21st Century Scholar

“Yes, we can,” exclaimed Senator Barack Obama after winning the presidential primary in South Carolina nearly four years ago. The slogan signified hope and change for a country that desperately needed it. By alluding to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, it also hinted at a promising new future for the working class and [...]

Now is the time to give thanks. I am thankful for having good health, professional successes, and old and new friends and family. When I consider major trends in education, however, giving thanks is more difficult.  Don’t get me wrong—there are people and events for which to be thankful. This year, Governor Brown signed legislation [...]

by Bill Tierney Educational reformers, whether they are Bill and Melinda Gates or big-city mayors such as Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, frequently swing for the fences when they attempt educational reform. The Gates Foundation poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a “small schools” movement that ultimately went nowhere. “Our goal is to transform [...]

by Randy Clemens The day after July 4th is a fitting time to finish a two-part blog about heroes and villains among education reformers and democratic action within local neighborhoods. Last week, I discussed the current trend of leaders who characterize people and reforms as either good or bad. I also discussed some of the [...]

by Randy Clemens In the comic book universe, identifying superheroes and supervillains is relatively easy. For instance, if you can’t tell by the ominous outfit or menacing scowl, you can certainly recognize villains by their evil machinations to takeover and/or destroy the world. In the education reform universe, the task is not so simple. First, [...]

by Randy Clemens Davis Guggenheim, the director of Waiting for Superman, said that his ultimate goal for the film was to catalyze education reform. Knowing that makes thinking about the movie a little easier for me. Why? Guggenheim is a story-teller. His credits include Melrose Place, An Inconvenient Truth, Deadwood, and Party of Five. He is not a [...]

by Randy Clemens A few weeks ago, Robert Slavin, researcher at Johns Hopkins University and chair of Success for All, wrote a piece for the Huffington Post: A Call to Arms for Education. Slavin discusses the government’s new addition to the Investing in Innovation (i3) Program: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED). The program is a [...]

by Randy Clemens There is a serious flaw to the configuration of schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. What’s the flaw? I’ll give you a hint: it’s the same problem that now riddles California’s higher education system, a system that now includes UCs, CSUs, community colleges, and private (for- and not-for-profit) universities.  That’s right, [...]

by Randy Clemens This past week, Bill and I participated in a symposium about qualitative research and public policy in the 21st century. The panel went well and included a variety of perspectives from the field. Ed St. John considered the role of qualitative research as either a tool of the state or method for [...]

by Randy Clemens Last year, after attending AERA’s conference in Denver, I wrote about the need for a digital makeover. I made several suggestions for the meeting: (1), provide free wifi, (2), embrace microblogging, and (3), stream symposiums online. My blog was mainly focused on uses of technology to not just improve the experience but [...]