The Art and Science of Designing Competencies
This brief details what makes a “good” competency and how education leaders and reformers can begin thinking about, designing, and implementing competency-based education. Source Organization: competency Works VISIT THE RESOURCE
Personalization vs. Differentiation vs. Individualization Chart
This chart helps clarify the differences between the terms “personalization,” “differentiation,” and “individualization.” “Personalization” is learner-centered. The other two, “differentiation” and “individualization” are teacher-centered. “Personalization” or Personalized Learning means the learner is driving his/her learning. When the learner takes responsibility for his/her learning, teaching and learning changes. The roles of the teacher and learner change.… Read More ›
Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success
This report draws on research from a range of fields to establish the context for afterschool programs and their role in academic success. By examining afterschool programs, the report provides an overview of positive outcomes that set students up for engaged, lifelong learning. Experiences during adolescence shape students’ futures as learners and individuals. Afterschool time… Read More ›
Starting Community-based Organizing Efforts Around Education
Lewis Finfer, the director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network , and Camelle Scott-Mujahid, the director of Teach Our Children in New Haven, CT shared their experiences with education organizing. The goal of the webinar was for participants to get a better sense of what areas of work to prioritize in order to build organizing capacity,… Read More ›
What if the students were teachers?
Youth in Action, a community-based, student-centered non-profit in Providence, Rhode Island, organized an event with pre-service teachers where students acted as “teachers” in a traditional sense – setting up arbitrary rules that were meant to stifled learning and collaborating. The participants then discuss their experience and what they learned. The Marshmallow Towers from Next Generation… Read More ›
Youth in Action Vimeo Channel
This Vimeo channel contains videos from Youth in Action’s Next Generation Media. Youth in Action is a Providence, Rhode Island based organization where youth share their stories, practice leadership, and create change in their communities. Topics covered include culturally relevant education, equity, mental health, and student activism. See a sample video here: Creating Culturally Relevant… Read More ›
Maine Department of Education
This website, Maine’s Department of Education, provides information about the state’s vision, goals, and core priorities. Maine’s website is well-organized and provides education information for a number of different audiences. It is worth taking a look at if you are interested in learning more about how a state might support a student-centered education system. Source… Read More ›
Making Writing Essential to Teens Lives
This guide on teen-writing includes interviews with inspiring teachers, tips, and a diverse collection of student writing projects from across the country-all with a public audience in mind. The guide also includes resources for teaching writing in a student-centered way. Source Organization: What Kids Can Do VISIT THE RESOURCE
A Guide to Creating Teen-Adult Conversations in Your Community
This guide, from What Kids Can Do, is filled with sample panel discussions, interactive exercises, handouts, tips, resources, and readings to enable and empower communities interested in hosting public events/occasions where adults and young people can find common ground. Source Organization: What Kids Can Do and MetLife Foundation Visit the Resource
Students as Allies in Improving Their Schools
What if teachers and students became steady allies rather than frequent adversaries in their daily classroom encounters? With support from MetLife Foundation, What Kids Can Do has explored this question for several years in an initiative called “Students as Allies.” In Chicago, Houston, Oakland, Philadelphia, and St. Louis, What Kids Can Do has collaborated with… Read More ›
How Building a Car Can Drive Deeper Learning
This video highlights the importance of real-world application to drive a deeper learning. Math used to be a struggle for 14-year-old Kathryn, until she fell in love with cars and started a hands-on project to build her own. Now the math matters and makes sense, and a whole new world of learning has opened up for… Read More ›
10 Expectations Students have for their Learning
We hear often of the “high expectations” schools must have of and for their students, yet we seldom hear of the expectations students have of their schools. Students’ expectations constitute the new “rules of engagement” in the relationship that young people want with their schools. Source Organization: Leaving to Learn Visit the Resource