Where Are They Now? A “First Look” at 2002 High School Graduates

Tim Van SoelenUncategorizedLeave a Comment

First Look is an intriguing longitudinal study that tracks the 2002 class of sophomore students through their next ten years of life. Not an easy undertaking, so I was excited to see what the Institute of Education Sciences uncovered through this study. This research was meant to paint a picture about the factors and circumstances related to the performance and … Read More

“Not now Mom, I’m multitasking!”

Tim Van SoelenUncategorizedLeave a Comment

Studying

Does this scenario resemble a study session at your house? Kayla is in her room, papers and technology spread across the floor. The Algebra book is open as is the World History text. There is music playing from the iPhone which is wirelessly connected to a Bluetooth speaker on her desk. She is talking out loud, seemingly to herself until … Read More

The wisdom of crowds…

Tim Van SoelenThe CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

James Suroweicki wrote a fascinating and thought-provoking book with this title in 2005. He tells tales such as that of Sir Frances Galton, a man obsessed with the measurement of physical and mental qualities, statistics, and breeding. Galton decided to  put his obsessions to the test at a livestock fair in London in 1884.  A fat ox was selected and … Read More

School Choice in My State? Really?

Tim Van SoelenSchool LeadersLeave a Comment

I am guessing that if one would survey random citizens as they walk the downtown streets in your community asking the question, “Does our state have school choice legislation?”, you would receive some interesting responses. A fair guess would be that most would not be aware of school choice legislation in their state. The Friedman Foundation has declared “No More!” … Read More

Will and Wisdom

Dan BeerensInnovation, The CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

As I consider beginning to work with schools through CACE in both of the areas of improvement and innovation I think it is appropriate to start with the words will and wisdom. Over the years I have observed that effective change in schools is often simply a matter of having the will to do something. The leader must possess the … Read More

Introducing CACE

Tim Van SoelenCACE NewsLeave a Comment

The creation of The Center for Advancement of Christian Education (CACE) was announced at the opening session of the 2013 Andreas Center Conference at Dordt University on Thursday evening, October 31.  The center aims to help innovate, improve, sustain, and promote Christian education at the primary, secondary, and college/university levels. Learn more about CACE’s creation, mission, and future.

The Not-So-Common Core?

Tim Van SoelenSchool LeadersLeave a Comment

It is difficult to subscribe to any type of education newsfeed without seeing an article, blog post, or political response (for/against) the Common Core State Standards. What began as a seemingly unified attempt to address the United States’ “middle-of-the-pack” performance on international tests (e.g. PISA, TIMSS) as well as create a rigorous set of national standards that would raise achievement … Read More