Congress made the right decision a decade ago when it required states to administer yearly tests to public school students - and improve instruction for poor and minority students - in return for federal education aid.

National test data clearly show that since the unpopular No Child Left Behind Act was signed in 2002, academic performance for the country's students has improved and achievement gaps between white and minority children have narrowed. Earlier this month, the Department of Education announced that the nation's high school graduation rate had hit 81 percent, the highest rate ever.

The Education Movement You've Never Heard Of  by James Moore on the Huffington Post site

  If ever there were sustaining proof that the educational process of children is subjective and evolving, it is the fact that the application of Common Core standards has turned into a political debate. Americans want their children to have the knowledge necessary to achieve their goals and live fulfilling lives but we still seem uncertain on how to make that happen. Public schools are often beleaguered with tax funding and facilities shortages while home schooling can deprive children of social interactions critical to development.

How do we fix something if we don't precisely understand how it is broken?

  With a nod to California, a new report suggests overhauling how school and student success is measured in the United States.  The report, by the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the National Center for Innovation in Education at the University of Kentucky, recommends alternatives to annual standardized tests. It says there should be far more emphasis on ongoing assessments of students as part of regular classroom instruction.

  For 150 years, formal education has adopted an 'inside-out' mindset - schools and colleges have usually been organised around the needs of the educators, not the learners. In areas such as research, this is nothing to be embarrassed about. Ground-breaking inventions and pioneering new thinking often arise from the selfishness that informs so-called 'blue-sky' research. Defending such freedoms from the external drive for practical and commercial implementation has often encouraged a necessary insularity.

The new landscape presents a significant upheaval. Inventors and researchers are increasingly working independently outside academia, finding collegial collaboration in the Global Learning Commons. Learners also find themselves in the driving seat because formal education is no longer the only game in town for those eager to learn.

A Look Inside the Classroom of the Future  by Dana Mortenseon on the Edutopia website

   Over the next generation, whether they work for corporations, small businesses, government organizations, nonprofits, or other organizations, many U.S. employees will move from working primarily with American colleagues, bosses, and customers for American organizations in U.S. cities, to being part of global teams. As leaders, they will use technology to bridge geographic divides, build organizations that transcend borders, and work together with colleagues from around the world on issues such as climate change, food security, and population growth -- issues that require multinational teams coming together to effect change.

Is the Term 'Corporate Reformer' a Personal Attack?   by John Thompson on the Living the Dialogue website

  Larry Cuban's contribution to the American Enterprise Institute's conference of edu-philanthropy, Is the 'New' Education Philanthropy Good for Schools?, is nuanced and wise. One of the predictions in Cuban's "A Thoughtful Critique of Contemporary Edu-Giving"  is:   Other current reforms such as evaluating teachers on the basis of test scores, ending tenure and seniority, calling principals CEOs, and children learning to code will be like tissue-paper reforms of the past (e.g., zero-based budgeting, right- and left-brain teaching) that have been crumpled up and tossed away.

   Sixth-grader Josh Thibeau has been struggling to read for as long as he can remember. He has yet to complete a single Harry Potter book, his personal goal.

When he was in first grade, Josh's parents enrolled him in a research study at Boston Children's Hospital investigating the genetics of dyslexia. Since then, Josh has completed regular MRI scans of his brain. Initially, it seemed daunting.

"When we first started, I'm like, 'Oh no, you're sending me to like some strange, like, science lab where I'm going to be injected with needles and it's going to hurt,' I'm like, 'I'm never going to see my family again,' " says Josh, who lives in West Newbury, Mass.

Changing Confrontations to Conversations  by Terri Wallin on the Huffington Post site
 

Leaders with poor confrontation skills sulk, sabotage or shout a lot. Leaders with good confrontation skills hate confronting people as much as anyone but they pick and choose their battles. They do not seek confrontation just as they would not seek the flu. But when it comes, as it inevitably will, they see it as a way to bring about a necessary conversation.

When it comes to behavior and performance, it is wise to deal with the issue as it arises rather than wait for the problem to spread, i.e., the flu to turn into organizational pneumonia. Most of us hope the problem disappears on its own rather than claim squatters' rights and become an unwelcome, permanent guest. Why do we do that?