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I have been in Washington D.C. for 6 weeks now and I cannot believe the immense amount of opportunities I have had while here through the program I am with, The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), personal connections and of course, through CER. TFAS is an organization that gives students from around the world the […] Read more »

Today a few fellow interns and I ventured out to the Capitol for the Congressional E-Learning Caucus Briefing on K-12 Competency-Based Education. Originally I had thought that the speakers planned to center their panel discussion on virtual learning programs to share information about technology’s potential role in the classroom. But virtual learning ended up being […] Read more »

Before attending the iNACOL e-Learning Caucus held on Tuesday, I have to admit that my thoughts on virtual learning were utterly wrong. The truth is, when I thought of anything regarding “online schools,” I imagined a child sitting alone at home in their pajamas, wading their way through curriculum with only the companionship of a […] Read more »

The moderator, Susan Patrick, provided an excellent explanation of competency-based learning and technology’s potential to enhance individual educational outcomes. Patrick described a common dilemma in classrooms: students understand concepts and materials at different paces. But this reality is not reflected in traditional classrooms, where students move through curriculum in packs. The student who quickly understands […] Read more »

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting my representative, Congressman Kevin Yoder from the 3rd district in Kansas, and a few members of his staff. To begin with, Rep. Yoder was extremely kind to take the time to meet with me. It is a testament to our representative government that he and his staff went […] Read more »

We say it over and over again, see it in writing, hear it in the words of politicians and patriots, read it in the tens of thousands of documents that make up our libraries, and are spread down through the electronic world. It means a lot to most of us, despite maybe not appreciating fully […] Read more »

This summer, CER is lucky enough to have five wonderful interns who hail from colleges across the nation. They had the opportunity to attend the 2013 National Charter Schools Conference since it was right in our own backyard. Each share their reflections on the conference, CER’s legacy, and education reform and their intern experience thus […] Read more »

The charter school movement has very strong enemies. First, there is the mass of unions, bureaucrats, and politicians working every day against reform. There is ignorance about what exactly charter schools are, which is an enemy as well. At times it might seem like the proponents of charter schools have no chance of success — […] Read more »

Commuters flooded in and out of Tenleytown station, ready to face a typical DC, muggy Monday morning. For me, however, the morning was decidedly atypical. Instead of hopping on the red line to CER’s Bethesda office, I took the train the opposite direction. I headed downtown to DC’s convention center for the National Alliance of […] Read more »

As I walked through the doors of the Charter School Conference wheeling suitcases full of CER’s tote bags, I watched the subtle expression of confusion emerge on the toughened face of the security guard ahead of me. I tried to appear confident, but insecurely felt that my ambivalence was radiating. We had been unsure of […] Read more »