CER Intern Callie Wendell looks back on her experience as an intern in Washington, DC, recalling what she has learned about education policy, and how it will affect her future endeavors.

Last Wednesday the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had a Google hangout discussion with leaders in the for-profit education field, in which they discussed the central question of “can you be for-profit and for students?” It was an interesting question, to say the least, and AEI scholar Frederick Hess and Michael Horn of the Clayton Christensen…

“What are you doing this summer in DC?” I reply, of course, that I am working at a long-standing pioneer organization in the education reform movement. More often than not the answer is met with a blank stare of confusion. “Well it’s an advocacy group that has been around for twenty years that provides information,…

I have been in Washington D.C. for 6 weeks now and I cannot believe the immense amount of opportunities I have had while here through the program I am with, The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), personal connections and of course, through CER. TFAS is an organization that gives students from around the world the…

Today a few fellow interns and I ventured out to the Capitol for the Congressional E-Learning Caucus Briefing on K-12 Competency-Based Education. Originally I had thought that the speakers planned to center their panel discussion on virtual learning programs to share information about technology’s potential role in the classroom. But virtual learning ended up being…

Before attending the iNACOL e-Learning Caucus held on Tuesday, I have to admit that my thoughts on virtual learning were utterly wrong. The truth is, when I thought of anything regarding “online schools,” I imagined a child sitting alone at home in their pajamas, wading their way through curriculum with only the companionship of a…

The moderator, Susan Patrick, provided an excellent explanation of competency-based learning and technology’s potential to enhance individual educational outcomes. Patrick described a common dilemma in classrooms: students understand concepts and materials at different paces. But this reality is not reflected in traditional classrooms, where students move through curriculum in packs. The student who quickly understands…

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting my representative, Congressman Kevin Yoder from the 3rd district in Kansas, and a few members of his staff. To begin with, Rep. Yoder was extremely kind to take the time to meet with me. It is a testament to our representative government that he and his staff went…

We say it over and over again, see it in writing, hear it in the words of politicians and patriots, read it in the tens of thousands of documents that make up our libraries, and are spread down through the electronic world. It means a lot to most of us, despite maybe not appreciating fully…

This summer, CER is lucky enough to have five wonderful interns who hail from colleges across the nation. They had the opportunity to attend the 2013 National Charter Schools Conference since it was right in our own backyard. Each share their reflections on the conference, CER's legacy, and education reform and their intern experience thus…