The IDEA Blog
Charting a new path forward in education by sharing positive stories of change, providing perspective on key issues, and giving you the news and analysis you need to take action.
Seeing, Learning, and Healing in Oregon
Posted on May 17, 2013 - 08:11 AM by Dana Bennis
Wrap of Mission Hill Chapter 7 - Behind the Scenes
In a lot of other school settings, the speech therapist does one thing, the occupational therapist does another thing, the resource room teacher does another thing, and the teacher's doing a 4th thing, and the left hand never really knows what the right hand is doing. Here at Mission Hill everything is integrated.
As a teacher, especially as a young teacher,...
Posted on May 09, 2013 - 09:37 AM by Dana Bennis
New School in BC Aims to Impact the Education System
What if you could take all the elements that...
Posted on May 09, 2013 - 07:21 AM by Dana Bennis
Mission Hill School: An Alternative to “No Excuses”
This is a guest post by Matthew Knoester, a National Board Certified Teacher and former teacher at the Mission Hill School, and currently Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Evansville. Matthew recently wrote a book about the Mission Hill School, entitled Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School (Teachers College Press, 2012) and edited a book called International Struggles for Critical Democratic Education (Peter Lang, 2012).
Mission Hill School founder Deborah Meier has authored a column, or “blog debate,” on the website of Education Week since 2007. She began by debating Diane Ravitch, where they discussed a wide range of educational issues...
Posted on May 06, 2013 - 07:20 AM by Dana Bennis
Mission Hill Chapter 7: Shelter from the Storm
This is a guest post by Laura Thomas, Director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal, the service division of Antioch University New England’s Education Department. Laura is currently involved in research around the experiences of students and educators in rural environments, particularly in the areas of social justice, problem based learning, and technology integration. The author of Facilitating Authentic Learning, (Corwin Press, 2012), she blogs at The Critical Skills Classroom and can be found on Twitter @CriticalSkills1
About two minutes into Chapter 7 of A Year at Mission Hill, we see a young student leaving his classroom, obviously frustrated and angry. An adult follows...
Posted on May 01, 2013 - 08:54 AM by Dana Bennis
I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate
New spoken word video out by Suli Breaks. The faces of the young people listening and watching Suli as he speaks to their own truth is deeply powerful. Young people need to hear that they are not alone in their want for meaningful education. Neither are teachers struggling to be real mentors for youth, or parents trying to give their kids the support they need.
Watch the video and leave a comment on our Facebook page.
Posted on Apr 30, 2013 - 09:04 AM by Dana Bennis
A Wrap of Mission Hill Chapter 6 - Like a Family
"A community of adults and children involved and empowered in their own education."-- the narrator speaking to the community feeling at Mission Hill
"I've become a better person - as a human being - for being here, not just a better teacher."-- quote from Mission Hill teacher James McGovern
Posted on Apr 24, 2013 - 12:41 PM by Dana Bennis
Democratic Education in a Time of Terror
This is a guest post by Matthew Knoester, a National Board Certified Teacher and former teacher at the Mission Hill School, and currently Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Evansville. Matthew recently wrote a book about the Mission Hill School, entitled Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School (Teachers College Press, 2012) and edited a book called International Struggles for Critical Democratic Education (Peter Lang, 2012).
The events that took place in Boston on Monday leave so many of us grasping for words. Who could have done this? What does this mean? What should we do? Adults and children alike wonder about many of the same questions....
Posted on Apr 18, 2013 - 11:32 AM by Dana Bennis
Mission Hill Chapter 6: Spring Harvest
This is a guest post by Laura Thomas, Director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal, the service division of Antioch University New England’s Education Department. Laura is currently involved in research around the experiences of students and educators in rural environments, particularly in the areas of social justice, problem based learning, and technology integration. The author of Facilitating Authentic Learning, (Corwin Press, 2012), she blogs at The Critical Skills Classroom and can be found on Twitter @CriticalSkills1
In Chapter 6 of A Year at Mission Hill, we get to witness the abundant spring harvest that comes after months of hard work, creating and maintaining a...
Posted on Apr 12, 2013 - 05:55 AM by Dana Bennis
A Taste of China in Boston
This is a guest post by Matthew Knoester, a National Board Certified Teacher and former teacher at the Mission Hill School, and currently Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Evansville. Matthew recently wrote a book about the Mission Hill School, entitled Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School (Teachers College Press, 2012) and edited a book, with a chapter about Mission Hill School, entitled International Struggles for Critical Democratic Education (Peter Lang, 2012).
The most recent chapter of the film series A Year at Mission Hill captures a small school’s use of a school-wide thematic unit to create an immersion experience for children....
