Schools of the Future Year 5 Evaluation Report

The Schools of the Future (SOTF) initiative was funded by the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) to promote the teaching and learning of 21st century skills in participating private schools. Eighteen five-year grants to private schools (including two partnerships representing four schools) were awarded in 2009. For a variety of reasons (e.g., school closings, perceived lack of fit, implementation capacity), several of the original grants ended before the fifth grant year. In 2013 -- 14, 14 of the original 18 school grantees completed the five-year grant period. American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted the evaluation of the SOTF initiative. AIR's affiliate, Learning Point Associates, was the original contracted evaluator before it merged with AIR in January 2011. The evaluation was designed to describe the differences among the SOTF schools and their individual project designs; assess the maturation of the SOTFs; and provide the client with useful information. The evaluation does not include an outcome component -- that is, an assessment of changes in student achievement -- because of the limited availability of student achievement data used across the initiative

Schools of the Future; The Great School Debate

Two book reviews: Schools of the Future: how American Business and Education Can Cooperate to Save Our Schools, by Marvin Cetron with Barbara Soriano and Margaret E. Gayle; and The Great School Debate: Which Way for American Education, by Beatrice and Ronald Gross

Schools of the Future?; That\u27s Entertainment; Aggression: Born or Bred?

News release announces Chris Whittle plans to build a chain of private, for-profit schools across the country; Alfred Heffeman says the depiction of the FBI in Silence of the Lambs isn\u27t very accurate; Charles Kimble says parents should realize aggression isn\u27t a good thing to encourage in children

Schools of the future in Hawai\u27i: networked learning communities and teaching innovation

Networked learning communities have the potential to improve teacher practice more effectively than traditional professional development models by expanding the pool of ideas to draw upon and engaging participants in mutual problem solving (Little, 2005). The intent of this descriptive, quantitative study was to better understand how network factors and benefits relate to teaching innovation in a networked learning community, part of the Hawai\u27i Schools of the Future Initiative in Hawai\u27i. Forty-one teachers from 10 schools took a customized 50 item Levels of Teaching Innovation Digital Age Survey to generate ratings in three key areas, Personal Computer Use, Current Instructional Practices, and Levels of Teaching Innovation. Existing data regarding type of professional learning community and intensity of professional development was also utilized. Results were analyzed descriptively and inferentially in order to better understand the nature of participation in the networked learning community as it relates to digital age teaching practices. The researcher concluded that: * Teachers with higher levels of network participation demonstrate higher fluency with digital tools and learner-based methodologies. * Teachers who collaborated more often with higher quality collaboration and established more new professional relationships demonstrate higher fluency with digital tools. * The type of professional learning community in place at the school level does not bear a relationship to levels of teaching innovation. * The intensity of professional development offerings in place at the school level does not bear a relationship to levels of teaching innovation. * Teachers with higher levels of teaching innovation place greater value on learning from experts outside the network and collaboration at individual schools in transforming their practice. This study was limited as it studied only one network, it had a lower than expected response rate, and relied on a snapshot versus intervention lens. Recommendations for future studies include replicating the study in subsequent years of the project or in a similar network, further exploring the nature of professional relationships formed in the network, and focusing on the online Ning tool

The Schools of the Future Commission of San Diego City Schools: An Ethnographic Study

Ethnographic research methods were used to analyze the culture of a large city commission appointed to make recommendations for the future of the school district. The study focused on the year-long deliberations of a panel of 17 community leaders. The objectives of the study were to (1) describe the culture of the Commission, (2) analyze the action of Commission members, and (3) develop guidelines for conducting successful commission studies. Major research questions that were the focus of the study were inquiries about (a) the social and cultural organization of the Commission, (b) how the Commission developed and proceeded to do its work, (c) the theoretical concepts surrounding the marker events of the Commission proceedings, (d) the nature of the interactions among participants, (e) the role of leaders in the outcomes of the report, and (f) how this Commission operation differed from that of others. Analyses of the proceedings indicated that the Commission shared a similar process and format with most other commissions. The group evolved its own culture with working norms, roles, and values. Using major national studies as a base, Commission members examined aspects of the education system they felt were inadequate and made recommendations for change. As was true of other commissions, their recommendations provided broad policy direction rather than exact prescriptions. The commission process was propelled by strong leaders who coalesced their influence around a shared set of goals including political interests. The Commission study did not follow social science research methods, producing findings which can be held up for validity and reliability testing. The recommendations primarily represent the opinions of influential key leaders. Many of the recommendations draw upon business experiences and models. It will be important to evaluate how well these strategies work in school settings. The Commission served a symbolic purpose of bringing key issues to the policy agenda for education. This enlightenment was expected to motivate the public and educational system toward action. An additional feature of the study was the development of guidelines which can be used by other school districts and policy leaders in conducting a commission study. Results indicate that those planning commission studies must give proper consideration to commission membership, charge, meetings, and leadership

Schools of the Future, Now an Educational Filmstrip Depicting Flexible Scheduling Programs in Selected Schools in the States of Washington and Oregon

The purpose of this study was to prepare a sound filmstrip which would inform educators of flexible scheduling practices being used in high schools in the states of Oregon and Washington

What lessons can be transferred to higher education learning landscapes from the leadership, governance and management processes of school design projects?

This review reports experiences from the schools sector in involving stakeholders in the processes of managing school building design. Its aim was to see if any of this could offer guidance for higher education as their learning landscapes are reconceptualised. School architects and designers have gradually accepted grater stakeholder involvement especially from pupils and to a lesser extent from teachers and many innovative ways have been found to make their participation authentic. These could be adapted in higher education together with teacher education in new pedagogies and better liaison with governors