In the spring of 2011, the Colorado Department of Education identified 11 effective Title I schools, based upon each of the school’s academic growth data. Nine of these highly diverse schools participated in a week-long comprehensive review by a team of six experienced educators. The schools’ practices were measured against a rubric organized around nine research-based standards. This same rubric is used with struggling Title I schools on Improvement. From these reviews, critical elements that contributed to the schools’ effectiveness were identified.These and other issues will be presented by Nazanin Mohajer-Nelson, Alyssa Pearson, and Trish Boland.
National Title I Conference Keynote: Reality is Broken
January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In her engaging, forward-thinking session Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal makes the case that the gamer spirit — an attitude of fun, dedicated, collective problem-solving — is our greatest asset as we face the social, economic, and environmental problems of the 21st century. She argues that game designers are effectively happiness engineers, experts in making difficult tasks engaging, and that we should draw on their smarts as we frame the challenges of our time. According to world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, the reason for this mass exodus to virtual worlds is that videogames are increasingly fulfilling genuine human needs. In this groundbreaking exploration of the power and future of gaming, McGonigal reveals how we can use the lessons of game design to fix what is wrong with the real world.
