Groundbreaking Schools
Rough Road for Trailblazing School Programs
If there’s any doubt that educators are heroes, especially in high-poverty neighborhoods, Sharon Otterman’s piece in the New York Times will put that to rest. The article covers an experimental program in a poor Brooklyn neighborhood where 60 students are taught in an open classroom by four teachers — one “master teacher” and the others [...]
How Does New Tech Measure Up to Traditional Standards?
Some might say it’s all well and good to teach responsibility and accountability and self-sufficiency, but what about test scores? At Napa New Tech, the numbers speak for themselves. The school’s 2009 API scores was 818. (Napa New Tech is the first school in the New Tech Network, and was opened in 1996.) The average [...]
The Secret Sauce of Replicating a Good Idea
For a good idea to truly have a powerful impact, it needs to be replicable. And that’s what the New Tech Network is doing: teaching schools across the country how to scale the Napa New Tech model. “When you talk about meaningful change that’s sustainable, you’re talking about a system change,” said Chris Walsh, director [...]
Napa New Tech: School of the Future is Here
What does the high school of the future look like? It’s one that emphasizes useful, relevant skills that can be applied to college and the work world beyond. One that encourages students to be critical thinkers, responsible for their own actions. One that trains them to work collaboratively and push themselves to outside their comfort [...]
Award-Winning Schools’ Secret Weapons
What does a 21st century school district look like? The Howell Township Public School District in Howell, New Jersey is a great example: It snagged first place this year in the 2010 Digital School District Survey for medium-sized districts. Some of the more notable attributes from Howell include: Advanced, project-based uses of technology in the [...]
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