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redefinED staff

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill interviews teacher, writer, speaker Amy Daumit

redefinED staff November 18, 2020

On this episode, Step Up For Students president Doug Tuthill talks to the director of a growing homeschooling group in South Florida. The 20 students Daumit’s group serves receive instruction from three traditionally credentialed teachers in a K-8 style, five-days-a-week learning environment. Daumit’s teachers have left the public and private systems in search of a different way they could express themselves as creative educators.

Tuthill and Daumit discuss how her group blurs the lines between homeschooling, micro-schools, learning pods and private schools, a phenomenon that likely will continue to redefine public education.

“I am not a head of school; I am not connected to the (Department of Education). I am not looking to do business as usual. The point is to create an environment where kids can be who they are … Lots of kids can’t be who they are in a public or private school.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

· Daumit’s background as an educator and her disillusionment with No Child Left Behind legislation

· How her group’s curriculum gets to the “nuts and bolts” of how kids learn

· How the group has moved away from technology to focus on interactive, face-to-face collaborative group work

· Expansion opportunities and how to best serve the needs of different communities

November 18, 2020 0 comment

Commentary and Opinion Customization Featured Parent Empowerment Podcast Technology and Innovation

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill interviews LearningEdge founder Chris Sturgis

redefinED staff November 12, 2020

redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill talks with a leading expert on the subject of competency-based education, an approach that allows students to advance based on their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace regardless of the educational setting. Sturgis developed a deep understanding of competency-based education by visiting more than 100 schools in the United States and New Zealand that are leading the way toward a better model that is veering away from the A-F grading system.

Tuthill and Sturgis discuss how more traditional ranking and sorting education models must be reorganized around a more humane system in which students focus on developing strong social-emotional skills such as self-management, empathy, and relationship management.

“I think the No. 1 mistake schools make is not taking enough time to analyze the traditional system, why it was designed, and what the implications are … There is a lot of pressure to keep this system in place.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

· How the current rank-and-sort education model creates a caste system that damages children of all income levels

· How assessments can be more formative to inform better teaching and learning

· Collaboration possibilities in competency-based learning environments

· Empowering families and communities to have more control over their children’s education and aligning their decisions with best scientific knowledge of how children learn

· Exchanging the modern definition of success as measured by economic wellbeing in favor of one that allows for greater happiness

November 12, 2020 0 comment

Customization Demographic Research Education Polling Education Savings Accounts Featured News School Choice

Parents, teachers indicate support for ESAs, national survey finds

redefinED staff November 9, 2020

redefinED staff

Two findings related to education savings accounts have emerged from a recent poll conducted by EdChoice as the education reform organization continues to track COVID-19-related trends.

The first: Support for ESAs, which allow parents to withdraw their children from public district or charter schools and receive a deposit of public funds in government-authorized savings accounts with restricted but multiple education uses, has remained steady throughout 2020.

The second: Support for ESAs among teachers in all education settings – district, charter and private – increases when information about ESAs is provided.

The number of parents indicating strong support for ESAs held steady at 36% through the spring and early summer, rose to 42% in July and tapered back to 37% as the new academic year got underway. The number who indicated some support for ESAs fluctuated between 33% and 40% in the spring, peaked at 43% in June and settled at 36% in September.

Since January, the number of parents who either strongly opposed or somewhat opposed ESAs has hovered between 2% and 8%.

Parental support for education savings accounts

When asked their opinion of ESAs in K-12 education based on what they know or have heard from others, 61% of teachers overall indicated support. That figure rose to 76% when a description of ESAs was provided. The level of ESA support among district teachers rose from 57% to 74% once a description was provided, while support among charter school teachers rose from 67% to 75%.

Private school teachers indicated the greatest level of support both before and after hearing a description of ESAs, 76% and 87%, respectively.

Teacher support for education savings accounts, before and after a description

Other poll questions queried respondents on learning pods, teacher morale and in-person versus remote learning. Full results are available at https://www.edchoice.org/engage/edchoice-public-opinion-tracker-top-takeaways-september-2020/.

November 9, 2020 0 comment

Charter Schools Commentary and Opinion Coronavirus / COVID-19 Education Choice Education Equity Featured Podcast School Choice Technology and Innovation

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill interviews Friendship Public Charter School CEO Patricia Brantley

redefinED staff November 4, 2020

redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill talks with the leader of a cohort of 16 charter schools in the Washington, D.C., area that primarily educate families of color. The two discuss how Friendship, which serves more than 4,500 students in prekindergarten through 12^th grade, has adapted its education delivery in the wake of the global pandemic.

Brantley observes that one of her biggest surprises has been feedback from families of students with special needs who say their children are less distracted, learning more, and getting better personalized feedback from their teachers in digital or hybrid learning environments. She discusses with Tuthill the unbundling of education services to provide families with more flexibility and options, the growing trend of families creating small “pod” schools in their homes, and the necessity of providing internet access to all children to ensure educational equity.

“Adults need to think differently, and they need to catch up with kids … (Families in pods) are getting an amazing education. But that education is owed to all our children regardless of their parents’ resources. We need to figure out how we’re going to get it delivered to them.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

· What Friendship has learned over the past two semesters of innovation and how it plans to improve for the future

· Creating a robust professional development system for Friendship’s teachers and staff

· Strengths of the digital environment and how technological advancements can personalize education

· The benefits of unbundling education services and the ways entrenched systems may react and adapt

November 4, 2020 0 comment