Race to the Top will fail …

From The Answer Sheet (Washington Post blog on education), written by guest Marion Brady:

… a curriculum adopted in 1893 that grows more dysfunctional with each passing year. Imagine a car being driven down a winding rural road with all the passengers, including the driver, peering intently out the back window.

The familiar, traditional curriculum is so at odds with the natural desire to learn that laws, threats and other extrinsic motivators are necessary to keep kids in their seats and on task.

Rest of the post here. It’s worth reading.

I Am What I Learn

Bookmark and keep an eye on this …

On September 8, the U.S. Department of Education will ask students to respond to the President’s Back to School challenge by creating videos, up to two minutes in length, describing the steps they will take to improve their education and the role education will play in fulfilling their dreams.  Watch this page for more information about the “I Am What I Learn” video contest for students.