In “End the phone-based childhood now,” Haidt carefully traces the decline of play and independence (and its relationship to increased risk aversion and anxiety), the rise of smartphones (and the harms of 24/7 access to an under-regulated digital world on brain development), and the dark side of techno-optimism (that laid the foundation for a whole generation to get swept up in new tools that had few guardrails in place). 

His piece masterfully weaves together a host of data points demonstrating how, in the course of a single decade, childhood and adolescence were “rewired” to be “more sedentary, solitary, virtual, and incompatible with healthy human development.” The shift was seismic. “Once young people began carrying the entire internet in their pockets, available to them day and night, it altered their daily experiences and developmental pathways across the board,” Haidt writes. “Friendship, dating, sexuality, exercise, sleep, academics, politics, family dynamics, identity—all were affected.”

Haidt concludes his manifesto with four simple (although not necessarily easy) steps to correcting course: (1) no smartphones before high school, (2) no social media before 16, (3) no phones in schools, and (4) more independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world. 

His recommendations are directed at society as a whole. But they belie an inconvenient truth that education systems must face head-on: schools are inextricably linked to the good, bad, and ugly of what’s happening in the consumer market. Schools may not be responsible for the dumpster fire that phones and social media have ignited, but they are also one of the few institutions–besides the highly decentralized institution of the “family”–with the power to protect and enrich young people’s social lives and healthy development. 

Banning phones in schools could help. But based on my own research, here are three things that education policymakers, systems leaders, and edtech providers will need to wrestle with if they want to take Haidt’s recommendations seriously:

Advocate for Business Models and Policies that Promote Prosocial Behavior

One of the ironies of the devastating disconnection that phones and social media have produced is that these tools, at their inception, were breakthroughs in scaling connection itself. 

Used properly, dreaded screen time can morph into precious face time, connecting us across time zones, expanding the reach of our networks, and affording us more frequent and low-cost conversations with loved ones and colleagues around the world. 

Those very affordances could make the four walls of schools radically more permeable: Imagine a classroom where, at the press of a button, middle schoolers could talk to an actual scientist about a project they’re working on, or high schoolers could hear about a wide range of college and career experiences from alumni of their school. These are not just possible, but incredibly affordable, with modern technology. 

But until we reckon with an acute lack of incentives and policies to build positive social connection, banning phones is likely the safest route. Because if the past twenty years of social media have taught us one thing, it’s that we have a startling dearth of business models and policies to support tech that promotes prosocial behavior. Social media platforms make money on engagement, and even more money on addiction. There are few business incentives to encourage young people to build positive connections online, much less to spend more of their time deepening and diversifying connections offline.

Edtech markets aren’t causing the ills that Haidt outlines, but they also aren’t immune to some of the same shortcomings. In fact, edtech tools rarely promote prosocial behavior or foster new connections. At the root of this is the fact that schools today aren’t demanding solutions that deepen connection–if anything, the edtech market has evolved around clear demand for efficiency innovations that require less cost-intensive human interaction, not more.

The answer? Education policies–both local and state and federal–must start to name and put dollars towards positive social connection as an outcome in its own right. That’s the only way that the incentives inside of school systems will start to better align to the broader need to reorient how technology gets used beyond school. More importantly, we could start to see technology get used in service of helping students develop more positive connections, both online and off.

Build Family Engagement to Buoy Collective Action

Schools and families are going to have to work together when it comes to a hard reset on tech use and social media. That won’t be easy.

As Haidt points out, part of what’s driven troubling rates of tech addiction and ensuing isolation has less to do with technology and more to do with a collective action problem: parents, schools, and policymakers struggle to define, agree upon, and deliver on what’s “good” for children.

New models of family engagement will need to emerge to make a dent in–and effectively enforce–more responsible tech policies. My colleague Mahnaz Charania’s research on family engagement spotlighted emerging innovations that could rewrite and deepen the family-school compact. Part of this has to do with building family engagement models anchored in two-way trust, rather than one-way communication from schools to parents. Perhaps even more powerful are models that connect families to one another, moving away from the typical hub-and-spoke paradigm of school-to-family to a networked model whereby schools and families support one another in more dynamic and responsive ways.

This, likewise, probably needs to start with policy change: if we have any hope of erecting tech guardrails that stick, I suspect that education systems will need to see family engagement as more of an essential and less of a nice-to-have. 

Build Real-World Experiences in the Age of AI

There’s another article that should lend urgency to getting this right. It’s a memo from the $35 billion dollar venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz called “It’s not a computer, it’s a companion!” It came out last summer and hasn’t made the rounds in my education or parenting circles. But it needs to.

