We argue that our testing-obsessed education system is failing to prepare kids for a complex future, and we propose an “UnCommon Core” of skills and understandings—from living lightly on the Earth to networked learning and democratic participation—that every child should develop, taught through rich, integrated, real-world contexts rather than test-driven, siloed curricula.
It has gotten to the point where we shudder every time we hear plans to “increase student achievement” or “improve schools,” because those phrases almost always mean one thing: raising standardized test scores. Far too little of what those assessments measure is what we care about as parents, and we need new ways to assess learning that value passion, problem solving, collaboration, and real-world impact.
It was our great honor to serve on the 2010 K-12 Horizon Project Advisory Board this year, and our report was released a couple of days ago. If you want another piece to add to your “compelling case for change” argument, it’s worthy of your consideration.
Ten years from now, the next decade will be drawing to a close. Our daughter will be 22, our son 20. We’ll be…older. It’s setting up to be a pretty important 10 years on a lot of fronts, especially for how we live and learn.
Reflecting on Tom Carroll’s 2000 article about reimagining schools, we consider what inquiry-driven, networked learning communities might look like, and how far educators still are from embracing the role of “expert learners” rather than traditional teachers.
When Are We Going to Stop Giving Kids Tests That They Can Cheat On? We’re just askin’…
We explore what we can reasonably assume about our kids’ futures and how that should reshape curriculum and practice: they’ll need to be networked, collaborative, globally aware, less dependent on paper, more active, fluent in hypertext, more connected, and strong editors of information.
Yesterday at NECC was one of those yin/yang experiences, with one of our worst conference moments ever, which, as these things go, preceded probably the best conference feel good ever. The contrast between a disappointing Web 2.0 panel and the vibrant, collaborative energy of the Blogger Cafe captured both the problem and the promise of how these tools can truly transform learning.
Chris points to pictures of Nigerian students at the first school to receive laptops in the One Laptop Per Child program, sparking thoughts about global access, inequity in US schools, and what it will take for society to prioritize meaningful opportunities for all children.
We reflect on growing resistance to social software in schools, new legislation like state-level DOPA efforts, and troubling media coverage of teens online, arguing that meaningful change requires broader cultural understanding of learning in social networks.