-3:45 p.m. Presentation and Discussion “Edu-Blogging and the Blogoshere” Alexander Russo Author, This Week in Education (education policy blog) and District 299 (Chicago Schools blog); Contributing Editor, Catalyst Magazine; Consulting Editor, Scholastic Administrator Magazine

3:45-4:00 p.m. Break

4:00-5:00 p.m. Short Presentations “Ideas that Sizzle or Fizzle” Ron Dietel Daphne Northrop/Melissa Burns Meg Grant/Gail Ribalta

5:00-6:30 p.m. Break

6:30-8:30 p.m. Dinner (No Agenda) The Caliterra Bar & Grill Wyndham Chicago 633 North St. Clair, Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 274-4444

Thursday, April 24th Transportation from Wyndham: Attendees staying at the Wyndham will meet in the lobby at 7:30 and share cabs to the LPA office.

8:00-8:30 a.m. Breakfast

8:30-9:00 a.m. Short Presentations “Ideas that Sizzle or Fizzle” Carla McClure Mary Maushard

9:00-9:45 a.m. Work Session Review and discussion of Knowledge Alliance web site redesign Presentation of prototype, via conference call/web connection, by Michelle Sulzer, Sulzer Design Group

9:45-10:30 a.m. Review, Advice, Adjourn What nuggets did you collect during our time together? What advice do you have for your colleagues and Knowledge Alliance for the coming year? What next for the Communicators?

7 Presenters

8 Rodney Ferguson

Rodney Ferguson oversees Lipman Hearne’s Washington, D.C.-based public relations practice. Rodney has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, public policy communications, and education working with a diverse set of clients in the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors.

Some of the clients Rodney has served include The Brookings Institution, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Aspen Institute, Pew Charitable Trusts, The College Board, the U.S. Department of Education, RAND, Scholastic Inc., the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the United States Selective Service System, and Seton Hall University.

Rodney has also assisted several prestigious foundations and advocacy organizations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institute for the Aging. These efforts involved broad media relations and government affairs advocacy, message and materials development, and strategic marketing consultation. He also serves on the board for the Education Writers Association, the largest national organization representing journalists who cover education.

Rodney holds an M.P.P. from The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. in political science and history from Birmingham Southern College.

Paul Kimmelman

Dr. Paul L. Kimmelman, (Ed.D., University of Toledo) Paul L. Kimmelman is Senior Advisor in the office of the CEO at Learning Point Associates, and has served as a consultant to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England and Senior Consultant to Project 2061 Professional Development Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He worked in K-12 education for over 30 years as a teacher, assistant high school principal, middle school principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent and has been an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities. Currently he is also working at Argosy University as Program Coordinator for Organizational Leadership in the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.

As superintendent in Lima, Ohio, he worked to help the district successfully comply with a federal desegregation order. He served as President of the First in the World Consortium when he was a superintendent in Illinois. The Consortium was a collaborative group of school districts that were the first non-country group to participate in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. The group was recognized by President Clinton and Secretary of Education Richard Riley when they visited Illinois to announce their world-class successful work.

Dr. Kimmelman has authored numerous articles and publications on education and presented at national and state education meetings. He is co-author of the book, Achieving World-Class Schools: Mastering School Improvement Using a Genetic Model, released by Christopher- Gordon Publishing in 2002. His most recent book, Implementing NCLB: Creating a Knowledge 9 Framework to Support School Improvement, was released by Corwin Press in April, 2006. He is currently working on a new book about compliance, leadership and innovation.

He was appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley to the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century chaired by former Senator and astronaut John Glenn and served on the TIMSS Technical Review Panel. He was also appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to serve on the Teacher Assistance Corps and participated in the Teacher to Teacher project offering sessions on Building Teacher Leaders. He also serves as an advisory board member for the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Jim Kohlmoos

Jim Kohlmoos is the President and CEO of Knowledge Alliance (previously known as the National Education Knowledge Industry Association, NEKIA), a non partisan trade association dedicated to the effective use of research-based knowledge in education policy and practice. With three decades of experience in educational leadership and innovation in both the public and private sectors, Kohlmoos is charged with leading a national advocacy effort to expand support for evidence-based education and knowledge-based solutions in school improvement.

Prior to joining the Alliance in 2001, Kohlmoos was a vice president of Implementation Group, where over a two- year period as vice president he built an extensive bi-partisan government relations practice in elementary and secondary education. From 1993 to 2000 Kohlmoos served at the U.S. Department of Education as both a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education and as a Senior Adviser and Special Assistant. He also served on the Presidential Transition Team in 1992. From 1977 to 1993, he worked at the Close Up Foundation first as an instructor and director and then as vice president.

Kohlmoos began his professional career in education in 1971 with the U.S. Teacher Corps in Salinas, CA. He subsequently served as a teacher trainer with the Peace Corps, which took him to Malaysia for three years.

Kohlmoos holds a baccalaureate in history from Stanford University (1971), plus teacher credentials from the University of California. He has completed graduate courses at Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. A native of California, Kohlmoos resides in Arlington, VA, with his wife and two adult children.

Lee Reilly

Lee Reilly is a seasoned web strategist who returns to Lipman Hearne after a four-year hiatus. With special expertise in content and information architecture, Lee founded and led the editorial and information architecture practice for mStoner, where she developed strategies for Phillips Exeter Academy, McDaniel College, University of Georgia, the Fulbright grants, Quinnipiac University and its law school, the University of Denver, and others.

She developed the content design for a range of institutions, including Hartwick College (winner of two national awards), Yale Law School, and Kenyon College, which has been named one of the 20 best nonprofit websites in the world based on content. Altogether, Lee has consulted with 10 more than 70 colleges and organizations on web issues. During her first years at Lipman Hearne, she helped develop the firm's early web efforts; in addition, she wrote admissions, fundraising, and collateral materials for Wake Forest University School of Law, Advocate Health Care, the MacArthur Foundation, and others.

She is the author of two nonfiction books, and has recently won two literary awards for fiction and nonfiction. Lee holds a B. A. from Stanford University and an M.A. from the University of Virginia.

Alexander Russo

Alexander Russo's most recent article was an investigation of Barack Obama's role in protecting local school councils in Chicago. His work has appeared in Slate, The Washington Monthly, Huffington Post, Britannica Blog, The National Review Online, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Indianapolis Monthly, and numerous education/urban affairs/policy publications (Catalyst, Edutopica, State Legislator, Administrator, State Legislator, Teacher Magazine, Scholastic Administrator, Education Next, City Limits).