Posted on Apr 02, 2013 - 10:49 AM by Dana Bennis
“Take the Test” Action in Providence Sparks Dialogue
Last weekend, the Providence Student Union (PSU) held a "Take the Test" action, where several dozen community leaders, policy-makers, scientists, and professors took an abbreviated form of the Math NECAP exam, the passing of which is required to earn a high school diploma in Rhode Island. From the PSU press release announcing the event (thanks to Diane Ravitch for posted it in full):
“We expect this event to prove that people are more than test scores,” said Leexammarie Nieves, a sophomore at Central High School and a member of PSU. “We also want these community leaders to get a sense of what students are going through with this new policy.”
One of the test-takers was RI...
Posted on Mar 22, 2013 - 06:12 AM by Dana Bennis
Mission Hill and the Emotional Well-Being of Children
As a former teacher at the Mission Hill School, it has been wonderfully moving to see the depictions of Mission Hill in the beautifully wrought videos created by Tom and Amy Valens and produced by Sam Chaltain. While I...
Posted on Mar 19, 2013 - 10:54 AM by Dana Bennis
Carrying Our Candles Through the Wind
Posted on Mar 15, 2013 - 09:13 AM by Dana Bennis
Getting Ready to Grow: A Year At Mission Hill, Chapter 4
This is a guest post by Laura Thomas, Director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal, the service division of Antioch University New England’s Education Department. Laura is currently involved in research around the experiences of students and educators in rural environments, particularly in the areas of social justice, problem based learning, and technology integration. The author of Facilitating Authentic Learning, (Corwin Press, 2012), she blogs at The Critical Skills Classroom and can be found on Twitter @CriticalSkills1
It’s seed starting time here in Northern New England. We still have months until the last frost of the winter, so all across Vermont, New Hampshire and...
Posted on Mar 14, 2013 - 10:48 AM by Dana Bennis
SEIU 21LA in New Orleans Leading the Way
A powerful new report out by the SEIU Local 21LA of New Orleans surveyed school service workers and students, revealing the poor conditions they face every day, and proposes valuable changes that would make schools better and more inspiring places both for learning and working.
The research and report itself is a model of democratic community-led change: led by SEIU 21LA Chief of Staff and IDEA Senior Fellow Jayeesha Dutta, a diverse group of students and service workers from age 9 to 74 were brought together to design and carry out this Participatory Action Research project. Showing the potential of schools and communities to act as researchers and organizers, the report, "State of the...
Posted on Mar 13, 2013 - 08:57 AM by Dana Bennis
A Year at Mission Hill Wrap: Chapters 2 and 3
The launch of the first chapter of the 10-part film on January 31 sparked conversation across and beyond the 45+ organizations and networks partnering on the release of the film. A Prezi that highlights the major ideas behind the series has been seen nearly 100,000 times (and is being updated with each new chapter release). And with the launch of Chapters 2 and 3, views of the film now top 10,000.
Posted on Mar 08, 2013 - 08:43 AM by Dana Bennis
The IDEA Community Speaks: On Technology and the Future of Public Education
I believe in tensions - in our need to navigate them as we make decisions and pursue our lives and our work. One of those tensions deals with technology and it's role in education. To start off, here's where I'm coming from:
As someone critical of the standardization and depersonalization rampant in many schools today, I'm drawn to arguments that school is obsolete in the 21st century, that young people can learn a great deal on their own, and that technology can be a tool for self-directed learning.
Yet as someone committed to community-led change, the value of human relationships in learning, and educational equity, I'm highly skeptical that replacing the conventional form of...
Posted on Mar 06, 2013 - 04:26 PM by Dana Bennis
What Makes a Mind Come Alive?
This is a guest post by Laura Thomas, Director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal, the service division of Antioch University New England’s Education Department. Laura is currently involved in research around the experiences of students and educators in rural environments, particularly in the areas of social justice, problem based learning, and technology integration. The author of Facilitating Authentic Learning, (Corwin Press, 2012), she blogs at The Critical Skills Classroom and can be found on Twitter @CriticalSkills1
The teachers at Mission Hill begin the school year together, focused not only on the work to be done in the coming year, but also the ways in which they can use...
Posted on Feb 28, 2013 - 02:51 PM by Dana Bennis
Mission Hill Chapter Two: Singing the Same Song
This is a guest post by Laura Thomas, Director of the Antioch Center for School Renewal. Laura is currently involved in research around the experiences of students and educators in rural environments, particularly in the areas of social justice. Additionally, she is continuing her work in the study of school change (particularly resistance to change) as well as student advocacy and engagement in the change process.
“This little light of mine/ I’m gonna let it shine…”
As Chapter 2 of A Year at Mission Hill School ended with kids singing these words, I was struck by the similarities between this moment and one I’ve observed often at Symonds School in Keene, New Hampshire. The...