It’s a road map to a dystopian future where AI companions “live among us”, where AI boyfriends and girlfriends are touted as ‘better than’ the real thing, and where Silicon Valley cashes out on the very same vulnerabilities that social media has exploited. 

Read alongside Haidt’s piece, the memo should make your blood boil. Nowhere does the word loneliness appear despite being the bedrock and fuel for this emerging market of AI companions. 

AI evangelists will rightfully argue that some of these so-called companions can dramatically improve our lives, offering a welcome alternative to cost-intensive supports like tutoring, coaching, and guidance that young people desperately need and too often don’t get.

While those use cases merit enthusiasm, we need to proceed with immense caution. In the coming years, we will be walking a tightrope between innovations that help make humans more productive and innovations that irreparably harm their social connectedness. Young people are especially vulnerable. As John Bailey has warned, “Kids will want the affirming relationships that they can have with their AI system. That sounds like science fiction until you experience the technology.” 

It would be one thing if we didn’t have two decades of data showing us all of the detrimental effects that “social” consumer technologies can have on development. But, as Haidt’s piece illustrates, we do. And still, we have glib investors about to make a ton of money selling simulated connections that promise to lure us, and our children, online. 

Remember how schools have to absorb the costs of consumer technologies? Without a commitment to safeguarding childhood in all the ways Haidt outlines, the rapid rise of AI companions stands to further erode young people’s access to and ability to be in real human relationships by peddling frictionless alternatives. 

This is where Haidt’s fourth recommendation, that young people must be drawn back into the real world, is something schools can and should take seriously. Regulation alone can’t and won’t stop investors from capitalizing on our loneliness and the particular vulnerabilities of young people’s still-developing brains. We also have to play offense. We have to find ways to outcompete AI companionship. “Real world learning”–a darling of some education reformers, but still a distant notion in many traditional schools–should be resourced and prioritized at new heights, not just as a powerful learning tool, but as one that centers human connection as a vital component of healthy youth development.  

The picture these two articles paint is not a pretty one: but it’s one where schools must play an even larger leadership role. By prioritizing prosocial behavior, investing in deeper family engagement, and leaning into the power of real-world learning, schools can help today’s young people reclaim their childhood–and lessen the likelihood that AI companions steal the next generation’s.

The post Beyond Bans: Schools’ Role in a Hard Reset on the ‘Phone-Based Childhood’ appeared first on Getting Smart.

A Student’s Perspective

My name is Tyler Robert and I have been a Find the Why! (FTW!) student competitor (see my FTW! Digital Resume below) for 5 years. I am currently a 3rd year Accounting and Finance major at the University of Nebraska Omaha. I recently interviewed with a CPA firm called RG & Associates. 

The interview experience at RG was unique, and it was unique because it did not feel like an interview. Of course, they asked me questions, and we talked about experience, education and the normal things of an interview. In many ways, we were getting a feel for the culture fit, and I felt during that interview that I was already a part of the company. 

They took a particular interest in my experience with the FTW! platform, asking what it was and what it entailed. I explained how FTW! connects businesses to students in a revolutionary new way, and allows for the direct offering of internships and apprenticeships to students that do well and fit the culture of that company. They loved the concept, and dug deeper into my FTW! digital resume I linked to my traditional resume. A good 15 minutes of our interview was focused on the FTW! platform and digital resume, and we had such a great conversation around it. They then asked me if I had taken a personality test before, and thanks to my experiences in the FTW! program, I had. They offer the DISC profile, as well as 3 other assessments. Having this information accessible for the interviewer was super helpful. 

My experience with RG was so particularly impactful, that I left knowing that this was the place for me. The very next day, they sent me an offer letter, I signed it and sent it back. My start date is in May of this year.

Todd Smith On Interpreting the Dashboard

My name is Todd Smith, Founder of FindTheWhy! The students that participate in FTW! choose from current industry or social problems to attempt to solve. Problems that result in solutions such as mental health app solutions for teens, designing light rail systems that move people around a region to solve the workforce crisis, and urban rooftop vertical farming solutions with renewable energy components.  stations. As students discover careers that solve problems that matter to them, they are discovered, recruited and retained by businesses. 

Along the solution iteration journey, each FTW! student team can select up to 3 virtual advisors from our prescreened list of dynamic professionals with knowledge that can help them ideate. Due to the back and forth with highly skilled professionals on our platform, students get the most realistic first-touch experience with a new industry and the culture of the adults in said industries. 

