Since you have had the opportunity to observe/participate in education in both the U.S. and Finland, could you compare and contrast the two? TH:  My knowledge of the U.S. system comes from stories from my friends and what I’ve seen in the news or from the popular culture.  In Finland, we start school when we’re 7 years-old which gives us, in a away, more time to be children without major responsibilities and grow and develop as humans on our own terms before having to conform

By Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director. My colleague, Kevin Simpson, Executive Director of KDSL, an international educational consulting firm, interviewed me on April 15 on Blog Radio. Kevin and I are both concerned about advancing innovations and preparing schools for the 21st century. In this interview, Kevin asked about CEI’s work with rigor, the Common Core research I did with NAESP, and my views about the needs of principals. CEI continues to collaborate with NAESP t

In conjunction with the Common Core the state of Maryland has mandated that all local school systems use UDL guidelines for curriculum, instructional materials, professional development, student assessments and instruction. Although it is not guaranteed that your state or local school system will integrate a completely comprehensive UDL learning program, there are still resources you can access to begin transitioning to a UDL approach. The UDL website has much to offer in the

Portal is, at it’s core, a physics platformer. Players, called “Test Subjects” are locked in a room, with the exit on the opposite side of some obstacles, at the behest of a fictional company called Aperture Laboratories. These obstacles range from immense drops, pools of water, sentry guns, lasers, and more. The Test Subjects will have to use a tool called the Portal Gun, which shoots blue and orange portals at the walls that they Test Subjects can then use to navigate the r

By Kavita Mittapalli, Ph.D. MN Associates, Inc. Each year millions of dollars are spent in funding initiatives with the sole purpose to make a difference in the lives of people’”children, adults, and families.  Program staff spend numerous hours planning the delivery of the initiative to ensure that it accomplishes what it set out to do’”meet its goals and fulfill its objectives.  Meanwhile, thoughts often lurk somewhere in the back of their minds: Do we REALLY need to evalua