The Everything Approach

Australian Professor David Christian and Bill Gates continue to collaborate on a new approach to teaching, using Christian's college course, entitled "Big History".  Christian's course brings together a synthesis of history, biology, chemistry, astronomy, math, and other educational fields, which Christian weaves together into a unifying narrative of life on earth, explored on multiple scales of time and space.  This 'integrated' approach is normally seen within a single subject area, like math or science, and sometimes on a bigger, combined scale with math and science, but rarely on such a grand scale as this approach!  I like to ponder the similarity of Christian's approach with Stephen Hawking's Everything theory.

Wanting this course to be available to high school students, they began adapting Christian's college course into a high-school curriculum, with modules flexible enough to teach to freshmen and seniors alike. Gates hired a team of engineers and designers to develop a website that would serve as a free electronic textbook, rich with interactive graphics and videos.

In 2011, the Big History Project debuted in 5 high schools, and today the project will be offered free to more than 15,000 students in some 1,200 schools across the nation - from Brooklyn, New York, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Seattle, Washington. Last month, California announced that a version of the Big History Project course could be counted in place of a more traditional World History class.

How this approach will impact curriculums nationally and internationally is yet to be seen, but it is sure to be under the watchful eye of our online course clients, as well as publishers world-wide!  And ultimately over time, how will educational standards of today's traditional nature embrace this approach?  EdGate will be watching how this all unfolds, so stay tuned.

For an in-depth look into the course, visit https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home 

For more reading, visit  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/magazine/so-bill-gates-has-this-idea-for-a-history-class.html?_r=1   

Larry Johnson
Client Relationship Manager 

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Approves Oklahoma's Educational Standards

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education voted unanimously to approve the education standards currently in place for public school students in math and English as adequate to prepare them for college or the workforce.

The regents were directed by the Legislature to determine if Oklahoma's current Priority Academic Student Skills, or PASS, standards are "college and career ready." Two separate committees of university and faculty experts recommended approval after reviewing the standards by aligning them with standards for the ACT, the primary test used for college admission. The panels also made numerous suggestions for improving the standards.

Oklahoma reverted to the PASS standards under legislation approved this year to repeal Common Core standards. As a result, the state lost flexibility over how it spends about $29 million in federal funding. State education officials say they could re-apply for a federal waiver for the 2015-2016 school year, and Governor Mary Fallin said now that the standards have been certified, she'll work with the U.S. Department of Education to revisit the loss of the waiver.

The state Board of Education has appointed a steering committee to oversee the development of a new set of standards by 2016.

Most American no longer think a college education is "very important"

Amid a national debate about the worth of a college education, a respected annual poll about the education views held by Americans has found that only 44 percent of Americans now believe that getting a college education is "very important" - down from 75 percent four years ago. Furthermore, a majority of Americans (58%) said the curriculum used in their community's schools needs to change.

Why Hillary Clinton Wants to Make Sure Pediatricians are Talking about Childhood Literacy

A new early literacy toolkit unveiled this past weekend by the former secretary of state includes a list of resources and tips for pediatricians who want to talk to parents about the importance of early childhood literacy. The toolkit, developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, comes several months after the group released its first policy statement regarding early childhood literacy, in which it encouraged pediatricians to promote literacy during health visits.

In this issue of the EdGate Observer, we would like to introduce a member of the EdGate Team, Tracy Olstad, Account Manager.

With over 20 years of combined experience in sales and customer service management, Tracy brings a broad range of skills to the EdGate team, most important of which is her commitment to high quality service and meeting clients needs. During her years of service, she was recognized for her devotion and ability to create solid relationships with her customers. In her role as an Administrative Services Coordinator, she won the Team Excellence Award for her contribution and support of the National Sales team and her leadership of three customer service branches.

• Danielson's Framework for Teaching - Professional Development (2013)
• Nebraska - Language Arts (2014)
• Nevada - World Languages (2014)
• New Jersey - Social Studies (2014)
• New York Alternate Assessment Standards (NYSSA) - Language Arts (2014)
• New York Alternate Assessment Standards (NYSSA) - Mathematics (2014)
• North Carolina - Social Studies New Courses Added (2014)
• West Virginia - Language Arts (2014)
• West Virginia - Mathematics (2014)