As Tyler mentioned, participants in our 10-day Challenges get access to industry-valued assessments that translate who they are, how they behave and their talents into data that tenured HR professionals can easily assign professional value to. 

The assessments include: 

1. DISC Assessment (How does a person tend to behave) 
2.  My Story Assessment (How they viewed the problem, industries that solve this problem, demographic, work-life balance preferences, demographic preferences and next step in educational/work pathway.)
3. Student Team 360 Assessment (How did they collaborate)

In Conclusion

Programs like FindTheWhy! equip young learners with experiences, language, and competencies that will help them find success in what’s next. They build confidence and career awareness as well as expand social capital and enable students to work on real-world projects.

For more on this initiative in Nebraska, check out the recent podcast episode I hosted with the Omaha Taskforce.

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Tim Knowles, President of the Carnegie Foundation, set the stage by emphasizing a mission to catalyze transformational change in education for every student’s well-being and success. “We are experiencing an erasure of history and book banning across the nation, which has become its own kind of pandemic. Standing down is not an option.” He highlighted the outdated nature of traditional metrics like the Carnegie unit advocating instead for a focus on meaningful learning experiences that prioritize student growth over compliance. “Our learning systems call for and, in some cases, are moving beyond traditional metrics like the Carnegie unit.”

Knowles also critiqued current signaling systems’ dehumanizing effects and advocated for a more human-centered approach, urging collaboration with organizations, colleagues, and communities to construct a new educational framework.

Signaling a New Era: Beyond Carnegie Units

In some cases, our learning systems are moving beyond traditional metrics like the Carnegie unit. The focus is now on competency-based personalized learning, where students demonstrate mastery through authentic, project-based experiences. The future of education lies in embracing holistic assessment frameworks, reimagining reporting mechanisms, and activating what Dr. Pam Cantor calls the biology of learning to unlock human potential. 

Brandi Hinnant-Crawford, the opening keynote speaker, echoed that improvement is a collective effort rooted in reflection and action. She emphasized the importance of addressing the needs of marginalized communities and sustaining change through collaborative vision and pragmatic action. “We must never underestimate the power of committed people to a common vision. I ask each of you to commit to pursuing justice and equity and to be critically pragmatic—even in the face of opposition.”

She continued, “The change we lead is more than one person and must stick. This work will meet with resistance, know the types and ready ourselves for the response.” 

Community Design: Where Every Voice Matters

The essence of community design is about creating inclusive spaces where every voice matters. Bill Nicely from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, along with his team and local superintendents, shared the Kansas City Real World Learning collaborative, which showcased a successful collaboration spanning multiple school districts and states. Through partnerships with businesses, community organizations, and schools, they provided real-world learning experiences to students, preparing them for success beyond graduation. 

During an ecosystem session sponsored by Education Reimagined and History Co:Lab, panelists shared how they created a more inclusive and supportive learning environment by involving the community in defining goals and strategies, which improved student outcomes and engagement. Through networked improvement science and community engagement, these partnerships can drive meaningful change and equitable outcomes. 

Karen Minshew of Cajon Valley School District highlighted the importance of clear communication with the community and the intentionality of this communication, which invites people into the work. “When we communicate with the community, stop using the educational jargon. Be specific and intentional about the words you use.”

Improvement Science: From Challenges to Solutions

Sessions on systemic change illustrated the power of improvement science in addressing evolving student needs. Summit attendees, like Paul Tritter, the Director of Professional Learning from the Boston Teachers Union, appreciated how the summit shared “the ways people are making Improvement Science work for them without getting hung up on the “capital I” and the “capital S.”  He shared further that hearing people’s stories of taking elements of the improvement framework to make a change in their contexts felt empowering and alleviated the reflective question of “Am I doing this right” that can stymy the execution of action. 

In this posture, learning systems can co-create personalized, competency-based learning pathways. By leveraging critical inquiry protocols and engaging students as co-creators, schools can transform from traditional models to dynamic, student-centered environments. “Students are voting with their feet. If students did not have to come to your school- why would they come? Dig into that,” said Ryan Cordia, principal at Northeast Career & Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Often, it can be additionally impactful to put improvement science directly into the hands of students. During a student panel from DC Public Schools, a student shared that in addressing challenges such as chronic absenteeism, students used a design sprint and started with empathy interviews with their peers to iterate on testable solutions. Students were not just at the center of discussion, they were equipped to lead change and make an impact in their learning community. 

