Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds at IAAE Legislative Day

The Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, spoke to alternative students and educators on February 27, 2012 as part of the IAAE's annual Legislative Day.  Lt. Governor Reynolds outlined some of the ideas that are part of the Governor's "Blueprint for Education" and then circulated among students to gather their feedback.Watch her presentation below.

Pictures and description of the rest of Legislative Day will be posted soon!

Sir Ken Robinson: Alernative Education is Good Education

In August, GOOD ran a piece in their Education section by Liz Dwyer. The piece reviews a presentation given at a dropout prevention forum in Los Angeles by Sir Ken Robinson. The following is an excerpt from her piece entitled, "Why Alternative Education Needs to Go Mainstream."

"Robinson, whose lecture on how schools kill creativity is the most watched TEDTalk of all time, was part of a forum on dropout prevention hosted last week by the HeART Project, a Los Angeles-based arts education nonprofit. If what we now call 'alternative education' methods became mainstream, said Robinson, 'we wouldn't be discussing the dropout rate.' He also debunked the myth that students who drop out are reacting to the system as a whole: 'For any student, the classroom they sit in is the education system and that's what they're dropping out of.' But the kids who get into quality alternative programs fall in love with learning because they're getting an individualized experience--and the support they need to address particular life challenges, like being a teen mom or being homeless."

Sir Ken Robinson once again spread the good word about alternative education recently at a TEDx event in London where he said, "Alternative Education is good education."  You can watch his speech below.

In these uncertain times, it is good to know that one of the most renowned voices in education is a staunch supporter of alternative education!