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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

Welcoming Rich Crandall to the NewSchools Team

We are proud to announce that Rich Crandall will be joining NewSchools Venture Fund. Rich comes to NewSchools following a four-year stint as director of the K-12 Lab at the Hasso Plattner Instititute of Design at Stanford (the d.school). Rich is a well-recognized leader in the field, and particularly in helping education innovators applying the principles of user-centered design. He has helped to cement a strong partnership between NewSchools and the d.school, […] Read more

We’re moving!

We’re moving. NewSchools’ Bay Area offices have been situated in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood since education innovation involved smoother slate and sharper chalk. Come the end of this week, we’re moving to the other side of the Bay, atop Oakland’s 19th Street BART station. We’ll be thrilled to be in a neighborhood that is home to so many of our fellow education reform organizations. The move to Oakland is a good one fiscally […] Read more

Grading the New York Times on Education Technology

This morning, the New York Times had the latest in its occasional series, “Wouldn’t It Be Nicer If There Were No Technology in Schools” –wait, sorry, I read it wrong, the correct title is “Grading the Digital School.” The piece, titled “Teachers Resist High-Tech Push in Idaho Schools,” reveals that a new law in Idaho “requires all high school students to take some online classes to graduate, and that the students and […] Read more

Hacking Education: Detroit

As someone with family ties in the area, I’m constantly challenged by the majority of stories about Michigan. But, it’s not hard to see why Detroit is so frequently used as the poster city of our collective economic straits. Inner city blight, the exodus of college graduates, deep cuts in social services, and a shocking adult illiteracy rate: Detroit has all the hallmarks of a city in the throes of disaster. It’s […] Read more

Investing in Innovation (i3) Foundation Registry

The application deadline for Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund grants has passed (it was August 2 this year). But here’s a helpful website for organizations seeking matching foundation funds for their grants: the Foundation Registry i3, at http://foundationregistryi3.org/. This website was created as a resource for organizations pursuing i3 funding.  It was set up by a group of leading foundations to simplify the process for organizations seeking the private matching funds […] Read more

Pitch It!

In partnership with Teach For America and the Stanford d. school, NewSchools is excited to host a great startup event to celebrate the inaugural cohort of this year’s EdTech Entrepreneurs Lab. The event will feature eight teams from the EdTech Entrepreneurs Lab who will pitch in front of a Silicon Valley star-studded panel, they will receive feedback and questions, but the final vote is up to the audience. The public has the final say, so […] Read more

2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) competition announced

Here’s a bit of information on the newly announced 2011 round of the federal Investing in Innovation Fund, or i3. We’re thrilled that nine members of the NewSchools portfolio were winners last year, and want to make sure you have the information that will enable you to decide whether the fund is of interest to you this year. As background, the i3 Fund provides sizable awards to support the validation and expansion […] Read more

Mark Zuckerberg, John Doerr, Joel Klein, Sal Khan, Kaya Henderson, Reed Hastings to headline Summit 2011

Get excited.Today, we are rolling out the final agenda and speaker list for Summit 2011. May 18 is going to be a great day. (And do click on the links… they’ll take you to our new website!)Since 1999, NewSchools has been holding the Summit as a way to gather and grow a movement of passionate entrepreneurs dedicated to improving public education for low-income children. This year, we are holding it for the […] Read more