Coolidge High School students highlighted the importance of students’ voices going beyond mere presence to having a meaningful stake in decision-making. This includes providing spaces for students to contribute to design and be heard in staff meetings, hiring processes, and key decisions. Students exemplified this through Emphasizing, Defining, Ideating, and Sustaining. They used empathy interviews to address issues like chronic absenteeism, collaborating to create a more engaging and supportive school environment.

Forging Partnerships: Collaboration for Impact

Successful partnerships require alignment, flexibility, and a shared vision. Sessions on inclusive postsecondary pathways emphasized the role of community engagement in designing equitable learning opportunities. The focus on competency-based personalized learning signals a shift beyond traditional metrics like the Carnegie unit. 

Brooke Stafford-Brizard, Vice President of Innovation and Impact at the Carnegie Foundation, highlighted the importance of redesigning learning experiences and embracing holistic assessment frameworks. “We have come a long way from calling the skills that matter terms like ‘non-cog skills.’ An example of this is the incredible XQ Competencies.” The journey towards whole child education, equity-centered systems, engaging learning experiences, and supportive signaling is a testament to resilience, innovation, and collaboration as educators and stakeholders step into a future where every student can thrive.

Stepping into the Future

As we face the future of education, our educational systems must move beyond traditional metrics like Carnegie units. The journey towards whole child education, equity-centered systems, engaging learning experiences, and supportive signaling is akin to breaking in a well-worn pair of sneakers—a testament to resilience, innovation, and collaboration from educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to ensure every student can thrive and reach their full potential.

The post Sneakers, Signals, and Systems: A New Era in Education appeared first on Getting Smart.

To date, the work has largely aligned with the design thinking framework in the following intervals:

• Empathize (October 2022): 200 Nevadans gathered in Las Vegas to discuss building the future of learning together.
• Define (October-November 2022): Community members and educators worked together to define what are the critical mindsets and skills that graduates need to possess.
• Prototype (January 2023): “Piloting the portrait” 
• Test (April 2023): Portrait Perspectives Panel where community members made sense of emerging data and engaged in a co-creation series to finalize a document that encompassed critical questions the Portrait must ask of learners.
• Iterate: The portrait is finalized in June 2023 and continues to be deepened and interpreted as it is applied.

This process ensures community involvement and radical, distributed agency in identifying not only the core factors but also the implementation methods. Now, approximately 18 months into this process, the Nevada Future of Learning Network built to bring the Portrait to life, convened nearly 200 educators to work across these discrete teams and compare notes on what they’ve learned so far and what can be done going forward.

Early in the conversation, one of the attendees noted that this process was revelatory in the way that it highlighted and included learners. They said, “Why has it taken [schools] so long to realize that students are the End User and why we haven’t consulted them in the first place to design the future.”

Agency for Educators

Because the state portrait consists of driving (and beautiful) questions, districts and schools within the state can interpret them to serve their community best. The leaders shared that finding time to work on these challenges is one of the hardest parts of driving change and were grateful for the occasion to gather and design. 

A few standout examples were: Kelly Thorson, LIED, shared how their district wanted to re-emphasize STEM so they mapped new competencies onto the acronym STEM (Solving Problems, Trial and error, Effective Communication, Mental Perseverance). Then the district created codesigned branding across schools, created bingo cards that crowdsource data and enable educators and students to continue to refine their experiences to include competencies and enter in revolving raffle opportunities for gift cards. 

This example resonated strongly with many members of the group as it was seen as a great example of how to build motivation in the students (a common challenge shared by most of the attending districts and students.) Jason Smith, a teacher at Ries Elementary School, shared that after hearing about the bingo card example, he took to AI to create numerous bingo cards informed by motivating students. 

Lashon Fredericks, Principal at Delta Academy, found through numerous high-response polls that students were not demonstrating self-motivation for attending class. To respond to this, the school set out to equip students with a “why.” They leaned into workforce development, establishing mentors on campus and are leveraging Grab and Go’s Curriculum, Workspace Development Curriculum. Workforce development and other pathways-centric iterations could easily be mapped to any and all of the questions of the Nevada Portrait of a Learner. 

Agency for Students

Michelle Mendez-yela, also at Delta Academy, shared “Students know what they want you just have to ask them in the right way.” This was echoed by a student on the call who shared that the portrait enables her to move at her own pace and move ahead in her learning, developing her curiosity and self-advocacy. 