Russo is probably best know for his education policy blog, This Week In Education, and his Chicago schools blog, District 299, is sponsored by Catalyst Magazine. He is also a contributing editor for Catalyst Magazine, and a consulting editor for Scholastic Administrator Magazine.

Before he began writing, Russo was an education adviser to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Chancellor Ramon Cortines (former head of the New York City schools). He was also a research associate for Policy Studies Associates in Washington DC, and an English teacher at a parochial boys school in Los Angeles.

Raised in Chicago and currently living in Brooklyn, Russo has a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a master's in education policy from Harvard.

11 PARTICIPANTS

First Last Knowledge E-Mail Nam Name Alliance e Member Rhonda Barton NWREL [email protected] Jackie Burniske PREL [email protected] Melissa Burns EDC [email protected] Ron Dietel CRESST [email protected] Steve Fleischman AIR [email protected] Bryan Goodwin McREL [email protected] Meg Grant Edvance [email protected] Ann Kinder Learning Point [email protected] Associates Jim Kohlmoos Knowledge [email protected] Alliance Mary Maushard CSOS [email protected] Carla McClure Edvantia [email protected] Larry McQuillan AIR [email protected] Daphne Northrop EDC [email protected] Gail Ribalta Edvance [email protected] Debbie Ritenour SEDL [email protected] John Waters Knowledge [email protected] Alliance Joy zimmerman WestED

12 About Knowledge Alliance

13 Knowledge Alliance

About the Alliance

Knowledge Alliance (formerly known as NEKIA) was founded in 1997 as a non-profit, non-partisan strategic alliance to address the increasingly urgent need to apply rigorous research to persistent educational challenges facing our country's schools. Composed of leading education organizations, Alliance members are involved in high-quality education research, development, dissemination, technical assistance and evaluation at the federal, regional, state, tribal, and local levels. The Alliance works closely with the US Congress, US Department of Education and other federal agencies in advocating knowledge-based policy for innovation and improvement in education.

Our Mission

Knowledge Alliance's mission is to improve k-12 education by widely expanding the development and use of research-based knowledge in policy and practice.

We believe that the effective use of research-based knowledge is essential to increasing student achievement and closing achievement gaps and should be a central organizing concept for the education reform efforts at all levels. We envision a new knowledge era in education policy and practice that focuses on the effective use of research-based knowledge to achieve successful and sustainable school improvement.

Our Guiding Principles

1. Provide leadership in transforming education to prepare young people for life, work, and citizenship in the 21st Century. We pay special attention to students who traditionally have been underserved due to race/ethnicity, poverty, first language, disability, or other factors.

2. Conduct and apply high quality research to identify and solve educational problems. We are particularly concerned about finding answers to enduring dilemmas that demand new and innovative solutions.

3. Advance research and development as the driver of change in education as it is in other arenas. We educate policy makers, practitioners, and the general public about the need for research-based solutions to educational problems.

4. Apply industry-accepted standards for research and evaluation methodology. We believe that the research methods should be appropriate to the nature and scale of inquiries.

5. Involve stake holders in their work. We connect with other communities and individuals that are interested in knowledge development and use, including those with new and different voices.

6. Assure both scientific rigor and relevance. We believe each are important in addressing educational problems and enduring dilemmas.

7. Recognize that knowledge development is cumulative. We believe in the frequent review of findings to confirm, build on, and refine what is currently known.

8. Transform research into practice. We are organizations that are flexible and adaptive to changing contexts. We design tools, programs and services that put knowledge to use.

Knowledge Alliance

15 Our Collective Capacity

Collectively, Alliance members form a dynamic and powerful community of researchers, educational developers, service providers, and entrepreneurs who are addressing the most urgent education problems in the U.S. and abroad.

Essential Capabilities for Transforming Education—Alliance member organizations are national leaders in education. They have the essential capabilities to transform educational practices and tools. They conduct research, develop quality education tools, and provide vital technical assistance and professional development services. Alliance members have extensive dissemination activities efforts directed at educators and policy makers. Many of the members also conduct experimental/quasi-experimental research, and provide policy analysis services.

Expertise in Every Critical Education Issue—Alliance members conduct work in nearly 50 topical areas spanning the education spectrum from early childhood to post- secondary education. The area in which most of the members conduct work is school reform and in areas emphasized by No Child Left Behind – teacher quality, accountability, educational standards, data-based decision making, and reading. Among the other topical areas in which members work are after-school, charter schools, curriculum, English language learners, gifted and talented, math/science, leadership, rural education, school safety, and technology.

Capacity for Powerful & Scalable Effect —Revenue for Alliance members totaled nearly $500 million in 2003. Collectively, they employ more than 3,100 of the nation’s best researchers, trainers, and analysts.

Nationwide Reach to Every School in Every State —The reach of Alliance members extends to every school in each of the nation’s 15,000 school districts.

Extensive Experience Abroad —In recent years, Alliance members have also provided services to over 100 foreign nations including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen, and Zambia.

Dynamic Vision for a Changing World—Alliance members continually refine and build new capacities to help meet the needs of educators and policy makers. Among the capacity areas most frequently cited for development are experimental/quasi- experimental research and evaluation; professional development; consultative services/technical assistance; policy analysis and assessment; and evaluation.

Knowledge Alliance

2008 Membership

Academy for Educational Development AdvancED Washington, DC Decatur, GA 16 Metro Center for Urban Education** American Institutes for Research New York University New York, NY Washington, DC Mid-Continent Research for Education and Center for Equity and Excellence in Learning (McREL) Aurora, CO Education** George Washington University Washington, DC National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities ** Washington, DC Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing UCLA, Los Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory Angeles, CA (NWREL) Portland, OR

Center for Research in Human Development Pacific Resources for Education and and Education** Temple University Learning (PREL) Honolulu, HI Philadelphia, PA The Reading Recovery Council of North Center for Social Organization of Schools America ** Worthington, OH The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD RMC Research Corporation CNAC's Education Center Portsmouth, NH The CNA Corporation Alexandria, Virginia SERRC** The Collaborative for Teaching and Juneau, AK Learning ** Louisville, KY SERVE College of Continuing Education** University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma SEDL College of Education Austin, TX Penn State University University Park, PA Teachscape** The Education Alliance ** San Francisco,CA Brown University Providence, RI Voyager Expanded Learning Education Development Center Dallas, TX Newton, MA WestEd Edvance Research, Inc San Francisco, CA San Antonio, TX WGBH Public Television ** Edvantia Boston, MA Charleston, WV Wireless Generation ** Learning Point Associates Brooklyn, NY Naperville, IL ** affiliate members