Posted on Feb 14, 2013 - 05:40 PM by Dana Bennis
A Year at Mission Hill: Sparking Conversation
The film series A Year at Mission Hill is lighting up the internet and sparking conversations about good teaching and learning around the country.
The first chapter in the series has been viewed nearly 4,000 times, and this beautiful Prezi about the series which was designed by the folks at Prezi has over 7,500 views:
Many of the 40-plus partner organizations that are simultaneously releasing and promoting the film have put the series front and center on their websites and in blog posts. Check out their blogs and announcements: Edutopia, the National Urban Alliance, the Center for Courage & Renewal, and the School Reform Initiative, among others.
The Boston Globe announced the...
Posted on Feb 07, 2013 - 08:59 AM by Dana Bennis
Educate 20/20 Road Tour
There's gotta be something about January 31st. As we described last week, 1/31 was the launch date for the first of the ten-part film series "A Year at Mission Hill," which chronicles the story of a remarkable public school in Boston.
1/31/13 was also the launch date for a remarkable road trip called Educate 20/20, during which 8 ambitious travelers set out to visit and share stories of innovation in education from New York to Texas to California to Colorado and more. Their mission: document the future of education and "shift the focus from what's wrong in education to what's possible."
More from the email announcing their road tour:
Moving into the future we’ll need...
Posted on Feb 04, 2013 - 08:49 AM by Dana Bennis
A Year at Mission Hill
At IDEA, we're proud to be one of the partners behind "A Year at Mission Hill." The project began when filmmakers Tom and Amy Valens spent a year filming at the school community of Mission Hill School, with plans for a full documentary release in fall 2013. The web series came together when Tom and Amy reached out to educator and news commentator Sam Chaltain. Sam brought together Ashoka, IDEA, and the NoVo Foundation around the idea of making a series of short episodes to highlight a year in the life of Mission Hill.
Through this partnership, the concept grew into a larger opportunity to share the story across an eclectic coalition of education organizations, schools, and...
Posted on Jan 31, 2013 - 05:18 AM by Dana Bennis
Youth and Allies to Testify in DC to Stop School Closings
On January 29, youth, educators, and community members from grassroots organizations around the United States will testify in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Department of Education to speak out against the closing of public schools and raise awareness about the damaging impacts of closings on the lives of young people -- most especially youth from low-income and working class communities, communities of color, students with disabilities, and English language learners.
Under the name Journey for Justice 2, the representatives traveling to DC to testify at the US DOE come from youth-led, parent, and community-based organizations in 18 different cities, including organizations such as the...
Posted on Jan 23, 2013 - 10:15 AM by Dana Bennis
Learning Spaces
Have you imagined what learning spaces designed for today and the future could look like? Designers and architects Randall Fielding and Prakash Nair and their organization Fielding Nair International are on the leading edge of school design and planning. Check out an album of their images. Here's their intro:
Why do most schools still look exactly as they did in 1950? Why do the design of schools and prisons have so much in common? It's time to replace the "cells and bells" schools of the past with a modern, student-centered version. One that will better prepare students with the skills and competencies needed for success in the 21st century. Old school buildings can be...
Posted on Jan 16, 2013 - 09:28 AM by Dana Bennis
Vermont Partnership for Change Touring NYC Schools
They arrived in New York City yesterday afternoon: 30 Vermonters, including students, teachers, parents, school administrators, and community leaders. They are the tour group from the Partnership for Change school transformation project in Burlington and Winooski, and their 2 and a half day trip will see them visiting some of the leading schools practicing proficiency-based student-centered learning and serving a diverse student population.
The Partnership for Change (P4C), launched in 2012 and funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, "is committed to build more robust teaching and learning environments, create deeper family-school partnerships, generate community-based learning...
Posted on Jan 07, 2013 - 08:48 AM by Dana Bennis
Weekly Wrap
Scott Nine and I took a moment to write...
Posted on Dec 21, 2012 - 10:32 AM by Dana Bennis
Fight for the Soul of the Common Core Standards
This is a guest blog post by Susan Sandler, who works at the Sandler Foundation and leads funding related to education policy as well as other areas. Previously, Susan spent 17 years working for racial justice in education as an organizational leader, policy advocate, researcher, professional development provider, school therapist, teacher, and activist. Susan is a member of the boards of directors for the Center for American Progress and El Puente.
Do the common core standards discourage teachers from making connections between academics and students’ lives? When I first read the guiding materials for the standards, that’s what I thought it was saying. I understood it to say that...
Posted on Dec 18, 2012 - 06:15 AM by Dana Bennis
Congressional Hearing on the School to Prison Pipeline
Yesterday and for the first time ever, the U.S. Congress held a hearing focused on the school to prison pipeline. The Senate hearing was announced and led by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, and at long-last it brings the reality of what is happening in our schools to the attention of fellow members of Congress.
