Resource Round-Up: Honoring Student Voice with Authentic Products
Engagement can be an ongoing struggle in remote and traditional classroom settings, but there are technologies and strategies available that can open the door to many authentic student projects. Blogs, podcasts, digital storytelling, and a variety of non-traditional genres of writing can feel closer to the kind of communication students do out of school. Below… Read More ›
A Personalized Professional Development Tool: The Teacher-Learner Profile
When Berkeley County School District in South Carolina decided to introduce the use of learner profiles as a tool to help students develop ownership of their learning, instructional coaches decided to try the process out with adult learners first through the creation of Teacher-Learner Profiles. “We asked teachers to complete one as an exercise in… Read More ›
Don’t Be Quiet In the Library: Sharing Compelling Data About Student-Centered Learning
“Yeah…but does it work?” I’ll bet every single one of us striving to support and implement student-centered learning has been asked that more times than we can count. Every policymaker, educator, budget-developer, civil rights advocate, funder and parent wants answers. Not being able to answer that question definitively has undoubtably hampered the ability for practices… Read More ›
Video Examples of the Prioritized Educator Competencies
The following video resources, culled from online databases, journal archives and articles, show the prioritized educator competencies in action. These competencies have the most leverage in transforming classroom practices to be personalized, student-centered and more equitable. The prioritized competencies intersect across domains and highlight the practice of continuous improvement. Footage includes: Fellow teachers demonstrating key techniques… Read More ›
A Tool for Exploring Plausible, Probable, Possible and Preferred Futures
The future has the potential to unfold in many ways and exploring those possibilities can be overwhelming. The cone of plausibility is one tool that can help guide those explorations. It was first created in 1988 to help explore geopolitical scenarios, but what makes this tool especially useful is that it can be used… Read More ›
Enhancing Learning in a Virtual World: Three Tools to Increase Student Engagement and Belonging
The transition to digital learning during the pandemic further dismantled an already fragile education system. Resources that would adequately equip students to thrive in the digital world were scarce, especially for our neediest students. Educators were forced to forge ahead and foster meaningful relationships with students and families, while completely rebuilding our education system. Schools… Read More ›
Interactive Educator Competencies
← Back to Educator Competencies Interactive Educational Competencies The Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Teaching build on and push beyond the best existing teaching competencies and standards to capture what educators need in order to create and thrive in equitable personalized, learner-centered systems. In this second edition of the Educator Competencies, created by KnowledgeWorks, the Council of Chief… Read More ›
Three Lessons From New Hampshire’s Effort to Expand Deeper Learning
In 2019, Aurora Institute released the new definition of competency-based learning. This seven-part definition was developed with extensive support from practitioners, researchers and leaders across the country. Image courtesy of Vander Els and Stack, 2019 This updated definition reflects a deeper understanding of key issues and developments in the field. This is certainly true for… Read More ›
Glossary of Education Terms
Common terms and phrases used when talking about personalized, learner-centered environments A – E | F – J | K – O | Q – T | U- Z Agency The initiative and capacity to act in a way that produces meaningful change in oneself or the environment. (Closely related terms: ownership, student-ownership) Sources: “Anytime,… Read More ›
Brown v. Board of Education Resources for Educators and Learners
In 1954, as a direct response to Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka combined multiple cases into one. The Supreme Court ruled, “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” thus ending segregation in schools. The first Black children to attend schools were met with extreme hostility. Georgia Public Broadcasting set up an… Read More ›
Red Summer of 1919 and Black Wall Street Resources for Educators
Because textbooks usually leave out the massacres at Elaine, AR, and Tulsa, OK, we’ve provided resources for educators to help direct learners to interactive, immersive experiences if they can’t go in person or if they want to enhance their in-person experience. These resources feature curriculum guides and multimedia to help facilitate student-centered learning. Red Summer… Read More ›
Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments
This 2020 edition of Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments, created in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), is designed to serve as a customizable tool to guide educator development.The intent is to enable a growing number of teachers to implement and scale up a transformation of their classrooms into places… Read More ›