2008 Board of Directors

Tom Barlow (Executive Committee) Pacific Resources for Education and Learning

Denise Borders (Executive Committee) Academy for Educational Development

Joanne Bradley Education Development Center

Christine Dwyer RMC Research Corporation

Mark Elgart & Jill Hawley AdvancED

Steve Fleischman (Executive Committee) American Institutes for Research

Joan Herman (Executive Committee) Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, UCLA

Wes Hoover (Executive Committee) SEDL

Paul Kimmelman & Gina Burkhardt Learning Point Associates

James Kohlmoos (President) Knowledge Alliance Laura Lefkowits Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning

Max McConkey (Chair) WestEd

James McPartland Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University

David Monk & Kyle Peck College of Education Penn State University

Robert Pasternack Voyager Expanded Learning

Doris Redfield (Executive Committee) Edvantia

Ludwig David van Broekhuizen SERVE, Inc., University of North Carolina Greensboro

Robert "Bud" Spillane CNA Education Center

Carol Thomas Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

19 Readings

20 Jim’s Favorite Education Blogs This Week In Education http://www.thisweekineducation.com/

The Gadfly http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/gadfly/index.cfm/

John Merrow http://johnmerrow.blogspot.com/

NCLB Act II http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/NCLB-ActII/

NSBA's BoardBuzz http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/

Principal's Policy Blog http://www.principalspolicyblog.org/blog/

Roy Romer http://roysblog.edin08.com/

Swift & Change Able http://swiftandchangeable.org/

Eduwonk http://www.eduwonk.com/

Edbizbuzz http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edbizbuzz/

Eduflak http://blog.eduflack.com/

blog aggregator for edublogs http://www.blognetnews.com/education/

SchoolNet.com's new portal http://www.schoolnet.com/Viewpoints08/The%20Doyle %20Report/Pages/ViewpointPost.aspx?PostID=204&Paged=True&Page=1

Knowledge Alliance Home page “Putting the Edge Back in Knowledge” wiki

21 “2009: The Year of Transformation?”

Jim Kohlmoos, Knowledge Alliance Max McConkey. WestEd

February 10, 2008

In the Washington world of overworked hyperbole, just about every year is deemed a watershed year for something. But in looking ahead at the education political and policy terrain of 2009, we think we are destined for something far more consequential that the average year of change. The requisite converging dynamics of 2008 may create a perfect storm in 2009.

The policy debates in this election year suggest that a new administration and a new Congress -- regardless of party affiliation -- will take charge next year with a clear mandate for change. New staff, new power brokers, and new relationships will challenge the complacency and status quo of Washington’s policy-making apparatus.

Pressures of a recessionary economy will amplify the calls for aggressively sharpening America’s competitiveness in a global market place and may stir a renewed focus on education as driver of innovation and productivity. Mixed into this boiling stew will be renewed debate about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and a search for the best ways to ignite and sustain the transformation of American education.

We suspect that, in this turbulent environment, the demand for change will necessitate much more than a tweaking of accountability provisions in federal statutes. We will see escalating political pressures to deliver major, sustainable solutions for low performing schools, broken school systems, and tired education policies.

Expect to see a national demand for solutions -- from the increasing number of communities with schools not making “adequate yearly progress,” from populations still seriously underserved, and from recession-weary business communities seeking long term revitalization.

We now hear from education staffers on Capitol Hill calls for taking the No Child Left Behind Act "to the next level" – to a “focus on solutions.” When the President's FY 2009 budget was presented at the U.S. Department of Education last week, the central theme of the Administration’s proposals was a pledge to "build the capacity of states and localities for turning around low performing schools."

22 These developments reflect a deep impatience with the past and an even greater sense of urgency for the future. There will be dramatic challenges and great opportunities in the marketplace, most importantly that demand may outstrip supply. Our school improvement industry could face a capacity crisis of great proportions -- at the national, state, and local levels -- to deliver meaningful solutions to schools quickly and effectively. Without sufficient capital investments in the research and development infrastructure in education, this crisis has the potential of persisting for years to come.

Opportunities will flow from the aforementioned disruption in the political and policy environment in education. By focusing on big solutions rather than technical sanctions, policy makers should be ready to break paralyzing policy stalemates by moving to the next level of standards-based reform and school improvement.

The winners in the industry will be those with the knowledge base and expertise to expeditiously mobilize and scale innovative school improvement operations. We suspect that 2009 may be that watershed year when American ingenuity is unleashed and a vibrant and robust knowledge-driven school improvement movement is launched.

23 Two 9/10’s

Jim Kohlmoos Knowledge Alliance Adapted from an article the School Improvement Industry Weekly September 11, 2007

On September 10, 2001, I had breakfast with a White House education advisor and several government relations consultants from both sides of the aisle. The meeting had been scheduled to compare notes on the latest draft of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It was an open, candid and far- reaching discussion about making the draft’s accountability provisions stronger and more workable.

Our agenda covered options for determining Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). There were problems with every model we considered: too complex, invalid, unreliable, arbitrary, or discriminatory. We ended up talking not about the best alternative but about the least worst option. I remember having an awkward feeling that the answer to identifying and addressing the needs of low performing schools probably lay beyond the boundaries of the statute.

We did not finish our discussion, and a less than perfect AYP was a done deal. The White House official left early to meet the President for a tour of Florida schools aimed at drawing media attention to his ESEA reauthorization proposal. On September 11, all hell broke loose. Our next meeting with that official was after the No Child Left Behind Act’s January 8, 2002 signing ceremony.

Flash forward to a September 10, 2007 hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building. Forty-three panelists and I and testified on the latest ESEA reauthorization. Most of the comments focused on the still confounding and highly controversial issue of AYP.

Citizens might expect that after six years of implementation and evaluation policy experts would find a mix of practicality and strength in accountability system to move the system to next level of school change. Instead, as narrow as the debate over AYP may seem to outside observers, it remains difficult, divisive - and a deal breaker for some.

My awkward feeling at that breakfast in 2001 has grown into the firm belief that turning around low performing schools is not just about accountability. It also requires that the nation build the capacity to scale and sustain school improvement. From my House testimony:

To be sure, reaching consensus on new accountability provisions will be challenging..... It is important to put this reauthorization into historical context. For the past 20 years dating back to the first Bush Administration, federal 24 education policy has been guided by a standards-based reform framework: Develop standards, align the system to those standards, create strong accountability measures, and at last and ultimately deliver solutions to schools.