Here's Senator Durbin capturing this reality at the hearing (full video here):
For many young people our schools are increasingly a gateway to the criminal justice system. What is especially concerning about this phenomena is that it deprives kids of their...
Posted on Dec 13, 2012 - 06:53 AM by Dana Bennis
Make Your Own Analogy: Teaching is Like…
Posted on Dec 11, 2012 - 08:06 AM by Dana Bennis
The IDEA Community Speaks: On Building Empathy
Involve in the ownership and creativity of process in any life changing experience, and NOT just the outcome...
Educate them about differences so they know *what* they are being empathetic about. All too often we are preaching tolerance while expecting kids to just magically understand why.
the million-dollar question...
If they cannot make decisions...
Posted on Dec 05, 2012 - 01:58 PM by Dana Bennis
A Longer School Day? Why, How, and Who?
An initiative announced yesterday will add 300 hours of instructional time per year to schools and districts in 5 states starting in the 2013-2014 school year. The partnership between the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time & Learning will impact 20,000 students the first year, and follows up the statements of policy-makers including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who have called for longer school days.
In any conversation and policy proposal about extended learning time (ELT), it's essential to have the facts. Many initiatives like this one start from the assumption that students in the U.S. are in school far less than students in other countries. Here's Secretary...
Posted on Dec 03, 2012 - 09:35 AM by Dana Bennis
A Dear Professor
I am writing a tribute to a wonderful educator and human being - Ken Bergstrom, who has just entered hospice in Vermont. Ken was a professor in my Masters of Education program at Vermont College of Union Institute and University. In my opinion, and I believe that of many fellow classmates and professors as well, he was the heart and soul of the Vermont College community.
Every time I entered the classroom for his How Children Learn course and saw Ken there, I could feel any tension I had in my body leave me. His warmth, deep respect for everyone, and light-hearted way of being made all of us comfortable. And more than that, his way of being (or some might say his educational...
Posted on Nov 29, 2012 - 05:58 PM by Dana Bennis
New Network Works for Racial and Social Justice in Education
Last month in San Francisco, the newly formed Justice in Education Network (JEN) met for the first time. (Thanks to Jayeesha Dutta for the heads up on this). JEN is an outgrowth of the powerful work of Justice Matters, an organization whose mission is "is to bring about racially just schools by developing and promoting education policy rooted in community vision." The work of Justice Matters is "to build and support a national racial justice movement working towards transformative education for students of color – and to develop and advocate for a racial justice policy agenda in local schools and on a national level."
In early 2011, the folks at Justice Matters began visioning a...
Posted on Nov 27, 2012 - 07:48 AM by Dana Bennis
Weekly Wrap
Sitting lazily at home a day after a wonderful meal with family is the perfect time to wrap up from the last couple of weeks. So, here we go...
A post-election trio of posts began with Sam Chaltain who urged us to look beyond the election of Barack Obama to imagine a mission and vision of education that align with our values. I compiled the education-related analyses and reflections that were capturing my attention. And finally, Scott Nine proded us to get messy and start talking with our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family about the issues that matter to us - especially education. So now you're set: vision, read, and get messy.
As a follow-up, David Loitz gathered some of...
Posted on Nov 23, 2012 - 02:32 PM by Dana Bennis
Student-Led Reform
If you're not familiar with the work of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR), check them out. For nearly twenty years they've been on the forefront of educational change rooted in communities - especially urban communities, and their work unites grassroots organizing efforts with policy, research, and educational pedagogy grounded in engagement and youth voice.
A piece published last week on their site deserves to be read far and wide by policy-makers, educators, and community change-makers across the nation. In it, Keith Catone and Alexa LeBeoeuf share powerful examples of youth and adults working together on educational change:
Students experience the strengths...
Posted on Nov 19, 2012 - 09:41 AM by Dana Bennis
Education, Tests, and Chess on The Daily Show
Thanks to Valerie Strauss for the heads up on this.
Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart spoke with the director and a student from a new film about a highly successful chess program at an intermediate school in Brooklyn. The film is Brooklyn Castle, and the conversation focused on budget cuts that threatened the chess program that has more victories than any other intermediate school in the nation. Stewart is a long-time supporter of teachers and meaningful learning and critic of many so-called reforms, and this brief spot isn't to be missed. Some key quotes, and the full video - complete with the humor you'd expect from the Daily Show - below.
Jon Stewart:
We talk so...
Posted on Nov 09, 2012 - 10:33 AM by Dana Bennis
Election 2012 Education Round-Up
The election is over, and even though education was barely a blip on the national radar - and because of that - we need to take stock of where we're at and re-energize our work for educational change rooted in the lives of young people, families, and communities. Educational issues were actually on the ballot yesterday in many states. What happened, and how can we cut through the jargon and partisan politics to find some clarity in the education landscape after the election?
