KQED Teach Online Courses
KQED Teach offers free online courses on a variety of digital products and tools that can be used to enhance learning. The courses begin with Foundations in Media which introduces the key digital media literacy concepts. Subsequent courses focus on one digital tool or product with overview modules/lessons, which should take between two and three hours to… Read More ›
Competency-Based Education (CBE) Toolkit
This Competency-Based Education (CBE) Toolkit was born out of the work of Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools and features lessons learned by ten districts from across the country. Lessons are mapped to an implementation framework and include the following topics: Stakeholder engagement Curriculum and instruction Standards and assessment, Infrastructure Staffing and scheduling District leaders,… Read More ›
Targeting Competency: Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) & Differentiated Rubrics to Teach
This article shares strategies and rubrics teachers can use for targeted Writing and English Language Arts instruction and assessment in an inclusive classroom. The article discusses the importance of shifting perspective and language to focus more on learning “differences” over “disabilities”. The author champions instructional strategies that target support based on students’ individual needs to decrease the marginalization of… Read More ›
A Guidebook for Success: Strategies for Implementing Personalized Learning in Rural Schools
This guidebook highlights how leaders in rural districts can use the research-based framework and free planning resources developed by Future Ready Schools (FRS), a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education, to transform teaching and create a personalized learning experience for their students. It explores ways in which personalized learning approaches can capitalize on community… Read More ›
Examining Cultural Relevance
This one page tool provides a set of questions to determine the cultural relevance of a given unit, learning task, or project. Many of the strategies for infusing cultural relevance focus on student-centered practices such as inclusion of choice in topics, sources for information, and ways of displaying knowledge learned as well as connection to… Read More ›
Models of Excellence
Models of Excellence is an open resource featuring exemplary pre-K to 12th-grade student work. The collection is curated by EL Education, a collaboration between The Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA, whose mission is to support teachers. The website showcases interdisciplinary projects produced by students around the country. Projects can be searched… Read More ›
Next Gen Tools: Personalized Learning Plans and Learner Profiles
This innovation brief describes the use of Learner Profiles and Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) at three schools and outlines the advantages and challenges of these two strategies. Learner Profiles are used to collect information about each student’s learning styles, strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Learning Plans lay out students goals. Students take an active role in the… Read More ›
Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified
This toolkit provides support for schools looking to transition to a proficiency-based system. It focuses on the development of efficient standards-based systems that will prepare all students for success in colleges, careers, and communities of the 21st century. The toolkit outlines 10 key components of an efficient proficiency-based system and introduces the Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified… Read More ›
Materiales en Español/ Spanish Language Resources
The Great Schools Partnership, a nonprofit school-support organization working to redesign public education, has developed a toolkit for school and district leaders to support transition to a proficiency-based system. A section titled ‘Materiales en Español/ Spanish Language Resources’ includes a number of tools translated into Spanish. The following may be of particular interest: Aprendizaje basado en… Read More ›
S’Cool Tools
Each week, EdSurge features 2-3 of the latest education technology tools developed for schools and learning. Many of the tools have been recommended for inclusion by teachers. Posts include a short description, information about pricing, and links to additional articles often written by teachers who have used the tool. Many of the tools featured are free… Read More ›
Next Gen Tools: Hiring for Mindset
Hiring for Mindset describes a strategy used by Da Vinci Schools, a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) breakthrough model school, to hire teachers that will contribute to a culture of innovation that supports personalized, blended learning for students. The strategy involves a group planning exercise, sample teaching session, student-led school tours, and parent interviews to help assess candidates… Read More ›
Communications Planning for Innovation in Education
This guide was designed to help districts build support for personalized learning through the development of a communications plan to reach a variety of stakeholders. The guide lays out clear steps within four key phases of communications planning: planing and aligning, looking at your foundations, designing your plan, and reflecting. Each section includes short profiles of… Read More ›