With NCLB’s heavy emphasis of on accountability in 2002, the conditions are now ripe to move to the next level and focus far greater attention on school improvement. The next reauthorization should aim to balance needed sanctions with compelling solutions.

It is also vitally important to invest in building local and state capacity for school improvement ... I will go so far as to recommend that the title of the statute reflect this emphasis: “Building America’s Capacity for Excellence for All Children Act”.

This next reauthorization can and should accelerate nationwide efforts to fulfill the promise of NCLB. Through a robust and rigorous system of school improvement the increasingly urgent needs for turning around low performing schools can and should be met…”

As in 2001, national security has overshadowed ESEA reauthorization in 2007. And it’s thus all the more important this next time around to ensure that the reauthorization leads to innovative and transformative solutions for improving schools using the best available knowledge and expertise that we can muster.

25 Knowledge Alliance: Our Name Change is More Than Good PR Jim Kohlmoos, CEO, Knowledge Alliance May 1, 2007

It used to be that when folks were first introduced to the “National Education Knowledge Industry Association” they would pause and politely ask, “Say what?” And the abbreviation, “NEKIA”, would conjure images of a successful cell phone company. On April 10 our board of directors decided the time was right for a change and approved our new name, Knowledge Alliance. Since then, after having a name that many found hard to remember and an acronym that few could pronounce, we have been greeted with a very positive wave of reactions.

We are thrilled with our new moniker. The old name seemed to violate every branding rule. But we have always been able to expand membership, advocate for key knowledge policies in Congress and at the US Department of Education and build strong collaborations. Our re-branding was far more than public relations. “Knowledge Alliance” represents our view of the future of the dynamic k-12 education market place.

We see a new era in education reform where the escalating demand for school improvement solutions is matched by a growing supply of research-based innovation. We envision a robust, responsive and rigorous R&D infrastructure where researchers, developers, practitioners and policy makers work together (like in an alliance) to apply research-based knowledge to critical education problems.

There are a number of factors that make a knowledge alliance such a compelling idea. Education policy has evolved over the past 15 years to implement the elements of standards-based reform. The focus on standards and assessments in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s spawned a major focus on the alignment of assessments, curriculum, and assessments in the 1990. This begat the emphasis on accountability in No Child Left Behind.

The next logical step is a focus on school improvement: targeting significant new resources and expertise both to turning around low performing schools and to building a knowledge infrastructure for sustained improvement. This is where the next reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act should be headed. Helping Congress take reform to this higher level is one of the top priorities of Knowledge Alliance.

Second, Washington underestimated the support required to transfer, apply and manage the knowledge required to improve schools. Although No Child Left Behind emphasizes the employment of “scientifically based research,” translating research to practice is no simple matter. Mandating the use of scientific evidence - as was done for example with Reading First - does not foster sustained improvement overall or over time. End users should be skilled consumers of research–based knowledge, including how to apply what works in their own contexts. Building the knowledge infrastructure and culture will be a key part of the Knowledge Alliance mission.

Finally, given the size and scope of k-12 education, federal investment in research and development in education has been tragically low. Today, the entire federal budget represents less than .01 % of total spending in k-12 education. The Knowledge Alliance

26 will work to build the capacity of this k-12 R&D to match public education’s demand for innovative solutions.

The U.S. Department of Education spends less than one percent of its budget on research, development, and statistics. By comparison, other agency R&D budgets as a percentage of their discretionary spending are: Defense, 17%; NASA, 68%; Energy, 37%; HHS, 42%; NSF, 74 %; and Agriculture, 4.6%. The Department of Education’s research budget has been and remains among the smallest of any cabinet-level agency. This will not build the evidence base educators require to achieve the improvements envisioned by NCLB.

With a new brand, a compelling vision and powerful mission, Knowledge Alliance is poised to make a difference. Our name implies not only research and development, but knowledge provided for educators, students, classrooms and schools in the real world. Indeed, working together for knowledge is what the Knowledge Alliance is all about ••••

27 2007 Knowledge Alliance Communicators Institute, 6/14/07

Suggestions for roll-out of Knowledge Alliance name and possible modifications to web site  Continue roll out announcements at board meetings, forums, and other staff communications  Partnering/marketing with individual members  Knowledge Alliance members could emphasize that they are “Members of Knowledge Alliance” in their own materials  Knowledge Alliance should work to become point of referral for press queries  Host events with Knowledge Alliance members to build awareness on the Hill for knowledge and research  Such events could serve as periodic unveilings of important research by Knowledge Alliance members  Possibly sharing the Knowledge-able Source outside the Knowledge Alliance membership  Make “Members” button on web site more prominent  Create way (maybe a form on web site) to alert Knowledge Alliance to upcoming research, then share with Hill, but in synthesized, readable language, and then coordinate with Hill visits  Web site home page: condense the two existing paragraphs to a couple of sentences  To address questions of capacity, it is important to know who we are and what we want to do. Must understand who our audience is (may only be our membership and small group of Hill staff)  To enliven the web site, visual elements to capture attention would be good: pictures demonstrating “Research to Action” and the synergy of research.  Web site must have a strong navigation tool

Debrief: Advice for Knowledge Alliance and Advice for Colleagues Advice for Knowledge Alliance  Focus on what you’re able to do and know your audience  Value communications expertise in getting message to the Hill  Don’t lose track of the business of disseminating knowledge and moving it into action- this needs to be the Knowledge Alliance message  Need more research for what works in dissemination  Be sure to target audience and know what resonates with them  Place research-to-action stories on the web site  Would be great to revive meetings which involve both the communicators and directors of Knowledge Alliance members  Don’t be shy about asking for help from the membership

Advice for Colleagues  Just as for Knowledge Alliance, focus on what you’re able to do and know your audience  Moving to an online platform  Desire to know what each other is doing for use in communications with policy makers  Keep this communicators network active, and continue this yearly institute

28  In your advertising and marketing, know what “sticks”  Keep pushing envelope, and reconsider ideas as you move forward  Keep other staff fully involved

29 Web Site Enhancement Recommendations by our Branding Consultants Spring, 2007 (prior to our name change)

Based on our review of the NEKIA website and other related sites, we recommend a number of improvements and realignments to the NEKIA site. Currently, NEKIA is providing a significant amount of information on its site. Our recommendations are designed to assist NEKIA in:  Increasing stakeholder audience for education knowledge  Promoting the organization and its benefits to potential member organizations  Using the site as a teaching tool for policymakers and key influencers  Creating a common language, look, and alignment for all NEKIA materials  Establishing the NEKIA website as its gateway information source, the primary marking and education tool of the organization

Following are our specific recommendations for enhancing the NEKIA website:

I. NEKIA Web Visual Identity Recommendations

In looking at the visual identity NEKIA has established through its website, Lipman Hearne recommends the following:

A. Establish a Core Color Palate Currently, NEKIA uses a host of colors and fonts on its website. Moving forward, we recommend establishing a clear palate of NEKIA colors (likely tied to a new NEKIA logo). These colors would not only be used on the NEKIA banner at the top of each page, but would be reflected in the navigation buttons, headlines, and other visual depictions.

