Freedom to Learn
Encyclopedia
Freedom to Learn is a statewide education program in Michigan
helping schools create high performing, student-centered learning environments by providing each student and teacher with direct, consistent access to 21st century learning tools.
The program was started in 2002 when the Michigan Legislature
and governor dedicated state and federal (Title II, D) funds to a Demonstration Phase. Seeing the positive early results, the state expanded the program in 2004. Michigan has allocated over $30 million in federal and state funds to include over 23,000 students in 100 school districts and 191 buildings - primarily middle schools.
FTL offers the training and resources necessary to transform schools—and it is doing just that. A rigorous and comprehensive evaluation is gauging the impact of the program to assemble lessons learned and best practices – early results are available on the Freedom to Learn website.
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
helping schools create high performing, student-centered learning environments by providing each student and teacher with direct, consistent access to 21st century learning tools.
The program was started in 2002 when the Michigan Legislature
Michigan Legislature
The Michigan Legislature is the legislative assembly of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. Article IV of the state's Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the...
and governor dedicated state and federal (Title II, D) funds to a Demonstration Phase. Seeing the positive early results, the state expanded the program in 2004. Michigan has allocated over $30 million in federal and state funds to include over 23,000 students in 100 school districts and 191 buildings - primarily middle schools.
- Freedom to learn is also "the freedom of the learning generation." There was a great thinker, Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, and he wrote:
Primary goals of FTL
- Enhance student learning and achievement in core academic subjects with an emphasis on developing the knowledge and skills requisite to the establishment of a 21st century workforce in Michigan.
- Provide greater access to equal educational opportunities statewide through ubiquitous access to technology.
- Foster effective use of the wireless technology through systematic professional development for teachers, administrators and staff.
- Empower parents and caregivers with the tools to become more involved in their child's education.
- Support innovative structural changes in participating schools and sharing of best practices among Program participants.
FTL offers the training and resources necessary to transform schools—and it is doing just that. A rigorous and comprehensive evaluation is gauging the impact of the program to assemble lessons learned and best practices – early results are available on the Freedom to Learn website.
The goals of education in a free society
- The ability to function in a free, democratic society as full participants in community affairs; a society where every citizen, regardless of age, color, religion, or belief, shows full respect for everyone else, treating all people as equals in all matters.
- The ability to think creatively and meet new challenges as they come up.
- Child's development into a responsible adult in the community.
- To be flexible in their [the children's] thinking, to be confident in their ability to make decisions and above all to feel responsible for their own lives as well as for their own communities.