Education for $1000, Alex

Two weeks ago, I caught 20 minutes of a Jeopardy! show featuring Skynet Watson, the trivia-loving artificial intelligence computer built by IBM. Squaring off against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, the two alpha males of the human Jeopardy!-loving world, I watched with intrigue as Watson mercilessly chewed through questions (“answers”, technically) as the human “competitors” […]

Why Your Government Matters

It’s not a schoolhouse rock segment (the song would be pretty lame), nor even a Civics class topic—it’s the question that NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell will be addressing at tomorrow’s hearing of the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday. Ted will be among one of four witnesses testifying about the crucial things […]

School reform vs. school jobs? No.

Tucked away in a military spending bill in the House of Representatives is a false choice: saving jobs vs. education reform. The proposal, by Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, came to light yesterday thanks to the considerable candlepower of Alyson Klein, half of the dynamic duo that covers federal education […]

Education in the post-NCLB era

Education reform has taken a subtle but sharp turn in recent years, notes Kevin Carey of Education Sector in a

Braving a new policy world

If the entrepreneurial education movement was a person, what would it want to be when it grew up? This short video – which debuted at the

Breakout #1: District and State Partnership – Boon or Detriment for Entrpreneurship?

Resolved: Entrepreneurs and Systems must Partner to Achieve Widespread Improvement This afternoon, a spirited oxford-style debate took place to examine this resolution.  Under the direction of moderator Mashea Ashton, CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, the panel examined whether partnerships with districts and states were necessary for the success of entrepreneurial education organizations and […]

The Secretary and the Chairman: A conversation with Arne Duncan and George Miller

Attendees at the NewSchools Summit 2010 were treated to a special conversation between Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Representative George Miller, and NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell.  The lively conversation covered the topical Investing In Innovation Fund (application deadline is this afternoon!), Race to the Top funding, special education, financing college, teacher training, and much more. […]

i3: Anyone got a match?

For everyone who’s up late or early putting the finishing touches on an Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund application, this coffee refill is for you. Those i3 applications are due at 4:30 pm Eastern time tomorrow, May 12, so if you sneak out of Summit at 3:45, we’ll know why. (Yes, the due date got […]

Guest post: Closing the Achievement Gap – The Edupreneur Way

This guest post was written by  Ellen Winn of the Education Equality Project, a national, bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap. The recent death of achievement-gap closing hero Jaime Escalante (whose story was brought to life via the film “Stand and Deliver”) has got me thinking anew about how we can close […]