Seizing the Moment: Realizing the Promise of Student-Centered Learning

This policy brief presents a series of recommendations for building public will in support of student-centered learning, including policy priorities that can help to expand its practices more broadly at the local, state, and federal level. It incorporates profiles of schools and programs which illustrate the power of student-centered learning in action. A growing body… Read More ›

Defining and Visioning Blended Learning: The Learning Accelerator Goes Deeper

This article published by The Learning Accelerator (TLA), a national nonprofit organization that is, in their words, “seeking to transform K-12 education by accelerating the implementation of high-quality blended learning in school districts across the US through cultivating and funding the supporting ecosystem,” is an expansive, experience-informed vision for blended learning. Source Organization: Blended Learning Facts … Read More ›

Supporting Language & Content Learning in Math

Patricia Segura, a 9th-grade English teacher at Fremont High School in Oakland, CA, allows viewers to spend a day in her classroom of “newcomer students.” A “newcomer student” is one who has lived in the United States for less than a year, and typically serve students from various grade levels. Segura walks viewers through the importance of supporting student… Read More ›

Author’s Purpose: Analyzing & Adapting Texts

In this video, Sean McCombe, an AVID (Advancement via Individualized Determination) teacher, walks viewers through the process of Analyzing, Composing, and Performing literature—a method he uses in his classroom when assigning his students a paper or book to read. Source Organization: Teaching Channel

How to Plan and Create True Flexible Learning Spaces

This article is part of a series on flexible learning spaces. Teachers who are moving to a blended learning paradigm soon realize that their traditional physical “classrooms” need modification. In most cases, traditional furniture in a traditional room with a whiteboard at the front doesn’t support any of the blended learning models. Thus, an organization that… Read More ›

Digital Media & Learning Conference 2016

The 7th annual Digital Media and Learning (DML) Conference takes place in Irvine, CA from October 5th through 7th. This international gathering brings together a vibrant and diverse community of innovators, thinkers, and progressive educators to delve into leading-edge topics in digital media and learning. DML builds connections across research, design, and practice in the service… Read More ›

Redesigning School Accountability and Support: Progress in Pioneering States

In a report presented by the Learning Policy Institute and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), “Redesigning School Accountability and Support: Progress in Pioneering States” examines the variety of ways these 10 states – including New Hampshire and Vermont – have tackled the challenge of redesigning their accountability systems to create educational… Read More ›

The Culture of Data Use Workshop Toolkit

The Culture of Data Use Workshop Toolkit helps school and district teams apply research to practice as they establish and support a culture of data use in their educational setting. The field-tested workshop toolkit guides teams through a set of structured activities to develop an understanding of data-use research in schools and to analyze examples… Read More ›

Massachusetts Personalized Learning Network

This network believes that personalized learning is the key to achieving success and educational equity for all students in the Commonwealth. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), schools, districts, and states have the opportunity to rethink how to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit that will be necessary… Read More ›

Charleston County School District: Breaking Ground for Personalized Learning in Big Districts

This post, which is a part of a series based on Chris Sturgis’s two days with Dr. Kristen Brittingham, Director of Personalized Learning; Sherry Kirkland, Personalized Learning Professional Development Administrator; and a team of personalized learning coaches, principals, and teachers, shares some of the most important things she’s learned. These professionals are a part of the Charleston… Read More ›

UDL in ESSA

With the new Every Student Succeeds Act, federal K-12 education law now defines and endorses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a scientifically-based approach for personalizing learning. What does ESSA say about UDL? What are the implications for education practitioners and researchers? Join CAST for a presentation and discussion. The webinar will be held May… Read More ›

Making the Shift from Community Engagement to Community Collaboration

This article explores how leaders are helping to pilot a new way of working with the community that embraces collaboration in an effort to shift the tide. Over time, community engagement has largely become a one-way mechanism for districts to push out information about initiatives and programs into the local community. Along the way, a… Read More ›