A Learning-Centered Framework for Education Reform: What Does It Mean for National Policy?

In her new book, Betty Demarest describes a bold agenda for education reform―one that is firmly grounded in a synthesis of educational research about learning, teaching, and the contexts of education. The author’s “learning-centered” framework includes: (1) a broad and balanced set of education goals; (2) a multifaceted concept of achievement; (3) classroom capacity for learning; (4) systemic capacity and infrastructure; (5) shared, reciprocal accountability; and (6) systems of multiple assessments. New research-based concepts in these six areas are compared critically to older concepts behind standards-based reform and No Child Left Behind. Book Features:A comprehensive, alternative framework for future education reform that focuses on improving the core educational practices of learning, teaching, content, and leadership. A federal role that emphasizes meaningful partnerships rather than top-down control. A critique of past standards and present accountability-based frameworks, with implications of the learning-centered framework for future national policy, especially ESEA. An operational definition of educational capacity, a re-conceptualization of accountability, and a sharp reversal of the relative emphasis placed on these strategies. Read more