Here are post-election reflections and analyses that cut to the heart of what this issue is all about: values, voice, community, and taking action together.
Letter to Obama from Bill Ayers: Encouraging President...
Posted on Nov 07, 2012 - 01:10 PM by Dana Bennis
Learning Spaces
The central space at Minnesota New Country School. An open setting with pods for each advisory group, workstations for every student, some natural light, and group meeting tables.
Posted on Nov 05, 2012 - 08:36 AM by Dana Bennis
Weekly Wrap
This past week (or two) on the IDEA Blog, we announced our new blog format, while Thomas Friedman introduced the odd notion that teacher evaluations based on high-stakes tests raises the level of the teaching profession.Students and educators from Alabama spoke to us about how we need to listen to youth and how youth convert culture, and we had another opportunity to listen to youth as they responded to a new video that explores what learning will look like in the future.
Sam Chaltain expressed the need for educators to balance art and science (and not say "um"), and we celebrated an amazing educator and senator - Paul Wellstone - 10 years after the accident that cut short his life.
We...
Posted on Nov 02, 2012 - 12:59 PM by Dana Bennis
Education and Election Day
Election Day is just 5 days away. Sadly, education is one of the key issues that has been largely off the radar, at least in the presidential election.President Obama and Governor Romney have each made (mostly off-hand) comments that I would have loved more attention on: Obama's telling remarks about the dangers of high-stakes testing and how tests could be used as a diagnostic tool in collaboation with other assessment tools; and Romney's critique of national standards and curriculum related to the Common Core Standards.
Imagine Candy Crowley or Jim Lehrer asking the candidates to explain those remarks and engage in dialogue about it.
Yet education IS a major issue - especially in...
Posted on Nov 01, 2012 - 10:21 AM by Dana Bennis
Powerful talk by Dena Simmons
This is a moving and must-watch TEDx talk by Dena Simmons, a Bronx teacher and activist who grew up in the Bronx and is a doctoral student at Teachers College. She spoke at the TEDxYouth event held in Brooklyn last month. Here are a few key quotes, but make sure you watch the full talk - it will be 12 minutes well spent.I realized that nowhere in any of my teacher education courses did I see a chapter called, "What to do if a student comes at you with scissors." … What I did know however, was that I wanted my students to feel loved, safe, and a part of our community.
The majority of my colleagues came right out of college to teach at a wildly underfunded school. Many of them...
Posted on Oct 31, 2012 - 02:26 PM by Dana Bennis
Learning Spaces
Youth and adults at THE POINT are working with other community organizations in the South Bronx to save The Bronx River. This park was once a condemned and abandoned lot, now reclaimed by the community and developed as a park and connection to the river.------
Learning Spaces is a new series on the IDEA Blog, featuring snapshots of powerful learning spaces - formal, informal, expected, and the unexpected. Send us your pictures to post, and let us know what you think: blog [at] democraticeducation.org
Posted on Oct 26, 2012 - 07:32 AM by Dana Bennis
Remembering Paul Wellstone - 10 years later
We deeply miss your voice in the public dialogue, Senator Wellstone. And we will do our best to live out your vision.From a speech leading up to the vote on No Child Left Behind in 2001:
Posted on Oct 25, 2012 - 06:55 PM by Dana Bennis
Youth Converts Culture
"Oh they're young, what do they know?Well, a lot, if you listen.
We only have one shot.
Here we go, don't miss it.
We know how it feels to be overlooked.
So we're taking a flight to the world's ear, piloted by the youth.
Are you listening, now?"
"If our youth are going to invent the future, we have to start re-inventing the way they learn."
IDEA Organizers Jonathan Carlisle, Javarius Johnson, and Beth Sanders were involved this past summer with Youth Converts Culture. You can see them in this and other videos on the Youth Converts Culture site.
Posted on Oct 24, 2012 - 08:07 AM by Dana Bennis
Teaching as a Profession
In a column in yesterday's NY Times, Tom Friedman praises the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top program as having raised the level of the teaching profession. In Friedman's words, Race to the Top gave funding to states that met the expectations of the DOE, including developing:
...systems for teacher and principal evaluation and support, as well as systems to reward great teachers, learn from their best practices and move out those at the bottom — essentially systems that help elevate teaching into an attractive profession.
While I find it hard to imagine any profession in which the devising of a high-stakes assessment focused on one narrow criteria will attract...
Posted on Oct 22, 2012 - 09:08 AM by Dana Bennis
A Breath of Fresh Air
If you're someone like me who tunes out and gets frustrated by one-sided education arguments that close the door to any dialogue, then check out this refreshing piece by Pedro Noguera, who's taken over for Diane Ravitch in the Bridging Differences blog with Deborah Meier. Here's a few key snippets...
