The George Lucas Educational Foundation, also know as
Edutopia is one of the more interesting resources in education. The play an important role in disseminating what they call
Big Ideas about education, and I assure readers this does NOT mean how to get higher test scores! They also produce a magazine free for educators, and also freely accessible on their website.
The current issue features what they call The Daring Dozen 2006 - Twelve Who Are Reshaping the Future of Education. I thought I would provide the list of names with basic info, encourage you to go to the link, and then ask you which you think is the most impressive/important, and why. You can vote in the poll to indicate your preference, but I especially encourage you to add a comment of explanation.
- Zach Bjornson-Hooper: Whiz Kid - with an environmental focus, this kid has won awards for his environmental work and served as one of 4 North American representatives to a UN advisory council
- Jason Kamras: Top Teacher - a graduate of Princeton and harvard School of Education and an alumnus of Teach for America, he was selected as 55th National Teacher of the Year
- Carol Flexer: Decibel Diva - a professor of audiology who is addressing issues of audibility within classrooms
- Jonathan Kozol: Writer of Wrongs - for year Kozol has written about issues related to education, from Death at and Early Age through his current book The Shame of the Nation
- Michael Resnick: Cricket Wrangler - he is the director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT's Media Lab.
- Brad Jupp: Teacher-Pay Trailblazer - helped design and negotiate a new structure of teacher compensation in Denver
- Barbara Rountree: Dreaming and Doing - established a preK-12 school in Tuscaloosa AL that makes fantastic use of technology
- (actually 8 & 9) Dennis Littky & Elliot Washor: Met Makers - Littky is a long-time educational reformer about whom you should know. Together these two gentleman founded a totally different kind of school, The Metropolitan School, in inner city Providence RI that has proven quite successful and now serves as a model for an increasing number of schools.
- Dean Kamen: King of the Science Fairs - this well-known inventor (Segway) established FIRST in 1989. This provides international competition in science and technology, from robotics to LEGOs.
- Joy Hakim: Page Turner - a former journalist, she has created a series of books that make reading first about U. S. history (A History of US and then about science that are readable, and enjoyable by students, and I can assure you hold student attention far better than most textbooks.
- Wendy Kopp: Teacher Tapper -- founded Teach for America 16 years ago, after getting out of Princeton. For better or worse, has played a major role in attracting bright young people from elite institutions of higher education to public school teaching, even if most only serve for a couple of years.
Go to the link. Read about them. Then tell us what you think, both through the poll and in your comments.