Another student, Adeline Carlson, shared: “As a high school student I really loved the conversation […] introducing agency and self-confidence to older students or even any student who has been taught by someone in their past that they need to be okay with not having their voices heard. As both a high school student and a worker in a setting with elementary kiddos it is so so important for our voices to be not only heard and appreciated, but for it to mean something in the bigger picture.” 

As shared in the previous section, the bingo cards that were developed in LIED apply to both students and educators. These boards not only reassured the competencies for the students on a regular basis but it gave them agency to ask their teachers questions like “When are these going to show up in your class,” building their agency and serving as a valuable accountability check to let students have a modicum of control over their learning. 

In Douglas County SD, Leslie Peters shared that although their district had a pre-existing PoG, they had never really used it effectively. Their model was called EPIC: Empowered, Prepared, Inspired and Connected. The renewed momentum in the state enabled the district to conduct a design challenge with the learners and a forthcoming design challenge with community business leaders to see “what skills resonate with you”

At the Las Vegas Academy of Arts, Robert Mars and his team are implementing new methods of assessment and creating opportunities for radically diverse and personalized demonstrations of learning. Whereas previously students may be asked to fill out a multiple choice test, students can now opt to do video/audio recordings, presentations and 1:1 meetings. The new portrait from the state enables this kind of iteration and interoperability with previously defined benchmarks for the school.

Moving Forward Together

The initiative in Nevada is energizing students and leaders alike to rethink learning goals and alignment such that all learners can have powerful learning experiences. Rather than serving as a rigid box, the state portrait is a great example of aligning on flexible, but critical, values and allowing agency at the local level to choose how it shows up for the community. 

In the spirit of the work of the Las Vegas Academy for the Arts, I created a found poem of things I was hearing from the participants. Consider my dancing in the face of multiple choice: 

Self-Portrait of Bighorn in a Blizzard

Design one dream of earth
and human activity where we
invite learners into a vibrant thriving
in any environment
white out or black out like
a bingo board all filled in.

It has taken long
to spot the box and
on our way out of it
put that bass in our walk.

Is it lazy, no,
smart, like a fox,
to plot yourself amidst the squiggle
to dance, waist up, in spite of winter
to use intelligence, human or otherwise
to STEM and STEM again
to spread belief like a storm, blanketing everything
to ask these beautiful questions
how might we
how must

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On a chilly Saturday morning this March, a sold-out crowd of more than 250 educators got up early and drove from towns all over Western Pennsylvania to gather in a primary school gymnasium at the Ehrman Crest Elementary School in the Seneca Valley School District north of Pittsburgh. The educators celebrated the teachings of Fred Rogers as part of frED Camp. The Ehrman Crest Elementary School is a 2022 Time Magazine award-winning building that is a living example of how “the Fred Method” is based on intentional learning. 

The “Fred” of this day-long workshop’s title is Fred Rogers, creator and host of the groundbreaking television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Though many adults remember Rogers as a kindly presence on their childhood TV screens, his legacy includes extensive research into child development and a commitment to leveraging the technology of his day in groundbreaking ways. Beyond entertaining America’s kids, Rogers left behind a body of work that a growing community of educators are now using to improve the ways they teach and mentor children. 

“There’s a growing recognition that we see among teachers that this person they grew up loving for all sorts of different reasons — but mostly because he made them feel good when they were kids — is now someone who can guide them to become better at their jobs as educators and even as parents. It’s a really joyful thing,” says Ryan Rydzewski, co-author of When You Wonder, You’re Learning: Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids. 

The book, co-authored with Gregg Behr, was the inspiration for frED Camp. Since its release in 2021, teachers around the world have been applying “The Fred Method” in their classrooms, using technology — and findings from the science of learning and child development — to spark joyful, welcoming learning experiences. “We’ve been talking to teachers for three years now, and they’re always showing us their incredible work, saying ‘Oh, here’s the Fred-like thing I’m doing in my classroom,’” Behr says. “So we thought, ‘Why don’t we bring some of these folks together and see what happens?’”

The program started with an opening plenary session highlighting how “Environment Drives Behavior” led by Anne Fullencamp from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and Lauri Pendred, the principal at Ehrman Crest Elementary. They explained how every part of the building was designed to engage learners. Hallways become extensions of the classrooms. Even the playground incorporates space themes so play becomes an intentional activity. The center of the building, a spiraling staircase from the first to second floor showcases student artwork and provides opportunities for student voice. The staircase is also an example of how students were incorporated into the design process. It was the students who made the case for the pathway. 

