All4Ed’s Future Ready Schools® and the Readiness Institute at Penn State have partnered to create and launch the new Future Ready Learner Design Process. This free tool, available now, utilizes a human-centered design (HCD) model, which is a people-oriented approach to solving relevant problems and developing action-oriented solutions. The Future Read more
The education system in the United States must evolve from a one-size-fits-all approach to one in which students’ individualized needs are served by an ecosystem of more flexible learning opportunities. This approach, Assembly, is growing and serving more families than ever. Many families already engage in different flavors of Assembly Read more
Through its Collaborating States Initiative (CSI), CASEL has observed that state policymakers who have created foundational policies to advance social and emotional learning (SEL) often become interested, as a next step, in creating a statewide community of practice (CoP) to engage districts and schools around a shared vision to promote Read more
Next Generation Learning Challenges has released an informative guide to nurturing adult learning communities. Excerpts from the piece appear below: It is only by cultivating the types of adult learning cultures where our teachers feel revived and excited about the work that we can hope to create the types of Read more
A new multimedia effort, “Weaving a Stronger Society — Starting in our Schools” is the product of a partnership between The 74 and The Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2018, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Aspen started Weave: The Social Fabric Project, seeking Read more
Research consistently shows that family engagement in learning positively affects a range of student outcomes, including grades, behavior, enrollment in higher level programs, graduation, and college attendance. Families and teachers want children to succeed, and working together, they can provide the supports necessary for student success. In this month’s issue Read more
Recently, Turnaround for Children released a toolkit for elevating student voice by co-creating classroom community. The toolkit includes the following resources: Educator Reflection: Personal and Community Values The purpose of this tool is for educators to reflect on how their own values (shaped by their identity, culture, and experiences) show Read more
Most existing school accountability systems do not give leaders—especially those at the local level—a recipe to follow that leads to better outcomes for students. That is, accountability systems are too often designed without critical information about the component parts and the most effective step-by-step process for education stakeholders to follow Read more
Writing for the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), Steven Hodas and Travis Pillow recently highlighted community-based learning innovations that have emerged during the pandemic and urged readers to work to preserve the best of these innovations. Excerpts of their article appear below: Policymakers are understandably eager to return to Read more
Community, collaboration, and relationships have become more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the country, many school districts have embraced this opportunity to rethink how to engage with families and the surrounding community. We know that family and community engagement is critical for lasting improvement in schools and Read more
Recently in Getting Smart, Katherine Prince of Knowledgeworks discussed a new foundation for readiness for work in the 21st century. Excerpts of the piece appear below: From today’s vantage point, we can identify two critical drivers of change shaping the future of readiness for further learning, work and life: the Read more
Stephanie Hirsh, who will be retiring from Learning Forward this June, has laid out four critical elements for educators to ensure professional learning improves results for all students. 4 Cornerstones of Professional Learning, centered on a foundation of the Standards for Professional Learning, shares research, evidence from practice, and reflections Read more
Schools are the engines of economic and social mobility, where the virtues required for citizenship are wrestled with and practiced, and where the foundations of a robust and dynamic citizenship, democracy, and economy are nurtured. Teachers are the heart, soul, and muscle of our schools. Research has pointed time and Read more
To close achievement gaps, education leaders must adopt more complete approaches to outstanding learning for all, secure and healthy learners, and a culture of equity within low- and moderate-poverty schools. A shortfall in any of these three areas within a school magnifies the impact of unequal access to resources-educational, personal, Read more
For the past 35 years, the prevailing narrative about America’s public education system is that it is “broken.” Reform efforts have failed to find a fix because they fundamentally misunderstand this reality: the system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do-educate the masses in Read more
Nearly 20 percent of the country’s students are enrolled in rural schools, yet are not provided the same focus in national policy or research as students in urban and suburban school districts. “Out of the Loop,” a new report from the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA), Center for Public Education Read more