Just days before the deadline, some in line for federal innovation grants still must find the private funds needed to secure their money.
Editor's note: Rebecca Mazonson is a junior at Brown University. She interned at the Learning First Alliance during the summer of 2010.
As a graduate of a single-sex high school, I can attest to the premise that the single-sex educational...
Editor's note: Samantha Abrams is a rising senior at Dartmouth College. She interned at the Learning First Alliance during the spring of 2010.
The recent phenomenon of single-sex public schools prompts the question of whether these schools are...
There are dozens of academic and developmental reasons for schools to create and use outdoor classrooms, writes green-schoolyard advocate Kirk Meyer. He gives 10.
Last week we looked at the state of public schools, as viewed by the American public. Today we’ll look at the state of the American student, as viewed by students themselves.
In creating the recent report Youth Readiness for the Future, Gallup...
Neal Keny-Guyer has been the CEO of Mercy Corps since he joined the Portland, Ore.-based organization in 1994. During his tenure the organization has grown severalfold in size, joining the ranks of leading global relief and development groups....
All over the country, policymakers are calling for systems that tie teacher evaluation to student performance. And from Florida to Colorado, Maryland to Louisiana, they are defining student performance as standardized test scores.
Few would argue...
Seven years ago, Washington’s Everett School District awoke to a harsh reality. A change in how the state calculated graduation rates revealed that only 53% of the district’s students graduated on-time. Officials were shocked and embarrassed. They...
Each year the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools provides an in-depth look at how Americans perceive public schools. This year’s poll probed the public on a wide range of hot education issues. How hot?...
After six wonderful years at the Learning First Alliance, and over two years as a contributor to this blog, I'm leaving LFA to take a new position at an organization that will focus on improving science, technology, engineering and math education...
After three years of working at San Francisco’s Mission Pie, Marzett Lee would still rather eat cake. The 20-year-old shrugs off the café’s just-baked pies with a smile—never mind that the goodies are made with seasonal pickings from some of the Bay...
Every hour, 450 low-birthweight babies die in the developing world. Despite mother love and warm blankets, their tiny bodies don’t have enough fat to regulate temperature and protect fragile organs. Outcomes would improve with better access to...
Welcome back to school!
While you educators are at various stages of the back-to-school process--you may have been getting to know students for weeks now, or met students yesterday, or be setting up your classroom or office--we know that many of...
Could the LA Times' decision to publish teachers' value-added scores have a chilling effect on school research? That question came to me as I read about a case in Arizona. Arizona officials are seeking the names of teachers and schools that took...
Denver’s North High School looks like a persistently struggling school. Back in 2006 (and also 2007), only 7% of 9th graders and 5% of 10th graders scored proficient or advanced on state math tests. Just 22% of 9th graders and 23% of 10th graders...
"To steer a business through a recession you need to tackle financial management, sales and marketing and innovation," says David Rogers.
The behaviours we develop online are slowly making their way into our wider, offline lives. Rohan Gunatillake explores the impact of this spillover and how it’s forcing us to re-learn the way we interact and collaborate with one another.
Corporate anthropologist, Karen Stephenson, explains how understanding and supporting informal networks of trust can help organisations to become more innovative.
CNT’s mantra that housing affordability needs to include transportation costs, and position that housing and transportation need to be considered together in planning for sustainable communities, have been heard and acted upon in unprecedented ways...
"Cost control is fundamental and even cash-rich companies need to keep costs to an absolute minimum," says Tim Cooke.
"New ideas and approaches will drive your business forward during the recession, so sidelining innovation is absolutely the wrong thing to do. " says Shaa Wasmund.
"Businesses should do everything possible to make their service indispensable to their customers," says Permjot Valia.
How the internet is offering people new ways to act collectively and engage in financial activities, without the traditional intermediary of a bank.
ACTION: Support the "Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act"!
RECAP: Transportation Freedom Day
RESOURCE: 2009 Briefing Book Outlines Illinois Environmental Policy
Events
Thursday, March 26: "What Would Jane Say?"
Nico Macdonald explains corporate open innovation, the changes that have led to its conception, and the evidence presented by its advocates.
All businesses need to look closely at their cost base. I’ve always operated a lean organisation in my businesses, but it’s an essential practice at the moment. Cash is crucial in this climate and it’s no time to be wasting it.
Today's web is really radically different from three or four years ago. The web's centre of gravity has shifted from being a source of broadcast information to a platform for dynamic conversations.
I’ve worked through a few recessions, in the UK and the US, but this time around it’s much nastier. In a very short space of time we’ve seen a housing market meltdown and the collapse of financial systems. Businesses need to adopt a survival...
Clare Cotton is the Venture Catalyst at Cancer Research UK, working on radical innovations to create new fundraising income streams for the organisation. Her role and the growing number of similar roles in the charity sector is a sign that...
NESTA is calling for a £1billion fund of funds to be created after warning that the UK’s next generation of technologies are at crisis point, with early stage innovative firms suffering from the retreat of private venture capital from the sector.
In anticipation of the launch of a NESTA discussion paper – ‘Attacking the Recession’ - which will highlight how in an ultra-connected world, events a thousands miles away can affect us almost immediately.
In a NESTA Provocation, Will Hutton and Philippe Scheider argure that there is genius, dynamism and innovation in capitalism. Unfortunately, standard market theory does not properly allow it to be unlocked.
As 2008 comes to a close, we hope we can count on your support to build sustainable urban communities by making a tax-deductible contribution to CNT.
CNT celebrated 30 years of innovations in 2008. We could never have achieved this landmark…
Place Matters! From testifying before a congressional committee and providing the most fuel efficient neighborhoods to Forbes, to updating our Housing + Transportation Affordability Index with current gas costs and expanding I-GO car sharing as a...
Chicago Tackling Key Sustainability Issues, Smart Cars or Smart Cities?, The Shift to Commuting by Bike
Looking back at our 2007 accomplishments in headlines
Green Infrastructure Permeates Through Chicago, "Maps in the Public Square" Now Online, I-GO Partners with Carsharing Throughout North America...
Taking Mass Transit Seriously in the Region, Planning Accessible Streets for All, Chicago's 'Greenest City' Position Tested...
'Healthy Streets' are Safe and Walkable, Factoring Urban Sprawl into Climate Change Initiatives, Indiana Permits Regressive Water Quality Protections to Lake Michigan...
Gas Prices Don't Have to Bring You Down, More than Ever, RTA's Viability Crucial, Rain Barrels Roll into Chicago...
