:: The 4th Era ::

by Thom Markham

"A small number of schools around the country that began life as charters or academies have developed successful inquiry-based systems. But spurred by the Common Core and the urgency to teach 21st century competencies, a huge wave of settlers is now trying to emulate the pioneers by becoming “inquiry-based” schools. By and large, this group is composed of well-performing K–12 schools—neighborhood schools with solid test scores, a traditional approach, and a winning formula that makes them resistant to change. To ramp up, they usually sponsor a few days of professional development in project-based learning or Common Core instruction, but don’t address the backbone of the school organization or culture. The results for project based learning have been predictable. High-quality, engaging project-based work has thrived in a few classrooms, but failed to establish itself and flourish. The breakthrough behaviors seen in the pioneering schools haven’t occurred. Teachers shrug, and carry on.

"But a historical moment has arrived. Confusion over the Common Core and uncertainty about the role of standards in general, explosive technologies that have finally reached and overwhelmed brick-and-mortar processes in schools, and the panicky recognition that competency in today’s world requires skills and resiliency in addition to a degree—these and other factors have suddenly fractured the industrial model beyond repair."

by Travis Andrews

News Corp plans to cash in on education with custom-made tablets and curricula. But what's the financial curve, and what does the corporation stand to gain?

"Even so, News Corp.’s $540 million investment shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. We seem to be on the precipice of one of the biggest changes education has seen since Socrates coined his method. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country, just awardedApple a $30 million contract. For $678 apiece, every student will have an iPad. Meanwhile, Florida is rushing to meet a new statewide standard requiring half of all classroom instruction to use digital materials, by fall 2015.

"Textbook and curriculum creation is a $7.8 billion industry that, until now, Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have mostly controlled. But once 45 states adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative, it opened the door for companies like News Corp.

"Common Core offers a countrywide set of mathematic and English language arts educational standards, effectively making curriculum creation easier. Instead of developing for each individual market, one size fits (almost) all. 

"Potential financial boons like this don't come around often.

"Add in a tablet computer, class management tools and educational video games, and News Corp.'s gamble isn't such a longshot."

by Motoko Rich

“The danger here is that you have two kinds of problems going on,” said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group that works to close achievement gaps. “One is a Tea Party problem, which doesn’t have deep roots but does have lots of political muscle behind it, and then you’ve got a bit of anti-test rebellion coming from the left. The question is what’s going to happen if they both get together. That’s the more terrifying prospect.”

by Cara Fitzpatrick

"Two of Florida's top elected officials sent a letter today to Education Commissioner Tony Bennett recommending that the state remove itself from testing associated with a transition to the new Common Core State Standards."