The majority of the morning educators interacted with presenters at educator-led workshops. The educators shared great examples of the Fred Method in action throughout the Pittsburgh region. Anna Blake, a STEAM teacher for the Elizabeth Forward School District, and Melissa Unger, a STEAM teacher for the South Fayette School District, conducted a workshop “Capturing Creativity: Leveraging Engagement and Deepening Reflection through STEAM Learning.” According to Anna, “We are so honored to present at frED CAMP! I felt inspired as I walked in the door at the doors of Seneca Valley. So many chances to wonder and collaborate with Mr. Rogers in mind. So excited to connect and share learning! PD like this IS what fills up my bucket of love for teaching.”

“It’s refreshing because it’s not, ‘here’s one more thing you have to do,’” says Rydzewski. “Instead, it’s ‘here’s the value in what you already love to do.’ If you can do that in front of your kids, it’s going to elevate their learning. We know from science that when kids get swept up in the vortex of a teacher’s interest, then they get excited about learning all kinds of other things, too.”

It’s a lesson Fred Rogers knew well. For more than 30 years in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he introduced viewers to countless guest stars: think Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Julia Child, and beyond. “Whoever it happened to be, we remember their visits because we saw their passion for what they do,” says Behr. “Fred didn’t focus on their accomplishments or awards. Instead, he focused on the things that lit them up, and that light created the joyful learning atmosphere that still resonates a half-century later.” 

“What we’ve tried to do is make Fred’s lessons and his blueprints more accessible,” Behr says. “But it’s the practitioners who are going to make this stuff matter — and they are. They’re running with it. And their students are running right along with them.”

Jennifer Wachs, a media teacher for the South Allegheny School District, reinforced the impact of the day for practitioners, “What an absolute privilege it was to attend this year’s frED Camp! There was a tremendous amount of warmth and sense of community from the participants. We were all united by a profound love of children, and of course, Mr. Rogers. It was inspiring to witness the collective passion and dedication as presenters shared a host of innovative ideas for sparking curiosity and joy, and participants engaged in hands-on activities and meaningful discussions.  frED Camp reinforced the importance of creating a warm, inclusive, and stimulating learning environment that nurtures children’s social and emotional well-being. The day recharged my batteries and reaffirmed my belief in the transformative power of education.”

Next year’s frED Camp will be held at another venue that embodies its namesake’s legacy: Theperfy Fred Rogers Institute in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Open to educators of all kinds — including teachers, early learning educators, librarians, parent leaders, afterschool directors, coaches, mentors, and more — frED Camp is set for March 15, 2025.

Norton Gusky is an educational technology broker and uses technology to empower kids, educators and communities. You can find him on Twitter at @ngusky.

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Critical Race Theory Takes Center Stage

While Critical Race Theory (CRT) has overtaken the media and become heavily politicized in recent years, this academic concept that examines race as a social construct is more than 40 years old. This year’s opening keynote “Unraveling Myths About Critical Race Theory in Education” explored the debate over CRT and unraveled myths and misconceptions that challenge the opposition and featured Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Co-Founder & Executive Director of The African American Policy Forum and leading scholar of CRT, and Jonathan Cox, Vice President of the Center Policy Analysis & Research (CPAR) at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF). 

The conversation started with a light-hearted, five-question quiz to determine if the audience members held beliefs aligned with critical race theory (CRT). This approach brought the controversial topic into focus in a humorous and thoughtful way. The speakers then delved into the basics of CRT, emphasizing it as a recognition of historical and current injustices. They discussed the importance of incorporating CRT into academic and political discussions as a vital move toward justice. This integration is seen as a crucial step in upholding the constitutional rights of Black individuals and other marginalized communities.

CRT provides a framework for examining how systemic racism has shaped institutions and perpetuated inequalities in society. While 23 states—impacting 22 million school children—have passed legislation that limits the way race and racism can be taught, teaching CRT in schools can help students develop a deeper understanding of historical and contemporary issues related to race, privilege, and power dynamics. This knowledge empowers educators and students to critically analyze and challenge systems of oppression, ultimately fostering a more just and equitable society for all. 

Anti-CRT legislation has been introduced in 46 states, but blocking CRT from being taught in schools not only limits students’ exposure to diverse perspectives but also impedes progress toward achieving racial justice and equality. It’s essential to prioritize inclusive education that equips students with the tools to navigate and dismantle systemic inequalities, ultimately fostering empathy, understanding, and social change. Tackling CRT and a few of the misconceptions surrounding it pulled attendees in and allowed them to see how their own actions, thoughts, and assumptions could and possibly should be stretched if we are truly in the business of being learners as so many of us profess. 

