A New Vision for R&D in Education

For the past two years Knowledge Alliance has been developing a vision for a new kind of R&D infrastructure in education that would serve as a leading edge catalyst for innovation and transformation. Much of our visioning has been greatly informed by the very fine work of Tony Bryk and Louis Gomez. Yesterday Bryk (now president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) unvieled a new initiative for implementing a new kind of problem-based R&D. We think this effort (along with our own) could have transformative effects on the research enterprise and possibily on education as a whole. Kudos to Bryk, Gomez and the fine folks at Carnegie!

High Profile Millenials?

Last week was a very big, high profile week for several millenials (who will be taking over the leadership of the country in about 18 years) named Eric, Kris, Shawn, and Mark. Who are they and what do they have in common and why should you care? Tell the Knowledge-able Sourcerer

How does funding for education R&D compare?

How does funding for ED R&D compare? Not well. Certainly it is not a pretty picture when you look at the annual funding charts by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. We have used these data many times before on the Hill and in our outreach. Take another look and cringe … and then get mad:
Agency comparisons
ARRA comparisons (hey, where is education?)
Education’s allocation

Rethinking "Rethinking Restructuring"?

“Rethinking Restructuring” See this Ed Week commentary by Jack Jennings and friends at the Center for Education Policy dispelling some school improvement myths about silver bullets and suggesting that the best strategies use “multiple, coordinated restructuring strategies over many years”. Hmmm. Makes more than a little sense.

Shuttering dealerships or schools?

This past week Arne Duncan made the news by suggesting that national ed reform efforts should be strategically focused on "reconstituting" the thousand lowest performing schools in the country. A good strategy for dealing with chronically failing schools. Arne was in Detroit to discuss some of these ideas. Coincidentally at around the same Chrysler in Detroit announced it was shuttering 700 unprofitable dealerships ... immediately. A good strategy for fixing the bottom line. Is there a meaningful analogy here.

Disappointing

On Saturday, I was part of the "crowd" who participated in the Education Equity Project's rally on the Ellipse in DC commemorating the 55th anniversary of Brown v the Board of Education decision. With the celebrities on stage outnumbering the folks in the audience, it was a deeply disappointing display of interest in the cornerstone of American democracy---education. I don't think the threat of rain had much to do with the dismal turnout. Perhaps it was poor organization (word did not get around) or logistical snafus (late buses) that played a role. I hope that was the case. Otherwise it would be that education can't seem to attract a crowd ... certainly not like anti war demonstrations or anti abortion rallies can in DC. There were large groups of tourists milling around the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument at the time of the EEP rally but none seemed to be interested in what was happening on the Ellipse. What's wrong with this picture?

Much to like about the Prez's FY 10 budget request

Me thinks the FY 10 budget request released by the Prez last week was on the mark in many ways for education but it ain't gonna be easy to move it through Congress... Check out what Knowledge Alliance said about it here. It is indeed time to "... unleash America’s ingenuity to solve our most pressing education problems, deliver break-the-mold, research-based solutions to our schools, and
guide a new knowledge and innovation revolution in teaching and learning..."