Tom Vander Ark

The biggest problem in American secondary schools may be boredom. What American youth need more then anything is opportunity to discover their passions and unleash them into the world. The Future Project, a NYC-based startup, is addressing this challenge by mobilizing an army -- the Future Corps --...

It was one of those conferences where it's hard to leave the lobby. The NewSchools Summit (#NSVFsummit), co-hosted with the Aspen Institute, was held in an SFO airport hotel this week.

Ten years ago, the summit was an annual gathering of charter management organizations (CMOs), human capital builders,...

The Hewlett Foundation-funded Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP) released about 2300 essays to the 140 contestants this week. They have until the end of the month to score the essays with the highest possible agreement with expert graders. The top three competitors will share a $100,000 prize purse...

A few interesting reactions to the ASU Education Innovation Summit (#EIsummit) got me thinking about mission-driven work in the private sector, but let me start with the conference. In its third iteration, the ASU conference is the best on the calendar for "edtech" innovations that cross K-12,...

Phil Regier runs a big online college of working adults. He pays attention to completion rates. President Obama set a goal of regaining the number-one spot in college completion by 2020. This month I've been interviewing folks about meeting this lofty goal.

Dr. Regier is the Executive Vice Provost...

It's the beginning of the end of pointless post-secondary. Thousands of young people accumulated mountains of debt from college degrees that aren't worth much -- they didn't learn much and they aren't employable. The last two days in GettingSmart.com I've discussed the increased focus on outcomes and the development of...

Online assessment are at the heart of the promise of digital learning. Online assessments provide real time diagnostics that identify learning levels and gaps. Often embedded in learning experiences like games, online assessment provides instant feedback in reading, writing, math and other subjects. Online assessment will also improve test security...

The much vaunted American higher education system coasts on the reputation of the top three dozen schools which themselves gain much of their stature simply by excluding 85 percent of applicants. Most post-secondary institutions just don't add much value and can no longer justify outrageous tuition.

As recent graduates...

America is the startup capital of the world. A unique mixture of great universities, efficient capital markets, relatively business friendly policies, and a culture of striving makes a handful of urban centers in the U.S. as good a place to start a business as anywhere on the planet.

American's...

A new Washington, D.C., incubator, The Fort, debuted its first cohort of startups today. TechCruch notes, "The program, which gives founders anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 in seed capital, was lured to the area from nearby Arlington thanks to a $100,000 grant from D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray."

The...

As a University of Chicago scholar, Tony Bryk repeatedly produced local research of national importance. He combined skills in experimental design with incisive insight.

Three years ago Tony Bryk moved from observer and instructor to initiator and innovator. As president the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,...

Last week I visited Arizona's largest school, Primavera Online. Headquartered in Chandler, Primavera serves primarily upper division students seeking an alternative pathway to graduation. Half are juniors and seniors. A quarter who have left school are classified as 'grade 13', what my friends in New York would call...

Fritjof Capra is a physicist who plowed the systems thinking ground for Peter Senge and the new science ground for Meg Wheatly. He opened his seminal piece "The Turning Point" by noting that man always assumes he is at a turning point. As a pattern spotter, I'm particularly susceptible to...

Innosight Institute's seminal report, "The Rise of Blended Learning," outlines several emerging school models that combine the best of onsite and online learning. Besides students taking online courses when possible, there are basically two emerging school models:

1. Rotation: Students spend 20 to 50 percent of...

The first head of the Institute of Education Sciences, Russ Whitehurst set a gold standard for research particularly around the use of randomized controlled trials (RCT). There is obvious benefit to setting a high bar for evidence but we often need better evidence faster and cheaper than is possible through...

My friend Andy Rotherham is old school -- and that goes for many edreformers. They want the best version of old school for every student: talented teachers, high expectations, quality instruction, curriculum alignment, strong accountability, and enough standardized tests to verify all of the above.

They support old school...

This morning three districts announced that they were going 1:1 next year with Chromebooks, the full sized web appliance from Google. The districts include Council Bluffs, Iowa; Leyden, Illinois; and Richland Two, South Carolina. Representatives from the districts joined Google officials in making the announcement this morning at FETC, the...

Question: What do algebra and online learning have in common?

Answer: Most kids would not experience either if not required.

Graduation requirements translate society's expectations to the young. It's our collective best guess at the knowledge and skills they will need to participate in the society they will...

An unintended consequence of the intense focus on English and math standards and assessments in the NCLB decade is that civics took a back seat.

"We believe it is a great mistake to push civics to the sideline in schools," says former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "Unfortunately, a staggering number...

Blended learning can save some money; online learning can save a lot. That's the conclusion of a working paper -- The Cost of Online Learning--from Fordham's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series. A talented team from Parthenon lead by Tammy Battaglino wrote the report. They estimate "that...