What Student-Centered Schools Look Like
This Education Week special report offers practical examples of student-centered strategies to help schools better meet the personal and academic needs of learners. Strategies highlighted include making classroom content more engaging; helping students forge bonds with each other; prioritizing students in the school’s professional development and discipline approaches; supporting students’ lifestyle needs including mealtimes, sleep, and… Read More ›
Chief Privacy Officers: The Unicorns of K-12 Education
This article discusses how two large school districts handle staffing related to data privacy, Denver Public Schools in Colorado and Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland. The article acknowledges that while few if any schools hire Chief Privacy Officers, as suggested in a report by the Center for Democracy and Technology, there are examples of districts with staff… Read More ›
Work-Based Learning: A Systemic Approach
This video, and the accompanying article, introduce the work-based learning taking place in the East Side Union High School District in San Jose, CA. Over the past five years, this district has implemented Linked Learning Pathways that combine rigorous academics with engaging technical and career-based education. The video provides a real-world look at the work-based learning students… Read More ›
Finding Voice, Taking Action: Sociopolitical Development for Middle-Schoolers and Beyond
College pennants hang on the walls of a charter middle school and shout the names of academic institutions far from this western US city. “HARVARD,” one reads in big, block letters. “MICHIGAN,” “TEXAS,” “WILLIAM & MARY.” The charter school has gone all-in on college. Students start the day by gathering in a large room the… Read More ›
Portfolios Boost Assessment Relevancy for Truly Transformative Learning
This opinion article makes a strong case for states to adopt portfolios as part of their assessment programs. The article provides a good overview of the advantages of using student portfolios as assessment. The author outlines how portfolios can focus on learning rather than completion, asses in more individualized ways to decrease racial and socio-economic… Read More ›
Perkins V: Five Strategies for Integrating Personalized Learning with Career and Technical Education
This resource looks at the implications of the the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (commonly referred to as Perkins V) enacted by congress in the fall of 2018. One of the most important features of the new law is a greater emphasis on personalized learning strategies. This resource will help key… Read More ›
Quality Principles for Competency-Based Education
As states, districts and schools re-design education systems to move from more traditional approaches to a system focused on success for every student, the 16 design principles outlined in this book provide a cohesive framework that offers a set of guideposts for schools and districts. This book will be useful to all district leaders and educators working… Read More ›
Deeper Learning and Diffusion of Innovation and Scaled Impact of New Hampshire’s Work-Study Practices
Through its Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) initiative, New Hampshire offers innovative, successful approaches in competency-based and deeper learning practices, and is a model for other states to follow. JFF is partnering with the New Hampshire Learning Initiative, the New Hampshire Department of Education, and the Center for Innovation in Education to understand how… Read More ›
Critical Civic Inquiry: Student-Centered Learning
The study has concluded. Read about their data collection, findings and implications for educators and counselors in the field. Learn More Led by Rowan University and University of Colorado, this study investigated two areas of student-centered learning: “How students can be supported to take “ownership” of their learning” and “How learning can occur anytime, anywhere.”… Read More ›
Culturally Responsive Mastery-Based Education Research Project
The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools at New York University (NYU Metro) and the Mastery Collaborative are conducting the Culturally Responsive Mastery-Based Education Research Project (CR-MBE) to understand how culturally responsive mastery-based practices influence historically marginalized students’ learning capacities, school engagement and academic outcomes. Learning capacities refer to mindsets,… Read More ›
Leveraging the Power of Improvement Networks to Spread Lesson Study
The High Tech High Graduate School of Education, in partnership with three Southern California school districts, will leverage lesson study within a networked improvement community (NIC) to explore how student-centered instruction and assessment strategies impact student mathematical understanding and achievement, particularly for Latinx and African American students. NICs, with their emphasis on scale and spread,… Read More ›
MetaRubric Game
This game was designed to help teachers and future teachers learn how to design and use rubrics to assess project-based and maker-centered learning. The game, which takes 1-2 hours to complete, is an excellent professional development exercise. In addition to teaching key information about quality rubrics, it is in itself and example of how assessment… Read More ›