Policy Update: Race to the Top—District
In his latest policy update, NewSchools’ policy director Ben Riley provides an extended overview of the new, $400 million Race to the Top—District competition aimed at fostering personalized learning....
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Personalized Learning: Racing Too Fast?
A few years ago, I read a column by Bill Simmons (the Sports Guy of Grantland/ESPN fame), wherein he described his inexplicable resistance to watching new television shows that friends recommend to...
View ArticleEdu-implications of the Election
I came into work this morning to find a note on my monitor that reads, “4 More Years!! :).” That nicely sums up the predominant sentiment in the nation’s capital, which celebrated last night in truly...
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Fat SOTUesday: Benjamin Riley’s Take on the SOTU Address
I have a confession to make.I did not watch the President’s State of the Union speech last night.I have not even read the transcript.Am I a bad policy director? Yes, yes I am.On the other hand, it’s...
View ArticleCommon Core-spiracy
***EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT*** TO: All members of the Illuminati Common Core-spiracy FROM: Benjamin Riley, NewSchools Venture Front CC: Governors of 45 US states; NEA & AFT...
View ArticleBuilding a Digital Depository
These are exciting times for education entrepreneurship, technology, and the policy ecosystem that surrounds them both. Whether gauged by new school “startup weekends,” venture capital interest, or...
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Refuting Peter Buffett’s ‘New Code’
Massive social change requires massive social investmentSo, what should we make of Peter Buffett’s op-ed against “The Charitable-Industrial Complex“? I’ll confess, I’m confused by his argument. Buffett...
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Why are the Common Core standards worth fighting for?
Before answering that question, let’s first do a little homework. Please turn to page 22 of this booklet, released only this morning, which contains sample assessment items from the New York state...
View ArticleMowing Down the Mistakes of Confused Common Core Opponents
On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle’s online portal SFGate.com ran an anti-Common Core op-ed authored by George Ball, the “past president of the American Horticultural Society.” While reasonable...
View ArticleGREAT Act: More Reality Needed in Teaching… and Op-Eds
We have a serious problem in the United States: when it comes to training teachers, we are somewhere between mediocre to terrible. And we do a particularly bad job of training effective teachers to...
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