On why "progressive" reform efforts have lost influence:
I would say that the vision was too limited. It didn't include a strategy for addressing the effects of poverty. It didn't include a strategy for engaging and organizing parents. It didn't include a strategy for getting teachers to take responsibility for student learning.
On strategy and accountability:
If we really...
Posted on Oct 04, 2012 - 07:20 AM by Dana Bennis
What if Teachers are the Answer?
Author and researcher Kim Farris-Berg asks that question in an EdWeek commentary, describing many of the recent so-called "reform" policies (merit pay, standardization of curricula, school turnarounds) as the exact opposite: seeing teachers as the problem who can't be trusted. She writes:This approach, on its face, doesn't believe in teachers. Instead, it doubts teachers have the professional capacity to improve our schools themselves. It presumes that union rules have emerged from teachers' self-interest and not from the way our policies are designed. It assumes teachers are the problem. But what if teachers are the answer?
On the other end of the spectrum are schools where...
Posted on Oct 01, 2012 - 10:10 AM by Dana Bennis
It’s time for people to get together
Paul Tough's new book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Power of Character is getting a lot of press. I've been watching it with mixed thoughts - glad that a book focusing on the social and emotional learning of young people is being read and well received, yet curious why certain books get "noticed" more than others. Likely the attention towards Tough comes from the praise he received from his last book about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone - an important place, yet Tough praised it without any deeper critical look at the additional funding it receives or how they removed their initial student body. I'll be picking up a copy of Tough's new book soon and...
Posted on Sep 28, 2012 - 05:39 AM by Dana Bennis
10 Elements of Good Education
In honor of today's National Day of Blogging for Real Education Reform, I'm reminded that the ideas for how education can be improved are already out there. Here at IDEA, we know that we are not pioneers of what is good in education. What IS deeply needed is to find new ways to frame, present, organize, advocate, and directly support schools and other programs working with youth so as to bring these ideas into reality.So, on this national blogging day, I want to highlight a list of 10 features of good education from a 2002 report by Linda Darling-Hammond and the School Redesign Network at Stanford University. The report is called 10 Features of Good Small Schools: Redesigning High...
Posted on Nov 22, 2010 - 01:00 PM by Dana Bennis
“Glee” on Schools
I'm a big fan of "Glee," I admit it. Not that it's a perfect show, but I love the variety of music, the quirky characters, and the humor. Watching last night's episode, something else stood out to me: the compelling way in which "Glee" portrays school life and particularly the message this episode sent about the role of teachers and a school in students' lives.The plot of yesterday's episode revolved around three students: Kurt, the only openly gay student at the school; Puck, a popular and rebellious student; and a football player and bully who specifically targets Kurt.
I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. But what I was struck by was how well the episode showed...
Posted on Nov 10, 2010 - 07:53 AM by Dana Bennis
Are we really Waiting for Superman?
In two days, one of the most well publicized education documentaries in recent memory premiers in several cities around the country - Waiting for Superman. You may have already heard about it on The Oprah Show, in Time magazine, or from any number of other sources. Most of the coverage in these media outlets has been overwhelmingly positive, and there are many big name supporters of the film, including Bill Gates and the controversial Chancellor of D.C. Schools, Michelle Rhee, in addition to the big-name director of the film, Davis Guggenheim of An Inconvenient Truth.In short, the documentary profiles 5 children and their families who are hoping to get into charter schools as a way in...
Posted on Sep 22, 2010 - 05:37 AM by Dana Bennis
New assessments - are they better?
Secretary Duncan and the U.S. Department of Education announced the awarding of $330 million yesterday to two consortia of states under the Race to the Top Assessment program for their proposals to create a new generation of assessments. This is on top of the $4 billion announced in the past months to the state-wide Race to the Top competition. The Department of Education framed the contest as one that would create assessments that help "prepare students for college and the workplace, that more validly measure student knowledge and skills, that better reflect good instructional practices, and that support a culture of continuous improvement in education." The plan is for the assessments...Posted on Sep 03, 2010 - 05:44 AM by Dana Bennis
Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival
Two weeks ago I received an exciting call from Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza, a talented film-maker who directed, shot, and edited IDEA's launch-time video, "Make Your Voice Heard." He had just got word that our video was selected by the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival as one of 33 films to be shown during the festival out of 235 that were submitted! Here's a bit about the festival from their website:"Lights. Camera. Help. The Nonprofit Film Festival is the world's first film festival dedicated entirely to nonprofit and cause-driven films. This 3-day event gives films-for-a-cause the attention they deserve by putting them up on the big screen in a theater setting."
The festival...
