Natalia Smirnova

Today I am focusing on the fifth criterion for exemplary professional development workshops for teachers that is outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, and clearly defined in the recent report, “Bridging the Gap: Paving the Pathway from Current Practice to Exemplary Professional Learning,” published by the Frontline Research and Learning Institute. This…

In my previous blogs, I described the first three criteria for a high-quality professional development workshop analyzed in the recent report, “Bridging the Gap: Paving the Pathway from Current Practice to Exemplary Professional Learning,” published by the Frontline Research and Learning Institute. The criteria that were discussed are sustained learning, intensive instruction, and collaborative engagement…

As I continue to analyze how AIER’s Teach-the-Teachers Initiative  complies with the criteria for the exemplary professional development outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released for public comment a plan to implement ESSA. I see that “strengthening educator preparation programs” and “promoting educator development”…

The Cato Institute just published a new Handbook for Policymakers, where some attention is devoted to K-12 education. As I read the part pertaining to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), I continued to reflect on AIER’s Teach-the-Teachers Initiative (TTI) and its role in increasing economic knowledge for teachers and students. As I promised…

  I have been reflecting on the legacy of AIER’s founder, Col. E.C. Harwood, who encouraged “the educational aspects of the Institute’s work to be specifically aimed at teachers.” In my previous blog I started to assess how AIER’s Teach-the-Teachers Initiative (TTI) fulfills the criteria of high-quality professional development. As I promised, I would like…

  In order to expand, enhance, and further develop AIER’s Teach-the-Teachers Initiative (TTI) program, we are continuously researching best practices and contemporary pedagogical innovations in the teachers’ professional development space in order to apply them to our programming. I came across the recent report, “Bridging the Gap: Paving the Pathway from Current Practice to Exemplary…

    AIER’s founder, Col. E. C. Harwood, encouraged students to apply the knowledge they gained in their university classrooms to the research projects they were assigned at AIER. He called this “fieldwork.” With this legacy, during the 2017 Winter Program, students immersed themselves in the practice of economic analysis under the guidance of AIER’s…

A recent Special Report of “The Economist” was dedicated to the topic of lifelong learning and new labor-market conditions that require employees to have the ability to keep learning, be intellectually curious, and develop a “growth mindset.” The report mentioned technological change, online education, and new approaches to career planning as factors affecting the demand…

While students were occupied with their research projects during our new Winter Program, their professor, Lorri Halverson, and I were working on a paper summarizing our experiential learning approach, which is the basis for educational programming at AIER. The key idea of this approach is to blend learning within the academic classroom and learning within…