Unrestricted Knowledge

In addition to anti-CRT legislation sweeping the nation, literacy and book bans also continue to be a locus of debate. According to data from the American Library Association (ALA), a record 4,240 unique book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023, a 65% increase over the 2,571 unique titles targeted in 2022 and a staggering 128% increase over 2021 numbers. Since many book bans are happening in states where CRT is being rejected, it is no surprise that 47% of the books targeted for censorship were titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals.

The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) hosted a powerful installation called “Books Unbanned”. The interactive exhibit was stationed outside of the main auditorium to share the history of banned books, boost critical cultural literacy and to empower attendees to defend the freedom to learn, read, and teach history. AAPF provides free copies of titles such as All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brandon Kiely, This is Your Time by Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood to attendees. 

This exhibit exuded actionable ways to embed freedom to learn in community. The open shelves lined with both classic and contemporary titles were a powerful call to educators about the sense of urgency of protecting learners’ right to diverse and reflective reading options. 

Unite Against Book Bans held a session titled “How to be a Freedom Fighter,” with author Angie Thomas (whose novel The Hate U Give has found its way on banned book lists), a student advocate, a librarian, and community organizer where they examined how censorship harms communities and threatens democratic principles. Attendees learned proven ways to engage their communities, defend intellectual freedom, and support educators and librarians.

In addition to those featured at SXSW EDU, several other organizations have collaborated to help educators and community members fight book bans locally and nationally:

• PEN America has accumulated important data, resources, and a place to report book bans in your community.  
• The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) developed This Story Matters, a book rationale database where you can search for and contribute rationales for banned books.

Spencer Russell led another standout keynote illuminating the dire condition of the nationwide literacy crisis. Out of the gate, Russell delivered a sharp blow by sharing that over two million students in 4th grade are reading below grade level and how it will impact their formal learning experiences, career choices, and America as a whole. Crescendoing, Russell shared the number of adults who read below a 3rd-grade reading level (the number? 52 million!). Russell’s passion for literacy started after he learned some hard lessons as a teacher. It motivated him to empower caregivers and parents in their own literacy journeys and for young people. He created Toddlers Can Read, where he provides resources to support literacy development. 

The keynote offered five short ways to make a difference in the lives of anyone who wants to support developing a more literate world. In the event you don’t have time to watch the powerful address, here are the steps: 

1. Know the research
2. Stop theorizing, start teaching
3. Keep it simple
4. Partner with parents/caregivers
5. Get started now

Protect Literacy and Learning

Fighting censorship in schools requires a collective effort to uphold the principles of academic freedom and intellectual diversity. When facing challenges such as book bans and anti-CRT legislation, there are several proactive steps that educators, parents, and advocates can take.

• Education and Advocacy: Educate the community about the importance of diverse perspectives in education and the harmful impacts of censorship. Advocate for policies that promote intellectual freedom and inclusive curricula.
• Engage in Dialogue: Foster open and constructive dialogue with stakeholders, including school boards, administrators, and policymakers. Highlight the value of exposing students to a variety of viewpoints and critical thinking skills.

• Defend Access to Information: Oppose book bans and challenges to educational materials by defending access to diverse literature and resources. Support librarians and educators in their efforts to provide students with access to a wide range of ideas and perspectives.
• Mobilize Support: Build coalitions and mobilize support from community members, educators, and organizations that value intellectual freedom and equity in education. Work together to oppose censorship efforts and promote inclusive learning environments.

By taking proactive steps to fight censorship in schools, we can uphold the principles of academic freedom, foster intellectual diversity, and ensure that all students have access to a well-rounded education that prepares them for active and engaged citizenship in a diverse society.

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Job markets worldwide are buzzing with tech-driven transformations. With robotics and automation leading the charge, there’s a whole universe of new careers unfolding for those with a knack for tech. 

What’s interesting is that a lot of these jobs do not require an expensive four-year college degree. 

This article explores how high schools can be the launchpad for students eyeing technical careers. Community colleges, technical programs, apprenticeships, and innovative skills to jobs platforms all offer effective ways that schools can pave the way toward highly fulfilling and well-paid technician roles.

The Growing Demand for Technician Jobs

Currently, the US boasts over 700,000 employed technicians within the professional, technological, and healthcare sectors. The majority of these technicians are employed by Fortune 500 companies. A robotics technician working for one of these companies earns an average salary of over $67,000.