Posted on Aug 03, 2010 - 06:01 AM by Dana Bennis
The Education Policy Debate
I enjoy reading columns by David Brooks in The New York Times. He's a moderate conservative who promotes a more compassionate, intellectual, and pragmatic form of conservatism than what is often found in politics and the media. Nonetheless, I often disagree with him, and his recent op-ed on education deserves a critical response.He begins by praising Obama's direction on education, saying that Obama is using "federal power to incite reform, without dictating it from the top." Yet Obama and his Education Secretary Arne Duncan's Race to the Top program is rewarding $4.5 billion to a limited number of states who receive the most points based on a scoring rubric (PDF) the administration...
Posted on Jun 07, 2010 - 07:26 AM by Dana Bennis
Celebrating Alice Miller: Pioneering Psychologist
Alice Miller, a leading psychologist whose work and books revealed the dangerous effects on children of corporal punishment and more subtle forms of physical and emotional coercion, passed away this past month in France at the age of 87. Her books are essential reading for parents and anyone who works with young people, including the The Drama of the Gifted Child, and For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence.Miller showed how the “poisonous pedagogy” of repression and fear will lead to severe psychological problems, even if parents and other adults think they are acting in the child's best interest. Here is a powerful quote from Miller's For Your Own...
Posted on Apr 26, 2010 - 08:59 AM by Dana Bennis
Obama Praises Democratic School
In a speech yesterday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama pointed to the Met Center schools as a powerful model for engaging young people and providing them with personalized support and hands on career experience. The Met schools and their parent organization, Big Picture Learning, network over 70 schools throughout the United States and around the world. The schools provide largely lower income youth and youth of color with the respect and opportunity to be meaningfully involved in their own learning and to pursue their interests and dreams.Since 1995 the Met schools have grown to be one of the most vibrant and powerful examples of democratic education and 21st century...
Posted on Mar 02, 2010 - 08:27 AM by Dana Bennis
The ABC’s of School Success
On Feb. 1, President Obama vowed to toss out the nation’s current school accountability system and replace it with a more balanced scorecard of school performance that looks at student growth and school progress.
I love the idea. Mr. Obama and education secretary Arne Duncan have repeatedly criticized the No Child Left Behind Act for keeping the “goals loose but the steps tight.” On their watch, both men aspire to introduce a new law that keeps the “goals tight but the steps loose.”
With that more flexible standard in mind, I have a scorecard to propose: the ABC’s of School Success. It provides both structure and freedom by identifying five universal measurement categories—Achievement, Balance, Climate, Democratic Practices and Equity—and letting individual schools chose which data points to track under each category.
Posted on Feb 12, 2010 - 05:27 AM by Dana Bennis
Obama’s Education Disconnect
The Obama administration is ramping up its focus on education following last week's State of the Union. Unfortunately, it does not seem to go very far in taking a broader look at learning and giving teachers and young people more of a voice in the education process. Positive proposals include expanding the system of rating schools to include more than just test scores and using a student growth-based metric rather than a static grade comparison across schools. However, there is still no talk about more authentic forms of assessment or supporting student growth beyond academics, and the Race to the Top initiative, which guides additional education spending, remains focused on linking...Posted on Feb 02, 2010 - 10:22 AM by Dana Bennis
Teacherken on Linda Darling-Hammond’s New Book
I've followed Teacherken's writings on education for a couple of years now. Teacherken (Kenneth J. Bernstein, a teacher in the DC metro area) is one of the most outspoken voices advocating for more personalized and democratic education, writing on the popular Daily Kos blog. In a post written this past weekend, he reviews educator and author Linda Darling-Hammond's new book, The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future, a great book I just picked up last week. As Teacherken explains, Darling-Hammond provides us with a strong argument to significantly change the direction of education in this country away from more tests and standardization...Posted on Jan 25, 2010 - 07:22 AM by Dana Bennis
What Paying Students Really Teaches
Remember New York City(tm)s plan to reward students who excelled with cellphones? That plan fell by the wayside, not because so many people thought it was absurd •€” after all, cellphones are not allowed in New York City Schools ” but because the project•€(tm)s guru, the Harvard economist Roland Fryer, decided to apply his energies elsewhere not long after the project began.
The plan seems to have had at least some ripple effect: Starting in February, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York will begin a pilot program to try to combat Type 1 diabetes in young people by offering more personalized health care ” and to the young people, ages 11 to 17, who enroll, they are offering specially programmed BlackBerrys.
The Blackberrys are, to some extent, a hard, cold incentive: participate in this diabetes care management program, and get a hot gadget. But the BlackBerrys will have been programmed specifically to help young people monitor their health, so that instead of writing in some notebook what they•€(tm)re eating and how they feel, the young people can do it on their phones, looking like they(tm)re blithely texting a friend instead of trying to avoid the emergency room. The phones function like personal coaches, automatically turning on if a child turns it off after receiving one of the preprogrammed prompts, say, to check blood sugar.
