Getting Down to Dollars and Cents: What Do School Districts Spend to Deliver Student-Centered Learning? - In this report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), the authors examine schools that are embracing the principles of student-centered learning (SCL), an approach that focuses on personalized and authentic instruction, mastery-based assessment, and learning models that change the school schedule. Conclusions from the study include: SCL in practice varies across schools, district spending on SCL schools isn’t consistently higher or lower than non-SCL, and SCL schools allocate resources differently than traditional schools. (CRPE, November 2012)...

Cracking the Credit Hour - The basic currency of higher education — the credit hour — represents the root of many problems plaguing America's higher education system: the practice of measuring time rather than learning. This paper traces the history of this time-based unit, from the days of Andrew Carnegie to recent federal efforts to define a credit hour. The report shows the credit hour is putting our nation's workforce and future prosperity at risk. It outlines several steps the federal government can take now to shift from measuring seat time to learning. (New America Foundation and Education Sector, September 2012) ...