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Live from Summit 2013: The Parent Voice in Education Reform, and What America Can Learn from the World’s Leading Schools

After an exciting keynote from Secretary Duncan, the afternoon sessions started with a conversation about the parent voice in the education reform movement. The discussion was moderated by Russlyn Ali of the Emerson Collective. Ali told the audience that although the objectives of the various organizations in this field may differ, “We are all in this work to help make communities better and to help transform the lives of young people.” Read more

Live from Summit 2013 – Sec. Duncan’s Keynote

We are honored to have U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as the Summit 2013 keynote speaker. Appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama, Secretary Duncan came to Washington after overseeing one of the nation’s largest and most complex urban school districts – Chicago Public Schools. Leading the Obama Administration’s education policy agenda, Secretary Duncan first made his mark on the system helping to drive progressive change in states across the nation through the Race to the Top competition. Read more

Live from Summit 2013– Hour of Power One

Welcome to Summit 2013′s first Hour of Power networking session. As conference participants power network over a cup of coffee sharing business cards and discussing the ideas of “frustrated optimist” Thomas Friedman, we were privileged to visit with some of the innovative individuals, organizations and companies helping to usher in the next generation of education technology.Combining gaming with instruction, Sifteo provides a portable platform – the Sifteo cube – and new hands-on […] Read more

Live from Summit 2013: Opening Plenary

Ted Mitchell kicked off Summit 2013 this morning at the opening plenary. After welcoming all of the attendees, Ted was joined by Thomas Friedman, author and columnist for the The New York Times, who has been “calling consistently for the change that drives our work…and sets the national dialogue about who we are as a country.” Read more

Please Touch the Technology

Some innovations just don’t make sense until you actually get your hands on them: Fun dip. Silly putty. Education technology. For this reason, Summit 2013 features 21 different education technology companies and their tools in one room on tablets, phones, laptops, and desktops. Participants can walk around the interactive exhibit, which we designed to mimic an expository museum aesthetic rather than a trade show, and play with digital content, tools, and platforms. The […] Read more

2013 NewSchools Venture Fund Portfolio Award Winners

While more than 900 supporters of entrepreneurial change in public education gather today at the annual NewSchools Summit in Burlingame, CA, we are proud to announce the recipients of our annual awards. These awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of this important class of social innovators, who are making a difference in the lives of students in underserved communities across the country and changing the national conversation about what’s possible in public education. Read more

Off the Beaten Path: An Insiders Guide to Summit 2013

This year will be my second year attending the NewSchools Summit. Last year, I found myself awestruck by the sheer number of people who came to share ideas, discuss what’s next in education reform, and to make new connections that will advance their work. By the end of the day, I thought my head was going to explode from trying to process it all. I didn’t even realize that I had really only witnessed or taken part in approximately 30% of what Summit has to offer. So this year, I am making a commitment to take my Summit experience to the next level, by taking part in some of the lesser known gems of Summit. Read more

Guest Post: Breaking out of the echo chamber

In the days that have passed since touching down from the Summit, I keep thumbing through the dog-eared pages of my Moleskin notebook to try to surface more “lessons learned” for colleagues that missed the opportunity.     Somewhere between three pages of notes from Howard Fuller (starting with a hastily scribbled, “this is a street fight, not a debate) and ending somewhere around “owing students a school system worthy of their  future,” […] Read more