Off the Beaten Path

A few months ago I began dealing with a conscience crisis. I wondered whether the work I'd done on reforming education could really make any difference. Perhaps, was it making a significant difference to the challenges that children are facing or was it just an ongoing effort to play on the edges? The scope of the education global problem is enormous In countries with high incomes such as those in the United States one in three children is not a child, while in low-income countries such as Liberia nine out of ten children don't have the basic secondary education skills that they require in reading math, critical thinking and problem-solving. I began researching educational innovations with the intention of discovering the most effective routes that could transform education. As an associate principal fellow as well as director at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings I've been able to get an international perspective of the expanding group of educators who are innovators. Contrary to what many believe, I have discovered that education innovation is active and thriving in nearly every part of the world. I've studied more than three thousand educational innovations and talked to more than 100 thought leaders and innovators. What I discovered is that simply because something is ingenuous doesn't mean it's a good idea. It doesn't mean it can transform education. For instance the only 20% of the innovations based on technology studied by myself and our colleagues we believed were using the full power of technology to improve students' learning environments. We became fascinated by the concept of leapfrogging. It's the idea of non-linear, rapid progress and a concept which is not given much consideration in the debates on reforms to education--featured on an internet series hosted by SSIR. We reviewed the literature about how to help students build the wide range of skills and competencies that they require to succeed in the future. We then created a leapfrog path. The pathway provides an outline of a path to guide educators, innovators and others who is interested in promoting transformative educational changes. It is our hope that these knowledge regarding what sorts of educational innovations are likely to make leaps in progress for anyone who wants to make sure that our children today receive the education they deserve and require.