Posted on Jan 19, 2010 - 05:09 AM by Dana Bennis
Tests or Innovation? Education in U.S. and China
Yong Zhao occupies a unique position from which to reflect upon the current national direction of American education in his recent—and very readable—book, Catching Up or Leading the Way. Mr. Zahoa, a University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at Michigan State, is also a product of the inquiry-suppressing, conformity-inducing, national-standardized-test-driven system that constitutes Chinese education. These two seemingly antipodal perspectives alone offer more than ample reason to listen to Mr. Zhao’s voice, all the more so when he argues that both systems are moving, each in their own way, toward becoming more alike.
The crux of Professor Zhao’s analysis appears in his preface. “...What China wants is what America is eager throw away—an education that respects individual talents, supports divergent thinking, tolerates deviation, and encourages creativity; a system in which government does not dictate what students learn or how teachers teach; and culture that does not rank or judge the success of a school, a teacher, or a child based on only test scores in a few subjects determined by the government…An innovation-driven society is driven by innovative people. Innovative people cannot come from schools that force students to memorize correct answers on standardized tests or reward students who excel at regurgitating dictated spoon-fed knowledge…why does America want to adopt practices that China and many other countries have been so eager to give up?”
Posted on Jan 11, 2010 - 05:55 AM by Dana Bennis
On Motivation, Schools, and Post-Its: New Books for 2010
Happy New Year! It's 2010.What better way to embrace the optimism and hope of the beginning of a new year than reading inspiring books?
I recently picked up two new books that speak to heart of why and how education ought to be more democratic. They carry a great deal of wisdom and practical ideas for schools and learning, and they both connect the value of greater voice in learning to the creation of a more vibrant society.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
, by Daniel H. Pink (2009: Riverhead Books), throws out the underlying assumption of most businesses and schools: that people need to be controlled by rewards and punishments in order for work to get done or...
Posted on Jan 05, 2010 - 05:33 AM by Dana Bennis
Painting The Landscape
Think “landscape” and you might visualize an expansive nature scene, or maybe the nitty-gritty workings of the political landscape. Perhaps you think of the act of landscaping in terms of developing a park or other area. For the purposes of this blog, the landscape metaphor refers to all of this and more.The Landscape is a blog for IDEA staff, board, and advisory board members to reflect on the bigger picture in education today, from philosophy to practice and policy to pedagogy. We'll report on exciting ideas, schools, and changes toward the development of a more deeply democratic educational experience for young people. We'll also share stories from our personal experiences as...
Posted on Nov 23, 2009 - 07:28 AM by Dana Bennis
Children’s Rights, 20 Years Later
On the anniversary of twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child—the most ratified human rights treaty in human history—the leaders of five major organizations focusing on children make a joint plea to put children’s best interests at the heart of human activity.
By Anne Lynam Goddard President and CEO, ChildFund International, Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Secretary General, Save the Children Alliance, Kevin J. Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Vision International, Richard Pichler, Secretary General, SOS Kinderdorf International, and Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF
Twenty years ago this week, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a far-reaching and idealistic treaty that would dramatically alter the way the world looks at children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, developed after years of intricate negotiations, offered a vision of a world in which all children survive and develop, and are protected, respected and encouraged to participate in the decisions that affect them.
Based on four core principles—non-discrimination; the best interest of the child; right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child—the Convention made it not just wise and just, but legally imperative for governments to recognize and uphold children’s rights to such basic things as education, adequate healthcare, shelter and access to safe water and sanitation.
Posted on Nov 20, 2009 - 02:31 PM by Dana Bennis
Welcome to IDEA!
Welcome to IDEA! We’re very excited that you’re here. Make sure to check out our welcome page for a summary of who we are and what we do.
IDEA is a national effort to unite education with our nation’s democratic values. We believe that young people ought to be active co-creators of their own learning and valued participants in a vibrant learning community. This is democratic education in action, which as you know is sharply different from the reality experienced by most young people and educators throughout the country.
Yet we know there are countless teachers, young people, parents, education leaders, youth workers, policy-makers and others who believe in the power of democratic...
Posted on Nov 16, 2009 - 10:09 AM by Dana Bennis
What is Democratic Education?
In a society based on participation, empowerment, and democracy,
shouldn’t education be participatory, empowering, and democratic?
The United States of America is founded on democracy and the democratic values of meaningful participation, personal initiative, and equality and justice for all.
Democratic education infuses the learning process with these fundamental values of our society. Democratic education sees young people not as passive recipients of knowledge, but rather as active co-creators of their own learning. They are not the products of an education system, but rather valued participants in a vibrant learning community.
Democratic education begins with the premise that...
Posted on Nov 04, 2009 - 11:12 PM by Dana Bennis
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