“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson Transforming schools and districts from industrial models to student-centered ones is bold, noble, worthy work that requires a sustained effort over a long period of time. Typically, such movements begin with one bold, visionary leader or a...

“How might we redesign school to better meet the needs of each student?” We posed this question to educators in the Dallas Independent School District back in 2014 with the hope of bringing together like-minded educators who wanted to redefine what’s possible for students and teachers in a large, urban district. This question still continues to...

When I was a little girl in small-town Texas, I loved to travel. I also loved school. Learning and seeing other parts of our country were simply my favorite things. On an extended trip to New York City, I remember meeting a little girl from New Jersey in a laundromat when I was seven years old. We talked like little kids do – “how old are you?...

Do you think about failure as a way to look at how to transform education? The last two years have enhanced my abilities to do just that! I credit the state and national innovative leadership networks that I belong to for opening my eyes to look at failure in the same way I look at success in helping me solve complex problems. My district, Natick...

"Information consumes attention. A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." - Herbert Simon We know that all effective teachers use data to inform instruction, but with the integration of technology in classrooms and the need and desire to personalize instruction for students, the different academic and non-academic datasets teachers...

Educators are masters of working with scarce resources, including something most limited and valuable – time. Time is always in high demand but short supply, and teachers are constantly forced to make critical, and often tough, choices about where to focus their limited attention as well as students’ efforts. One of the promises of blended...

In 2017, we launched our annual measurement fellowship at The Learning Accelerator to catalyze the effective measurement of blended learning innovation and implementation to understand outcomes and inform collective improvement by building the pipeline of relevant and actionable research. We're excited to announce our 2019 Measurement Fellows...

The Learning Accelerator’s (TLA) Innovation Directors Network (IDN) recently finished its second convening in Dallas, TX. Once again, we were inspired, energized, and humbled by the amazing group of 13 system-level leaders and innovators who attended. We enjoyed two packed days of exploring, connecting, sharing, learning, and observing some best...

When we talk about teachers and classroom data use, we’re oftentimes talking about data produced via assessment, or as Stassen et al. (2001) eloquently write, “the systematic collection and analysis of information to improve student learning.” The word “assessment” can conjure a lot of things for a lot of people, ranging from the high-stakes world...

At TLA, we believe that the use of data is one of the most powerful strategies for realizing an effective, engaging, and equitable outcome for every child in classrooms across America. As our friends at the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) say, when used in service of learning “data is one of the most powerful tools to inform, engage, and create...