Similarly, NEKIA should use a consistent font for all text on the website (Garamond is commonly recognized as the strongest font available) and all text should be provided in black. Gray text should only be used if it is specifically intended to draw distinction to the copy.

B. Establish a NEKIA Logo and Brand NEKIA needs an iconographic identity that is the anchor for all printed and web information. With the adoption of a new name and tagline, NEKIA needs to develop a logo and icon that similarly represent the mission and vision of the organization. This logo would be populated throughout the site, and would serve as a future identifier for all NEKIA information. This logo would incorporate the organization’s core color palate, and would include the organizational name and tagline.

C. Key In On Mission Statement NEKIA has invested significant time and effort into developing its mission and guiding principles. These guiding principles (in an abridged version) should be the second thing (after the logo) any visitor to the site sees. We want to remind visitors WHY they should be reading the information at this website.

D. Align Menu Buttons With Guiding Principles As we focus visitors on the NEKIA guiding principles, we should provide them a clear map to information on each of the core areas NEKIA has prioritized. Some current menu items (such as

30 contact us, news, photos, etc.) can be relocated to a top or bottom page menu. We want visitors drawn specifically to the cornerstone of NEKIA’s work and its value to its members.

E. Shorten Page Length Research shows the majority of individuals only read the information found in the first screen shot’s worth of text. That being the case, NEKIA should shorten much of the content on the site, highlighting key information and driving visitors to contact the organization for additional information. In some cases, we may want to explore the creation of submenus in key menu categories (see below in navigation recommendations).

II. NEKIA Web Navigation Recommendations

In looking at the web navigation of the NEKIA website, Lipman Hearne recommends the following:

A. Improve Information Organization As we recommended above, the main NEKIA information menu (currently on the left side of the page) should align with NEKIA’s core activities -- public policy, knowledge infrastructure, business development, industry leadership, and capacity building. Also included in that main menu should be an ABOUT US button, OUR MEMBERS button, and new JOIN NEKIA and UPCOMING EVENTS buttons (see below in web content).

Additional information, such as NEWS, CONTACT US, and a proposed PHOTOS, should be included as buttons along the top or the bottom of the page. Visitors are used to looking in those locations for such information, and it will provide a cleaner organization, by not providing a core menu of a dozen buttons.

B. Submenus NEKIA should consider establishing some submenus in its core menu list. This will allow the organization to continue to provide a broad range of information and data, but to offer it in manageable bites. For instance, the OUR MEMBERS page, could become a MEMBERSHIP page, with sublists for “OUR MEMBERSHIP,” “VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP,” “HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER,” etc.

C. Tag Website to NEKIA Currently, the website is identified as “Home” in its Internet tagging. This means that when the site is open in the browser or is saved to a Favorites list, it is not initially tagged as NEKIA. It is simply tagged as Home. Coding changes should be made to ensure it is always tagged with the organizational name.

D. Page-to-Page Navigation Currently, the NEKIA site uses a wide variety of page fades and one moves from subpage to subpage (changing text left to right, right to left, emanating from center, etc.). We recommend a common transition between pages, so that viewers are not distracted from the content of the site.

E. Use of Java As a visitor navigates between pages, he gets continues messages that Java is needed to view the applet. For the non-web-savvy, such warnings can cause individuals to leave sites, not knowing if they have Java or not. If the NEKIA site is redesigned, it should be coded to a level where the average browser will support it without such notifications or warnings. 31 III. NEKIA Web Content Recommendations

In looking at the web content of the NEKIA website, Lipman Hearne recommends the following:

A. Member Recruitment In our review, one key piece of content that is missing is member recruitment. In addition to providing needed information, this website should serve as a marketing tool for the organization. As such, it should promote the good works of the organization, and make clear to visitors that their organization should be a member.

In addition to providing the list of member organizations, we recommend providing specific content on: 1) benefits of NEKIA membership; 2) levels of NEKIA membership (full or associate); and 3) how one becomes a NEKIA member.

B. Promotion of Events The other key area not currently explored on NEKIA’s website is conferences and events. Recognizing that NEKIA events are a future priority for the organization, we recommend a KNOWLEDGE EVENTS section that focuses on two areas. The first would be NEKIA- sponsored or organized events, providing a forward-looking calendar and backward-looking summaries of NEKIA events. The second would be a compilation of key conferences and events around the country, unrelated to NEKIA, that would be of interest to members and those involved in the education knowledge industry.

C. Shorter Content on All Pages As we noted earlier, we recommend that NEKIA shorten the amount of text and data found on each individual site page. Ideally, page content should be no longer than a traditional screen shot. Where additional information is needed, every effort should be taken to create subpages to break up the text. The exceptions to this would be pages with lists of information, such as NEKIA members, press releases, etc. Remember, less is more. NEKIA’s website should provide enough information to update its members, attract potential members, and educate key audiences. The ultimate goal of a website is to drive visitors to contact the organization itself. We want to learn who is relying on NEKIA for education knowledge information.

D. Catalog of Weekly Summaries NEKIA does an impressive job of regularly updating its members through thought-provoking weekly summaries. We recommend a broader dissemination of these summaries. This can be accomplished through a subscriber-based distribution list and an online catalog of past summaries on the website.

E. Align Content with Principles As noted above, all core content should make reference to NEKIA’s core principles and should be aligned and written based on those principles. This will enable visitors to more quickly recognize and accept the primary activities of NEKIA and see how they are contributing to knowledge acquisition and education improvement.

F. Make Print Products Available Online As NEKIA develops a portfolio of print products (brochures, white papers, etc.) it should make all materials available for download on the site as PDFs. This will reduce overall printing costs

32 for such products, while establishing the NEKIA site as a central repository for knowledge industry information.

G. Expansion of Press Room Press or media rooms are an important component for many websites. Not only do they direct media to the right information, but they are also used by non-media to more easily find the information they seek as well. We recommend expanding the current NEWS portion of the site to include information such as: 1) press releases; 2) links to news articles; 3) bios of NEKIA staff and board; and key contact information.

