INACOL GUMBO: There's been quite the gathering this week down in New Orleans at the iNACOL Virtual School Symposium. Innosight Institute's Michael Horn sees blended learning models easier to implement at the elementary school level. The Gates Foundation's Stacy Childress cautions against "boosterism" and the "one-size-fits-all" assumption for tech tools. Plenty to read as well: the Evergreen Education doled out a detailed report featuring state-by-state snapshots and comparisons of online learning opportunities and policies. (Also included is a planning guide that poses thoughtful questions for educators before they invest time and resources in going "blended" or "virtual.") iNACOL itself issued a report looking at how best to evaluate "the building blocks of outcomes-based performance metrics" like proficiency and graduation rate. Next year will be the symposium's tenth anniversary; better save that date!
