School reform from the inside out

On August 24, the same date that Maryland was awarded 250 million dollars in Race to the Top funds to support bold education reform across the state, the Fordham Institute published a report analyzing  America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for School Reform.  Surprisingly, Baltimore received a “C” and was ranked 17th out of the 26 […]

Investing in education innovation

Two decades ago, a young Princeton University undergraduate student proposed an “audacious idea” as part of her thesis: to create a grassroots organization devoted to education reform by recruiting the best and brightest college students to teach in America’s most challenged classrooms. Today, Wendy Kopp is recognized by Time Magazine as one the world’s most […]

Using evaluation data to benefit individuals in real time, and real ways

Note: After this week, Audacious Ideas will be on summer hiatus. We’ll return with an exciting new lineup of bloggers after Labor Day. For the past 10 years, as the Executive Director of Wide Angle Youth Media, I, like most nonprofit administrators, have collected thousands of surveys and assessments, from audience feedback at events, to […]

A treasure map of Baltimore’s opportunities for youth

Research tells us that engaging out of school time learning opportunities are a necessary part of a well-rounded childhood. Children spend only a fraction of their hours in school and need nourishing, challenging, and fun activities to fill in the balance. My audacious idea is to map all of the opportunities that currently exist for […]

What are youth worth to the state: the creation of a generational glass ceiling

Since the beginning of time many groups have overcome situations where their advancement within the hierarchy of society was undermined. From women to racial groups, many have seemingly broken the “glass ceiling” looming over their heads. Yet I have a hard time believing teenagers facing the prospect of jail and prison as the only viable […]

Education goes 3D: the power of play

What makes a classroom different than a children’s museum? In many kindergartens today, children sit passively at their desk while teachers deliver the latest scripted lessons on vocabulary, spelling and addition—lessons sometimes dotted with classes in science and history. In children’s museums, these same students can be seen engineering bridges with tinkertoys, testing the force […]

Chicken Masala with a side of mentoring

In Maryland more than 207,000 children are at risk for hunger. The same number of young people are unsupervised during the after-school hours. The child who goes home to an empty house is likely to be the same child who may not have access to food between the end of the school day and the […]

Engaging kids through theater

Let’s give every student the chance to write and produce a play. This can happen in the language arts classroom or as part of an after-school program. The important part is that students are in charge, from brainstorming to production night. Students crave opportunities to express themselves, and theater offers a constructive outlet for the […]

Every child should experience summer camp

I love summer time and everything about it, especially summer camp. Summer camp provides children with a fun, safe environment to learn new activities, experience new friends, and reinforce academic skills. Growing up as a child living with sickle cell disease, summer camp was one of the few activities that made me feel normal. I […]