Open Educational Resources (OER) have become increasingly important for advancing educational fairness and improving learning opportunities in a time when the expense of education is still rising. Defined as teaching, learning, and freely available, licenced for reuse research resources, OER have great advantages in terms of affordability, accessibility, and academic freedom, thereby democratizing education. The…
There is no denying that when technology becomes more advanced, it allows for more freedom in many areas. That is true in the realm of education. You can probably think of many ways that emerging tech can help teachers and students alike. For instance, you may have heard of more than one AI essay writing…
In February 2017, I was honored to be the guest of first lady Melania Trump during the President’s Joint Address to Congress. President Trump highlighted my school choice experience as proof to what is possible when parents have education freedom. He stated, “I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill…
Listening to the rhetoric of Democratic presidential candidates, one would think charter schools were a Republican initiative opposed by all progressives. Bernie Sanders calls for a halt to all federal funding for charter schools. Elizabeth Warren joins him in condemning for-profit charters. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who served under a president enthusiastic about charters, told the American…
Family Structure and Student Outcomes If we are honest with ourselves, there comes a turning point moment in the life of every education reformer when we must confront the limitations of education reform. Such an experience happened to me around 4 p.m. on July 11, 2016, near Third Avenue and 149th Street in the heart…
Stop me if you have heard this before: People have complaints about standardized testing. This is not new. It is the same dance we see around this time every year, but this time it’s to a different song. All over the country schools, parents, and other stakeholders are crying foul over plans to go through…
The collegiate curriculum now includes capstone projects, which allow students to apply their academic knowledge to real-world problems. These programs are crucial to education in the U.S. and Brazil, although their execution and impact vary due to educational philosophies, resources, and institutional aims. This essay compares these disparities with teacher perspectives from both countries. The…
Undoubtedly 2022 is going to be another massive year for the advancement of school choice. Coming off 2021, a year in which 18 states passed educational choice legislation, K-12 stakeholders are excited to continue providing students and families with the opportunity to attend schools that work best for them. In fact, they are so excited…
The Chicago Teachers Union’s effort to go remote across the district is rooted in racism. Asking members to force a work stoppage without acknowledging the critical state of our babies is wrong. It ignores the fact that large numbers of children suffered the last time academically, physically and emotionally. Remote learning hurt Black and brown…
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 35% of fourth-graders are reading at or above a proficient level. For decades, K-12 educators have tested different methods to improve the way they teach children to read. Currently, there is no national mandated approach that educators have to follow. Structured Literacy has proven itself a…
New year, same pandemic. While many had high hopes that 2022 would present a brighter chapter of the COVID-19 crisis, the highly-transmissible Omicron variant had other plans. For those in cities, school closures may be the worst among them. More Than 330,000 of Chicago’s Children Didn’t Learn Today Because of CPS’s Staggering Lack of Planning Before winter…
With skyrocketing COVID-19 cases causing disruptions to in-person learning around the country, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to offer weary parents some real relief. In a press release, Ducey gave details about the new Open for Learning Recovery Benefit Program: The Governor is creating the Open for Learning Recovery Benefit program to provide relief…
It’s been an excellent year for school choice! 2021 has rightly been called a “breakthrough year” and “The Year of School Choice,” as 18 different states enacted seven new school choice programs and worked to expand 21 existing programs. And 2022 may prove to be even better! What’s really impressive is that school choice is…
When thousands of schools across the country closed their doors and went virtual for months due to COVID, Missouri’s Discovery Center of Springfield stepped up to meet the needs of families. “We weren’t going to let them become victims of the COVID slide,” executive director Rob Blevins told Springfield’s Fox 2 local affiliate. Instead, the…
If there is one thing we know for sure about this pandemic, it’s that interest in homeschooling has been on the rise as families search for a learning environment that meets all their childrens’ needs. In fact, the number of families choosing to homeschool has more than doubled since 2020! As families took control of…
As we enter the second winter of COVID, we know that cases will rise as people spend more time indoors and gather for the holidays. Even with extremely effective vaccines and booster doses widely available, and even though kids five years and older are now eligible to get the vaccine, elected officials and public health…
Looking for a state that can innovate on education? Give Idaho more than a glance. So argues a new Manhattan Institute policy brief on the advent of microschooling in the Gem State. For decades, Idaho has been an easy place to homeschool, with few regulations. And Idaho’s many small, mostly rural districts have been unusually…
While adults in schools split hairs over what to call what just happened to young people during the pandemic—“learning loss” vs. “unfinished learning”—the students send us a very different message. Behavior is communication. And right now, national problems with student behavior in school communicate that adults are completely out of touch. In Oregon, a middle…
“The wolf took one last look at his mother and father…” My son is reading aloud in the other room. I hear his little voice recounting the story of a wolf who became the first wild wolf in California in a very long time. He reads with expression—exclamation points invoke excitement in his voice, question…
The continued killing of unarmed Black men by police has spurred action across the country. Some people are looking at how we fund law enforcement. Some people are looking at their own biases and participating in training about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Me? I’m looking at how we educate children of color. I’m the founder…
