|
When U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan opened the Race to the Top competition to individual school districts two weeks ago, he said he wanted tospur innovation "at the classroom level and the all-importantrelationship among teachers and students." Now, a coalition of 16education startups and policy organizations, herded by thenonprofit NewSchools Venture Fund, are saying the competition getsinnovation wrong. They're planning to send Duncan a letter Friday. "We enthusiastically offer our support for the latest Race tothe Top-District Competition that prioritizes personalizedlearning," the letter begins. "We worry that the competition ascurrently conceived may not maximize return on our $400 millionfederal investment." The coalition is concerned that the competition looks at innovationupside down: Instead of rewarding school districts for sharingideas and innovating, it rewards "comprehensive personalizedlearning applications that may prove extraordinarily difficult to implement." Launched in 2009, Race to the Top has required states that chooseto compete for a slice of $4.35 billion in stimulus money toprepare plans that satisfy the Obama administration's educationreform criteria, which include encouraging charter schools andlinking students' standardized test scores to teacher evaluations.Recently, Duncan opened a $400 million funding round to individualschool districts and groups that manage charter schools. The coalition wants to modify the Race to the Top competition bycreating a "toolbox" that would allow schools to try out varioustechnological tools, provided by educational developers, to reachstudent performance goals. The toolbox would be made available onan open data platform to schools and teachers. After the projectperiod ended, the developers of the most effective tools wouldreceive more money. The coalition suggests this round could lead to more usefulclassroom improvements if it gave extra points to districts thatpartner with teacher training programs and that work with nonprofitorganizations "to implement and scale personalized learningsolutions." "This is big investment in a very nascent field," said BenjaminRiley, the group's policy director, referring to Race to the Top'sfunding. "There's an awful lot being asked from school districts.We want to give every opportunity for partnership." They also want to change the application process. According to theletter, the process requires applicants to set forth personalizedlearning plans, which can be stifling and run "the risk of creatinganother layer of bureaucracy." Riley said the current processencourages the designing of personalized learning "from the topdown" as opposed to "the way we innovate in Silicon Valley." "We don't want personalized learning to become a bureaucraticnightmare that teachers learn to hate if they hear that word,"Riley said. "We don't want this to become another paperbureaucratic checklist they have to get through their day." NewSchools Venture Fund, a San Francisco-based group co-founded byventure capitalist John Doerr -- and later supported by Netflix CEOReed Hastings -- describes itself as a "nonprofit venturephilanthropy firm." It helps investors find worthy educationalentrepreneurs to support, such as charter schools like KIPP. Inmore recent years, the group has funded technology-based products,such as Khan Academy and ClassDojo , two software applications that help teachers manage classrooms.The organization invested $7.1 million in the spring of 2012 and$2.47 million the previous winter. The group has close ties to the Education Department: In 2009,Duncan scooped up NewSchools Venture Fund's chief operatingofficer, Joanne Weiss, to become a senior adviser for Race to theTop. She's now his chief of staff. Other signatories to the letter include the National Alliance forPublic Charter Schools; the Silicon Schools Fund; MatchBook Learning , a group of consultants who help overhaul schools; and Tom VanderArk, a former schools superintendent who has overseen startupventures like Edmodo and Open Education Solutions. The Education Department did not immediately respond to requestsfor comment. UPDATE -- 7:30 p.m. Justin Hamilton, the press secretary of the Education Department,responded with this e-mailed statement late Friday evening: We need to take classroom learning beyond a one-size-fits-all modeland bring it into the 21st century and we think a district levelrace to the top competition will do just that. We appreciate publicfeedback on this important reform initiative and will take a closelook at each comment and suggestion. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Mini Dvr Camcorder , China Mini Sport Digital Video Camcorder, and more. For more , please visit HD720P Vehicle Car Camera today!
Related Articles -
Mini Dvr Camcorder, China Mini Sport Digital Video Camcorder,
|
