This article appeared in the Seattle Time February 10, 2012.  Based on the chart in image 3 on the right, the issue isn't unique to Seattle.  Kudos to the Edgar Martinez Foundation for taking this on locally, and to the Community Learning Exchange partners for recognizing the issue on a national level.…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

FINAL EDITION

And it's all over but the shouting!

What an amazing event!  Sorry for not getting back to blogging yesterday, was tied up with all the amazing travel and experiences.  Sometimes you have to take off your writers hat and settle down as a participant.

So here we are: Sunday morning.  Seeing people back to the airport, saying goodbye, planning for the next one.

Yesterday, we had some incredible site visits in San Marcos and Austin.  Folks got the chance…

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/12/teachers-dont-like-creative-students.html

Day Two

Begins with a breakfast taco and set up for the day.  

Last night we had an amazing evening and it was great to see everyone talking and connecting even after the event.  A few teams hit the town, some headed back to the hotel.  Our local team closed up shop and debriefed about the day.

Sunrise this morning was excellent and I am anticipating a beautiful day to continue the work.

This morning we outlined the process and set the space.  Dale and Monica…

Night One

Here we are.  An amazingly beautiful evening in San Marcos, Texas.  Right on the main square.

After several months of planning and one hectic afternoon, we kick off the Central Texas CLE with a wonderful group of people from all across the country.  This gathering we are representing 14 different sites and over 65 people.  Some old friends, some new faces.  Everyone here to experience and learn from one another.

That is what we must…

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

In a Standardized Era, a Creative School Is Forced to Be More So

Cheryl Senter for The New York Times

Linda Rief says teachers' faith in themselves "has been turned aside" by standardized testing.

By MICHAEL WINERIP

Published: October 30, 2011

DURHAM, N.H. — Every spring,…

This is a blog from Jessica Lipnack about leadership and the Occupy Wall Street movement.  It offers some insights for the Community Learning Exchange network.

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Occupying leadership #occupy

Without making the media the story here since the media has this recursive, repetitive pattern when it can't make sense of a story... a few words about leadership and Occupy.

Google "leadership occupy Wall Street" and you'll…

The National Opportunity to Learn Campaign (http://www.otlcampaign.org/) is  hosting a national summit in Washington, DC Dec. 8-10, 2011. I plan to attend. This year's theme is one that many of you can relate to: Uniting Communities for Education Justice and Action.  You can register for the summit at the following website: http://www.otlcampaign.org/summit

I don't always agree with Merrow, but he tries to be fair (and balanced:).  Anyway, he calls for "new narratives" so I had to share:

I hear folks on the right calling for vouchers.  Hello, have they thought that through?  And what about the lefties who want 'individual education plans' for ALL children?  Hello, have they imagined what that could lead to?   We desperately need a new narrative when we talk about public schools.  My thoughts here:…

The website of The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative now has a Discussion Forum.  The IPCR Discussion Forum can be accessed from any IPCR website page at www.ipcri.net  and also at http://ipcrdiscussionforum.proboards.com/index.cgi . The Discussion Forum is from ProBoards (at www.proboards.com ).  The…

In a previous post titled “Draft ‘IPCR Critical Challenges Assessment 2011’—Sharing Table of Contents, Seeking Input (July 6, 2011, at the Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative website, and other sites), I provided some information about my current project (“IPCR Critical Challenges Assessment 2011”).  While there is still much work left to do to realize the potential of this project, one section is close enough to completion to share (Section 3 “The…

July 25, 2011 is Save Pell Day, an online day of action to tell Washington that America can't afford to balance the federal budget on the backs of college students . If you agree that no student who is eligible for college should be denied access on the basis of financial need, please support the national campaign to save the Pell Grant program.

Pell Grants have been helping students for more than 30 years. In 2012, nearly 10 million students are expected to receive…

Teachers cheating and Incentives

From the New York Times.

Union Chief Faults School Reform From ‘On High’

By ALAN SCHWARZ

Published: July 11, 2011

The Five Sections in This Post:

Introduction

Two Similar “Big Picture” Assessments

Previous IPCR Initiative Assessment Documents—and What is Different Now

Ways to Maximize Citizen Participation and Solution-Oriented Activity

Draft “Table of Contents” for “A Ten Point Assessment of the Most Difficult Challenges of Our Times”

Introduction

This writer [founder and outreach coordinator of The…

Introduction—How Comprehensive Can Peacebuilding Efforts Be?

There is much that can be done to generate goodwill and promote peace that has not yet been done.  Having this conviction—and seeing the potential for much compassion and much solution-oriented activity in many spiritual traditions and many fields of activity relating to peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability—has led this writer to explore ways of actualizing such potential. …