Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Global Education Challenge To Award $250,000 For Ideas To Fix Schools

Everyone has an opinion about what's wrong with the education system. Now, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is calling on you to provide the solutions.

From now until July 15, 2011, HMH is asking people to submit ideas that will have a positive impact on schools.

It's part of a Global Education Challenge aimed at tackling three specific issues: transforming student learning, fostering family involvement and enhancing educator effectiveness.

Cash and prizes totaling $250,000 will be distributed among the top three winners, who will also receive a book allowance for schools of their choice.

HMH outlined judging criteria for "Best New Innovation Ideas" on its website:

"The top ideas will be judged by a group of experts, who will be examining each idea for originality, impact, and adaptability. In short, we are looking for new ideas that can provide measurable impact and have a broad reach."

Do you have the next big idea? Get involved by posting your idea or vote on and review ideas already posted.

Comments

[maester]

07:22 PM on 05/29/2011

1. Hold students accountable for their educational successes and failures.

[Andra Claudia Garcia]

04:10 AM on 05/31/2011

it's called college or no college

[amgnme]

06:06 PM on 05/28/2011

Steps For Improving Education

Step 1. Repeat after me: Respect and support for education will be our main focus.
(If this step is mastered, you're done. Problem solved.)

[perlin]

12:48 PM on 05/27/2011

Enhance the quality of a learner . A magic bullet to fix the schools is making the family of a student to value education and work hand in hand with the teacher. In Scandinavian countries every newborn leaving the hospital is receiving a bag filled with books. Teachers are highly respected.The publishing companies could invest some money into improving failing communities. Focus on failing communities and stop bashing the teachers.
Remember: the quality of a learner is more important that anything else.

[perlin]

07:53 PM on 05/26/2011

Here is a simple idea .
What about leaving schools alone and let the teachers just teach?
Use the money to improve the failing communities. Focus on providing the jobs for the jobless parents and on reducing the crime and poverty. Serious approach to prevent the gangs influences and rehabilitation of drug addicted guardians and parents would be a plus. Encourage the culture of learning and valuing the education in the communities that are around the "failing " schools.
A good neighborhood works magically on the "failing" school. It never fails to cure it. So if you focus on improving the failing communities the schools will automatically the success stories.

[changing]

10:19 PM on 05/25/2011

Publishing company makes a lot of money off schools. Wonder who they will pick? Why don't they give the money directly to help schools keep teachers, give kids books, etc. Oops, all is a competition.

[TINA ANDRES]

07:28 PM on 05/25/2011

How about second language acquisition? We are just about the only developed country in the world that thinks kids do not need to learn a second language at an early age. Study after study validates the teaching of a second language to kids as a positive for brain development and academic achievement in the primary language. We want to complain about our comparisons to other countries but we don't want to implement the things we know work.