Conclusion

Overall, we believe that NEKIA has an incredible amount of information on its website, thus providing a real service to the industry as a whole. Once NEKIA has chosen its new name and identity, the first step will be selecting a domain name that matches that new brand. We are prepared to assist you in this effort. Additionally, as the organization continues to mature and expand, there are a series of cosmetic and content revisions it can pursue to better deliver that information and increase usage and interest in it. Lipman Hearne is prepared to assist you in this effort, particularly with the development of a NEKIA logo and the development of revised and new content.

33 April 16, 2008 | Posted At: 09:31 AM | Category: Campaign '08 Nine Million Bucks To Block NCLB

"The National Education Association (NEA), the largest US teachers' union, succeeded in blocking reauthorization of President George W Bush's 2001 "No Child Left Behind" law governing the running and judging of schools nationwide...The NEA spent $9.2 million, a 464% increase [from 2006 to 2007]." (news story here).

T(0) April 16, 2008 | Posted At: 09:18 AM | Category: Media Watch Education-Related Documentaries From HBO This Summer

In case you've already seen Two Million Minutes enough times, this summer's lineup of HBO Monday-night documentaries includes a few school-related films:

"Resolved," about the high-stakes world of competitive high school debate; "Hard Times at Douglas High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card," which examines the impact of the No Child Left Behind policy; and "Baghdad High," chronicling the war in Iraq through the eyes of four Iraqi teens.

The documentaries will run Jun. 9-Aug. 25. (HBO announces summer documentary slate Hollywood Reporter).

TRACKBACK (0) April 16, 2008 | Posted At: 08:35 AM | Category: Daily News Big Stories Of The Day

Flexibility for Military Families AP Kansas and Kentucky are the first states to approve a compact that will make it easier for children of military families to change schools if enough other states sign on.

Scientology school gets close study Boston Herald A Boston city councilor is raising concerns about a pilot school’s proposed curriculum and its ties to an arm of Scientology, while a prestigious Hub charitable foundation is taking a second look at its grant to help launch the controversial school.

Leagues Revive Debate in City Schools EdWeek The urban demise of debate leagues closed off a training ground for careers in law, business, and public service and a distinctive outlet for mouthy and some mousy kids who didn't necessarily take well to classroom society.

Boston-Area Seniors Share College Rejection Letters NPR At Newton South High School in suburban Boston, rejected seniors are sharing their misery by posting their rejection letters on a "Wall of Shame."

COMMENTS (0) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 15, 2008 | Posted At: 12:03 PM | Category: Best of the Blogs Around The Blogs

Previewing the Debate Wednesday EDINO8 Gov. Romer wonders whether tomorrow's debate will include any education. Prolly not.

High School Assessment Tests Karin Chenoweth Relax a little, says Karin. They're not that hard. 34 More Signs of the Apocalypse! The 'Kette Everyone's favorite mystery redhead summarizes the NY tenure testing debate.

Where Education Matters in Campaigns Campaign K12 Chicago and Delaware are where it's at, says Michele.

The Blog Will Rise Again AFTies Still hung over after Michele's departure, the mich-missed AFT blog promises a return.

PLUS: Fordham's Mike Petrilli highlights the contrast between the national and the state affiliate on NCLB: No happy talk in the hinterlands.

Student suspended for answering call from dad in Iraq Detention Slip "They followed up his 2-day suspension by reminding him that this is a senseless war and he should be ashamed of his father, regardless of how long it's been since he has seen or heard from him."

0) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 15, 2008 | Posted At: 11:30 AM | Category: Foundation Follies Flypaper: More Fluff From Fordham?

Once again, the Fordham Foundation has followed my advice -- belatedly -- and started a blog. Called Flypaper, the blog's motivating elements include the usual reasons for starting blogs (or playing in a band): too many over- educated white guys with much time on their hands (pictured), the never-ending search for more publicity, and the feeling that they can do things better than everyone else. We'll see.

Personally, I would have been happier if they had announced a new effort to influence education policy (ie, some real-world advocacy) rather than another cute outlet for talking about it. And it remains to be seen (a) whether the site features real discussion and disagreement among its writers or just the usual amusing smartypants stuff we've come to expect, and (b) whether the site deigns to mix with the huddled masses of bloggers or sticks safely to mainstream media outlets who can't fight back.

Welcome to the blogosphere, guys. Either way, it'll be fun to have you join the fray.

TRACKBACK (0) April 15, 2008 | Posted At: 09:15 AM | Category: Media Watch Award-Winning Education Writing

There's all sorts of good stuff out there, and all sorts of awards programs. Here are some recent examples of projects that have won recognition:

Public Service in Radio Journalism: “Grading Michigan Schools,” Staff, Michigan Radio, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Society of Professional Journalists).

Education writing: The Boston Globe, Tracy Jan, "Last Chance for English High;" The Wall Street Journal, Robert Tomsho, Daniel Golden, John Hechinger, "Cross-Currents in Mainstreaming;" The Oregonian, David Sarasohn, "Funding For Higher Education in Oregon." (Ohio.com - AP).

TRACKBACK (0) April 15, 2008 | Posted At: 09:11 AM | Category: Daily News Big [But Not Bitter] Stories Of The Day

West Virginia Chosen for Pilot Student Assessment Program WV Herald Other states participating in the program are Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and South Dakota.

Some Union Officials Tell Teachers To Spurn District's Buyout Offer Washington Post The vice president and a trustee of the Washington Teachers' Union said yesterday they are urging teachers at 50 schools slated for closure or academic overhaul to reject Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's buyout offer.

35 $50 Computers Spark Learning Chicago Tribune Games invite children to read words on the screen into a built-in microphone. They can listen as the computer reads the same simple sentence and plays back their own voice reading the sentence. Other games require use of spelling and math skills to win.

In Pennsylvania Primary, AFT Exerts Its Muscle for Clinton EdWeek For a $600-a-week stipend plus parking and meals, 14 retired teachers and other school employees are doing nuts- and-bolts campaign work for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Official wants girls expelled over Erie, Pa., playground attack AP The city's school superintendent is seeking to expel two girls accused of brutally attacking another girl on an elementary school playground.

TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 04:00 PM | Category: School Life Really Mean Girls (& Two Guys)

Eight Teenagers Charged in Internet Beating Have Their Day on the Web NYT TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 03:53 PM | Category: Media Watch Columbia Announces First Group Of Spencer Fellows

Columbia University's school of journalism just announced the winners of its first group of "Spencer Fellows," three education journalists who get to study at the university and become better writers and work on a big project. The first two are Claudia Wallis (editor at large for TIME) and Nancy Solomon (freelance producer for NPR). I'm the third one. Read all the details here (PDF). The effort is being led by LynNell Hancock and Arlene Morgan, and the project was originally cooked up by Spencer's Paul Goren and Columbia's Nick Lemann. Congrats, condolences to us all. Another three education journalists will be accepted for 2009.

TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 01:28 PM | Category: School Life Stand And Deliver Parody: "Teaching The White Man Method"

Don't tell Edward James Olmos (or Uncle Jay). Mixed into a typically offensive and NSFW episode of a recent episode of South Park is a parody of Stand And Deliver in which the lessons aren't about doing calculus but rather about how to cheat on tests and deal with unwanted pregnancies.

Again, very offensive and not for the squeamish or politically correct. It might not even be funny.

TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 01:04 PM | Category: Best of the Blogs Around The Blogs

Obama: Don't Blame the Schools for Poor Parenting Michele McNeil Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama, who has sent a strong message to families before about the importance of being a good parent, is continuing to expand that message.

Wait Your Turn EIA Reginald Fentress wants to be president of the Memphis Education Association. But the union won't put him on the ballot because he's not white.

This will be on the test - April 7 - 13 Kimberly Swygert at Joanne Jacobs Welcome back to the weekly testing roundup!

AIN'T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING TLN

I once had a colleague who showed Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure every year, at some strategic point, to her sixth grade social studies students, under the rationale that it was--duh--about history. This was a big hit with the kids,...

Schaffer’s dubious education ad Schools for Tomorrow 36 In the ad, schoolchildren thank him for helping start the state’s charter school movement, and thus saving them from their regular old neighborhood schools.

Are Federally Funded Vouchers Closer Than We Think? Charlie Barone I’m not there. Not yet.

Teacher Robbed at Elementary School Detention Slip Hopefully teachers aren't carrying tons of cash around school. I'm not sure why you would need any money to be honest. It'll only lead them to buy more from the vending machines in the teachers lounge.

COMMENTS (1) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 10:26 AM | Category: Campaign '08 McCain's Memorable High School Teacher

Here's a McCain ad that's spinning around on the Internets. It focuses on John McCain's high school teacher:

COMMENTS (0) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 14, 2008 | Posted At: 08:06 AM | Category: Daily News Big Stories Of The Day

Obama Uses High Schools to Push Parenting Message AP/EdWeek He gets some of his loudest applause when he segues to education — and a bit of a lecture to mothers and fathers on how to be parents.

As online testing nears, educators are the ones who are nervous Star Tribune Educators say that while the state-mandated test will be a better measure of what students know about science, getting ready to give the exam has meant headaches and expense for school districts as Minnesota takes its first large-scale leap into computerized testing.

Schools Get A Lesson in Lunch Line Economics Washington Post New York students will have to settle for pizza without tasty turkey pepperoni topping. In Montgomery County schools, tomato slices were pulled for a few weeks from cafeteria salads in favor of less-expensive carrots or celery.

Writing Report Card: Boys Aren't Improving NPR Overall, eighth-graders and high school seniors are marginally better writers than they were five years ago according to a new report. The news for minorities and boys isn't so good.

Eight Teenagers Charged in Internet Beating Have Their Day on the Web NYT A case in which eight teenagers are accused of beating a classmate and filming the attack for the Internet has become a magnet for attention and outrage.

April 11, 2008 | Posted At: 11:46 AM | Category: Media Watch Top EdWeek Editor May Be Leaving For Gates Foundation

Unconfirmed rumor has it that Lynn Olson, star EdWeek reporter and editor, is leaving for the Gates Foundation. No official word yet, or any details. She's officially listed as managing editor for special projects and has honcho-ed Quality Counts. Click here for some of her recent work. 37 UPDATE: Confirmed. Click below to read an email announcement from publisher Ginny Edwards that someone passed to me. Congrats, condolences, per usual.

Continue reading "Top EdWeek Editor May Be Leaving For Gates Foundation" Â»

TRACKBACK (0) April 11, 2008 | Posted At: 10:28 AM | Category: Foundation Follies Local Control And Civil Rights In The Gadfly

Revenge is sweet, and so it's no surprise that the Fordham Foundation's weekly Gadfly includes a scathing review of my recent Slate article about what Obama did and didn't do in Chicago on the issue of local control (The Education Gadfly). I must have my facts wrong, says a faceless Fordhamite. My analysis is "preposterous." Perhaps this is true, but one thing I know -- if Fordham thinks that local control isn't a big deal for individual schools and some serious civil rights activists, they need to hang out in Chicago a little more often. There, at least, local control is a school-level interest and is argued on civil rights grounds. And that's what this story was about.

April 11, 2008 | Posted At: 10:10 AM | Category: Daily News Big Stories Of The Day

MPS joins nation's testing Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Milwaukee was named Thursday as one of seven urban school districts that will join the testing program of the National Assessment of Education Progress.

A Textbook Case of Downplaying Global Warming? NYT Matthew LaClair, a high school senior in Kearny, N.J., has persuaded Houghton Mifflin, to review a popular text over its characterizations of controversial issues.

Momentum Seen on Pre-K in States That Have Lagged EdWeek Efforts are under way for the 12 states that advocates say do not operate or fund preschool programs.

Community Organizing Seen as Help to Schools EdWeek Grassroots organizing efforts are driving a boost in parent involvement, more-equitable distribution of funding, and better academic achievement, according to researchers from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform.

Behavioral Study on Students Stirs Debate Washington Post But the Fairfax County School Board, to promote character education, has discovered the pitfalls of applying the same analytical techniques to...

Class trip to a Nevada brothel MSNBC A dozen Randolph College students toured a legal bordello 60 miles outside Las Vegas — capping a course on American consumption and "the ideas that consume us."

COMMENTS (0) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 11, 2008 | Posted At: 10:06 AM | Category: Teachers & Teaching High School Art Teacher Attacked By Student - On Tape

Footage and interview from the Today Show.

COMMENTS (1) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 03:00 PM | Category: Foundation Follies What Microloans (And DonorsChoose?) Miss

Microloans are all the rage, according to a recent story from the New Yorker financial page -- so popular that they're glamorous, even (What Microloans Miss). That's not bad, considering they're all about fighting poverty and making loans. But they don't necessarily make as big a difference as it may sound, according to the column -- especially 38 when it comes to helping great small and mid-sized businesses that fuel economies. Making a big difference for lots of individuals is a great thing, no doubt -- but not transformative if it relies on everyone to possess the required entrepreneurship or if it doesn't lead to businesses that go beyond sole proprietorships.

