Variable Learning Time

Last week I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with the Next Generation Learning Challenge Wave II grantees at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters in Seatle. The 19 grantee organizations are meeting the challenge to bring to scale disruptive innovations that can dramatically improve student learning, with emphasis on Common Core State Standards and 21st century skills. These include the kinds of innovations that Clayton Christensen writes about in Disrupting Class such as virtual, online, and blended learning experiences, plus some innovations that Christensen may not have imagined.

In my last blog post I ranted about states that were reducing the number of required school days in the year. Students need more time learning, not less. I stand by my argument that states should not reduce the school-day requirement...with one exception. I also will argue that states should ELIMINATE the requirement altogether in environments which support mastery learning. Seat time doesn't matter when a student meets learning expectations and unlimited access to learning, I.e. When learning becomes the constant, learning time can be variable. Of course students should be encouraged to learn more than the minimum expectations. Every student should have access to learning opportunities 24 hours a day 365 days a year and development of life-long learning habits that optimize his or her life opportunities.

I was pleased to hear from one of the NGLC grantees, the Louisiana Virtual School that the state has adopted a policy that waives the seat time requirement. Until individual competency can be tracked, making minimum learning the constant school days should not be reduced, but when programs such as the virtual school and learning management is in a traditional school then seat time should not matter.

More Learning Time, Not Less

A policy guide on Expanding Learning Time just released by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) and the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) points out that some states are reducing the required number of days in the school year. States are allowing a reduction in the school year as misguided attempt to save money, without recognizing the consequences. Typically states require 180 days per year. The cost-cutting legislation in states such as California and Arizona set the bar to 170-175 days.

Students in the United States in 2011 need more time learning, not less. Students need in-school time and extended learning opportunities beyond the school day.

The ECS/NCTL document provides some examples of cost-effective models that expand learning time including:

• Staggered staff schedules

• Technology as a teaching tool

• Community partnerships

The policy guide challenges states and school districts to look more creatively at the fiscal problem without forgetting the core mission of schools, student learning. Student learning time can be extended both inside and outside of the school day even while costs are constrained. In Approaching 100% I explored an economic model that might be used to serve more students with more adults without increasing costs. An example in the ECS/NCTL policy guide shows that an increase in class size by one student could pay for the 5 days being cut based on some state. Children's futures depend on state policy makers being more innovative than that. Cutting budgets by cutting learning time should not be an option.

Next Generation Learning - Connecting Islands of Innovation

A few weeks ago I was pleased to learn that some connections I had made paid off...

(My personal and professional mission, to discover or design solutions that help people and organizations fulfill their potential, often involves making connections...connecting ideas and opportunities to people and organizations. )

I had the privilege of connecting four great organizations, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), CELT, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), and Edutopia, to apply for a grant through Next Generation Learing Challenges (NGLC). The project will rapidly expand the use and impact of ASSISTments technology to fundamentally alter teaching and learning processes for improved mastery of 7th-9th grade level Common Core State Standards and development of deeper learning competencies.

The ASSISTments system, developed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) under IES & NSF grants, combines online formative assessment with continuous feedback and expert tutoring. (In the grant proposal I coined the term "assessment AS learning" to describe ASSISTments, because it goes beyond summative “assessment of learning” and even beyond formative “assessment for learning”. The platform supports formative instruction and individualized learning.) The system has been used by hundreds of teachers and thousands of students across the U.S. and was cited in the 2010 National Education Technology Plan.

On June 14, Next Generation Learning Challenges announced the ASSISTments project as one of the winning proposals. The project is designed to scale use of ASSISTments from an "island of innovation" toward broad-scale use.

The founder of ASSISTments is WPI professor Neil Heffernan. You can learn more about Neil and the story behind ASSISTments in this interview on the nationally syndicated public radio show Hear and Now.

Conference Presentation on Teacher-Student Data Link Data Models

A conference presentation I did with esteemed colleagues from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) and Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) was just posted to the U.S. Department of Education's NCES site here: http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/MIS/2011/session_VI.asp#A

About the conference: "Co-sponsored by the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the MIS Conference brought together the people who work with information collection, management, transmittal, and reporting in school districts and state education agencies."

About the session:

Concurrent Session VI Presentations

Thursday, February 24, 2011
10:00 - 11:00

VI–A: Teacher-Student Data Link in Data Models From Transactional Systems to the Data Warehouse

Laura Sonn, Data Quality Campaign
Cody Decker, Arkansas Department of Education
Jim Goodell, CELT Corporation

The presenters will examine how the teacher-student data link (TSDL) may be represented in various data models: operational/transactional systems, interoperability models (such as P-20 State Core), and data warehouse. Different uses of the TSDL have different implications for how and how often the data is collected, verified, stored, and presented. Audience participation is encouraged around each state's uses for the link and definitions for "teacher of record" and "contributing educators." The discussion will inform a proposed reference model adaptable to state-specific needs. Finally, the presenters will introduce a conceptual draft capability maturity model for roster verification for participant feedback.

Download Zipped PowerPoint Presentation:

Teacher-Student Data Link in Data Models From Transactional Systems to the Data Warehouse (3.04 MB)

University of Phoenix Course

I just completed an online course at University of Phoenix. The online model was well managed making rich use of asynchronous class discussion and electronic media. The value of the course was enhanced through the diverse perspectives offered by the class representing different geographies and experiences working with different grade levels, schools, and cultures.

This kind of learning experience, that breaks away from traditional fixed-time and fixed-location lecture model, has some distinct advantages over site-based/lecture-based higher education. Not being constrained to a fixed class session allows for more or less time as needed to interact with the content, construct thoughtful dialog and craft written assignments.

Harvard's Advanced Leadership Education Think Tank

Attending (virtually) Harvard's Advanced Leadership Education Think Tank

Khan Academy - Approaching 100% with a World-wide Classroom