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 ›
The State Innovator’s Toolkit: A Guide to Successfully Managing Innovation under ESSA
This guide addresses opportunities under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to drive school improvement, challenging states to rethink older, more traditional approaches and support real innovation. It reviews several principals that can help state leaders support districts’ and schools’ change efforts. It also outlines in detail 6 approaches to spark innovation which states might consider. This… Read More ›
Education Elements Personalized Learning Resources for School Leaders
Education Elements is an organization that works with schools to support adoption of personalized learning and competency-based education. The following white papers can help school leaders tackle implementation, with a focus on digital integration. The Core Four of Personalized Learning: The Elements You Need to Succeed describes each of these elements of successful personalized learning: integrated digital content,… Read More ›
CBE 360 Survey Toolkit
Competency-based education (CBE) allows students to master skills and knowledge at their own pace. This toolkit, developed by American Institutes for Research (AIR) features surveys from a recent AIR CBE study which schools can administer to gain a comprehensive picture of CBE implementation in six research-based core areas: learning targets, measurement of learning, instructional approaches and supports,… Read More ›
Digital Promise Research Map
This database managed by Digital Promise brings together thousands of research articles on key education practices. The database is searchable and organized to allow the user to see relationships between topics and subtopics. The database includes student-centered learning topics such as: Student motivation, Cognition and learning Online learning The website features an “Ask A Researcher” section… Read More ›
Using Needs Assessments to Drive School and District Improvement
This guide describes the core components for developing and administering needs assessments, a critical step to guide any school or district improvement process. It includes information on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements, as well as planning and designing a needs assessment with accompanying worksheets. The guide ends with a list of questions to be… Read More ›
Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves’s shares innovative approaches to civics, social studies, humanities, and language arts education, designed to increase student engagement and achievement while teaching students about bigotry and hatred. The educator resources database includes lesson and unit plans, collections of primary source documents and images, and multimedia resources on topics such as: Race in… Read More ›
Training Teachers for Competency-Based Learning Classrooms
This article, written by the founder of Matchbook Learning, a non-profit charter school operator in Detroit and Newark, shares best practices for designing teacher professional learning to support a competency-based model. He discusses how they created effective teacher trainings based on three design principals that mirror the competency-based experiences they want to provide students: Deliver training through a… Read More ›
A Guide for Engaging ELL Families: Twenty Strategies for School Leaders
This guide, developed by Colorín Colorado, an organization that supports English language learner (ELL) educators and students, shares useful strategies schools can employ to engage bilingual students and their families. The guide includes six sections: Connection with ELL families Communicating Important Information Parent Participation Parents as Leaders Community Partnerships Creating a Plan Each section offers… Read More ›
Welcoming Schools Starter Kit
This brief, Welcoming Schools: An Inclusive Approach to Addressing Family Diversity, Gender Stereotyping and Name-Calling outlines a comprehensive, LGBTQ-inclusive approach to creating respectful and supportive elementary schools for all students and their families. Developed by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, it includes many resources, tips, and strategies such as: A checklist for a welcoming and inclusive… Read More ›
Unleashing the Instructional Leadership of Librarians to Foster Future Ready Schools
This framework was created to detail the invaluable role of librarians and outline how schools can better harness their skills and knowledge to transform learning for students. The framework, developed by Future Ready Schools, focuses on librarians’ role in the development of 21st century schools that use research-based digital strategies to build personalized learning environments. The framework is… Read More ›
CCE Culturally-Responsive Teaching Resources
This resource features two tools from the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) which focus on culturally-responsive teaching practices. Both tools are practical and can be used by educators to examine their teaching practices and design lessons and performance tasks that are more accessible and engaging for students from all cultures. Culturally-Responsive Teaching Mindsets: Examples and… Read More ›