Creating a Peer Coaching Program to Grow Student-Centered Learning (Part 2)
In part I of this three-part series, I wrote about how Maine’s Biddeford School District created a peer coaching program to support our teachers as they spread a student-centered learning model across the district. Part II shares three of the most important lessons from the experience. Develop a plan that is closely aligned to your… Read More ›
Waukesha STEM Academy Series
This four-part series featuring Waukesha STEM Academy (WSA) is part of a series on personalized, proficiency-based education in Wisconsin. This blog post gives an introduction to what’s happening state-wide. WSA is a competency-based school with personalized learning for all 300 students it serves. It spans grades 6-8, but students move at their own pace and… Read More ›
Creating a Peer Coaching Program to Grow Student-Centered Learning (Part 1)
In southern Maine, the little corner of the world where I teach, coach and learn, we are in the midst of transitioning to a student-centered learning (SCL) model. The Biddeford School Department is a public, K-12 system serving 2,425 students. I am an instructional coach at the middle school and am in my second year… Read More ›
Competency-Based Education: Lessons Learned After a Decade of Transformation
It has been nearly a decade since Sanborn Regional School District in New Hampshire made the decision to shift to a competency-based system of learning. Having served as the high school principal during this transformation, I learned a great deal about what worked for us and what we would avoid if we had it to… Read More ›
A Year Of Love And Struggle In A New High School
Too many young, black men struggle in America’s education system. Washington D.C. is trying to do something about it with a new, boys-only high school. NPR’s Cory Turner and Education Week’s Kavitha Cardoza spent hundreds of hours there, reporting on the birth of a school built on one word: Love. Code Switch, an NPR podcast,… Read More ›
Exploring Student-Centered Learning in the ESSA State Plans
Many of us who research or implement student-centered learning approaches read with excitement that states now have the flexibility, under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), to include such approaches into their accountability requirements. With states required to submit their plans for implementation last month, we explored how many states chose to include student-centered learning… Read More ›
7 Things Teachers Need to Know About Native American Heritage Month
November is National Native American Heritage Month. The article below was originally posted on Indian Country Today on November 12, 2014. It contains tips & best practices that can be used in the classroom throughout the year. Without guidance, too many teachers will celebrate Native American Heritage Month in the only ways they know how:… Read More ›
Student-Centered Learning Course Syllabus
Newsflash: Teachers are learners! Yet, the strategies we use to help teachers innovate their practices often get in the way of learning. It’s as if we’re still operating according to the old, tired adage: “Do as I say, not as I do.” To optimize teacher learning and magnify educators’ impact in the classroom, we need to start with the… Read More ›
Equity at the Center: A Tool for Assessing Communication about Teaching and Learning
This rubric was designed to help schools, districts, and intermediary organizations examine their digital and web-based communications, for example websites, digital resources and classroom tools, to ensure all stakeholders have an equal opportunity to access information. The tool grew out of work conducted by the Students at the Center Hub team to assess its own materials… Read More ›
Research Collaborative Seminar: Student-Centered Learning and Reorganizing Education Time
Marisa Saunders and Research Collaborative advisor Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, editors of “Learning Time: in Pursuit of Educational Equity” (Harvard Education Press, 2017), explore the intersections of student-centered learning and expanded learning opportunities. Learn more from this exciting discussion on how education time can be expanded, reimagined, and reorganized as a resource for student-centered learning… Read More ›
Why Relationships Matter for Urban Students’ Engagement
This post is a follow-up to “Do I Have a Voice? Student Ownership Drives Engagement Among Urban Youth.” We all want to feel connected to and accepted by others. Research shows that positive relationships with adults in school have motivational and academic benefits for students. Nevertheless, researchers and practitioners both tend to emphasize academic and… Read More ›
Guide for Creating Trusted Learning Environments
The following guidebook was designed to help communities create positive and safe learning environments for students inside and outside of school, on and off-line. The classroom is moving beyond a physical space to include learning networks enabled by technologies. These environments should advance learning and foster innovation without sacrificing the safety of the learner. To achieve this,… Read More ›