Sounds like DonorsChoose, right?

April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 12:58 PM | Category: Best of the Blogs Around The Blogs

National Board certification facing cutbacks The Gradebook The House just voted 71-37 for a bill (5083) that education officials say will eventually do away with the state's popular bonus program for National Board-certified teachers by diluting incentives to teachers.

Muslim public school in Minnesota Joanne Jacobs Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota is a tax-supported Muslim public school, writes Minneapolis Star-Trib columnist Katherine Kersten, who’s been dubious about the school’s claim to secular status.

Opt-Out Bill Stalls in Arizona Senate The Hoff The Arizona Senate has put up a roadblock to the proposal to opt out of NCLB.

Where Have All My Students Gone? ASCD Blog A teacher in Charlotte, N.C., loses two-thirds of her class roster to mobility driven by socioeconomic factors.

April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 10:41 AM | Category: Media Watch Paid Writing Gigs At Hechinger & The American Prospect

Here are a couple of writing gigs that journalists and others might be interested in knowing about:

From the Hechinger Institute: "Six journalists will receive a $7,500 stipend, transportation, housing, some meals and a per diem for a seven-day research and study trip to New York City in the fall of 2008, followed by a two-day return trip in February 2009. Another nine will receive residential and travel expenses for the two New York trips. The fellowship, made possible with support from the Lumina Foundation for Education, is open to print, broadcast, online and editorial writers who commit to an in-depth project about community colleges. For more questions about the process, send an email to [email protected] or call us at 212-870-1061 . Apply here."

From The American Prospect: "The American Prospect's Writing Fellows Program (here) offers young journalists the opportunity to spend two full years at the magazine in Washington, D.C., actively developing, practicing, and honing their journalistic skills. Each Fellow will write between three and four full-length feature articles. Fellows will also regularly write shorter, online pieces and blog daily for TAPPED. The goal is to ensure that, once the fellowship is completed, Fellows will have developed the relationships, track record, and credibility (and clips!) to launch themselves as respected young journalists. Fellows receive a modest salary and health and dental benefits."

Apply now!

COMMENTS (0) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 10:09 AM | Category: Campaign '08 Democratic Candidates Catch Up To Dean On NCLB

This Washington Post column from last weekend credits Howard Dean for influencing both the campaign tactics and the positions of the Democratic candidates -- including on NCLB:

"The legislation's merits are still hotly debated, but its politics are not: Experts say the law has flopped with parents, teachers, students and most others involved with education, who often describe its testing regime as unworkable," according to the piece (The Dems, Now Dancing to His Tune). "In 2003, Dean was among the first Democrats to start hammering No Child Left Behind for its testing system, but that criticism is everywhere now. Clinton lambastes it almost daily on the campaign trail; her husband, himself back on the stump, has called attacking No Child Left Behind the easiest way for a politician to get applause."

39 I'm not sure I'd credit Dean alone for helping the candidates figure this out, but it's useful to remember that, five years ago, few if any Dems -- including Clinton and Obama -- were bashing NCLB.

COMMENTS (3) PERMALINK TRACKBACK (0) April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 09:23 AM | Category: The Business Of Education So You Think You Want To Work In School Reform?

It's easy to glamorize school reform work -- the "higher" calling, the chance of making the world a better place, the ability to work with -- but not in -- real live schools. But nonprofit work is not all that it's made out to be, if you read this recent NYT article carefully (Your True Calling Could Suit a Nonprofit). Less money, longer hours, slow-moving and bureaucratic organizations, tyrannical bosses. There are some doozies out there.

April 10, 2008 | Posted At: 09:13 AM | Category: Daily News Big Stories Of The Day

10,000 math teachers flock to SLC Salt Lake Tribune If more than 10,000 math teachers arrive in Salt Lake City today, what's the probability your child's math teacher will be among them?

Catholic schools dwindling USA Today For years, parents at St. Joseph School, a tiny Catholic school in Petersburg, Va., have fretted over just about everything.

A Report on Moral Character Best Left Behind Washington Post Anyone who has set foot in a school since the dawn of the No Child Left Behind era knows what happened next. Administrators, principals and teachers .

Using street theater to channel the lessons of molecules Eureka Alert Giving voice to the lessons of molecules and other props of science, as the lamentable state of science literacy in the United States attests, is no easy task.

PLUS: 14-year-old CEO makes chemistry a game with 'Elementeo'.

April 9, 2008 | Posted At: 06:06 PM | Category: School Life What Your Students Are Talking About: Cheerleader Beating Video As you may have heard, a group of cheerleaders videotaped their beating of a classmate and are now being investigated for a variety of charges:

TRACKBACK (0) April 9, 2008 | Posted At: 03:56 PM | Category: Media Watch Times Might Be Phasing Out Education Page, Column

Rumor has it that the New York Times is eliminating both its weekly education page and its weekly education column, currently written by Sam Freedman. No confirmation yet, and there's a column in today's paper, but we'll see. (BTW, it turns out that there isn't going to be a standalone education blog at the Times, but rather occasional contributions from metro beat folks like Jenny Medina, who I saw recently at a panel event.)

UPDATE: The education page and weekly column are the victim of budget cuts, I'm told. However, Sam Freedman will still write his column, which comes out every other week.

TRACKBACK (0) April 9, 2008 | Posted At: 03:25 PM | Category: Best of the Blogs Around The Blogs

Nebraska Goes Against The GrainCharlie Barone Sandy Kress: "It’s nice to have Nebraska join the rest of the world."

The Sham of Tenure and Test Scores Ed Notes This is not really about tenure. 40 Democrats drawing applause for attacking NCLB EWA In Pennsylvania, both Clinton and Obama appear to be picking up the pace of their attacks on No Child Left Behind -- rewarded by the applause they receive for the attacks.

Pennsylvania NEA Endorses... No One EIA I can understand neither candidate wanting to leave anything to chance, but aren't they getting tired of genuflecting to no result?

Education reporters to convene April 24 Paul Baker At this year’s annual conference of the Education Writers Association one session I’m particularly looking forward to is called Digital Age.

The Carnival Of Education Is Up And Running! Education Wonks The 166th edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by The Elementary Educator.) has opened the midway!

School Principal Charged With Sexual Abuse Detention Slip Just another case of a 47-year old man having a sex and drugs party while watching porn with 16 year old girls in a hotel room. COMMENTS (0)