The surge in demand for technician jobs isn’t slowing down. Robotics technician roles in the US are experiencing a robust annual growth rate of 1.64%. Certain specialized positions, such as wind turbine service technicians, rank among the fastest-growing occupations nationwide. California, Texas, and Massachusetts lead the pack in employing technicians, with states like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa seeing the highest growth in job vacancies and rates. 

Rethinking Post-High School Pathways

Given these figures, it’s high time to broaden our perspective on what constitutes a successful post-high school journey. 

While about 70% of recent grads head straight to four-year colleges, there’s an important conversation to be had about the remaining 30%— for whom the traditional college route may not be a preferred or feasible option. This group represents a significant portion of young adults searching for alternative pathways to success.

Vocational training, community college programs, and apprenticeships offer viable routes to securing well-compensated careers. In addition, platforms like Unmudl offer short courses that equip learners with skills directly aligned with specific job roles, offering an efficient path to employment for many students. 

Each pathway provides access to in-demand skills, such as robotics programming, automation system maintenance, and advanced manufacturing techniques. They challenge the notion that a four-year degree is the only avenue to a meaningful career. 

Accessibility and Equity in Technical Careers

Technician roles are accessible to students from every background and social class. This inclusivity goes a long way in breaking down traditional barriers to a career in a technical field. High schools can significantly level the playing field by actively promoting and supporting such career paths.

They can be especially helpful in making students aware of and prepared to take on the technical and vocational opportunities available to them. This effort involves providing active guidance and the necessary resources to pursue technical careers. Educators at the high school level can make sure every student, no matter their circumstances, has the opportunity to secure meaningful and well-paying technician jobs.

Practical Steps for High Schools

High schools can become catalysts for change by steering students toward exciting technician careers. Here are a few successful programs and strategies that exemplify how this can be achieved: 

• Technical High School Partnerships: In Minnesota, the Minnesota State – Advanced Manufacturing Education Alliance collaborates with high schools to offer dual-enrollment courses. Students gain hands-on experience in manufacturing technologies, preparing them for immediate employment or further education in engineering and advanced manufacturing.

• Apprenticeship Programs: The Youth Apprenticeship Program in Wisconsin connects high school students with apprenticeships in various trades, including automation and robotics. This program blends classroom learning with on-the-job training, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of technical skills and real-world applications.

• Tech-Focused Charter Schools: Brooklyn STEAM Center in New York offers specialized programs in fields like computer-aided design and electromechanical engineering. Students work on industry-specific projects and connect with businesses and colleges, gaining valuable skills and insights into their future careers.

Key Skills Educators Should Emphasize for Aspiring Technicians

As educators, it’s imperative to guide students toward acquiring the skills most relevant in today’s technician roles. This ensures they’re prime candidates for success in their chosen fields. 

Here are a few essential skills:

• Automation & Robotics: Proficiency in managing and maintaining cutting-edge automated systems.
• Electrical Systems: A solid grasp of electrical circuits and a commitment to safety standards.
• Mechanical Systems: Knowledge about mechanical components and how they come together to function.
• Programming for Automation: Skills in specific programming languages, like Python or PLC ladder logic, are essential for modern automation.
• Troubleshooting & Problem Solving: The knack for identifying and resolving issues within complex systems swiftly.
• Preventive Maintenance: An understanding of regular maintenance tasks to prevent unexpected system failures.
• Adaptability: A readiness to embrace and utilize new technologies and methods.
• Critical Thinking: Logical reasoning skills to solve technical challenges innovatively.

High schools are the critical piece linking students who are not keen on a four-year college degree with emerging job prospects in technical fields. 

It’s time to forge partnerships, integrate tech-centric courses into the high school curriculum, and discuss diverse career avenues. 

Dr. Parminder Jassal is the CEO of Unmudl, a leading Skills-to-Jobs® marketplace for developing skills through hands-on training, propelling workers into job roles with the nation’s leading employers.

The post How Can Educators Build Support Systems for Students Eyeing Technician Jobs? appeared first on Getting Smart.

We’ve seen exciting developments in unique community partnerships that impact school models, apprenticeship programs, career exploration starting in elementary school, client projects, but there is also a huge, scale-friendly opportunity in tech innovation. 

Why Technology Solutions?

Traditional educational pathways (trades such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and construction) often require significant time and financial investment, which can be barriers for many potential learners. Many career academies provide students with the foundations of these trades, but frequently these academies have access challenges — namely, they can only serve so many of the districts’ students at one time and transportation can often be a hurdle. To accommodate this, many workforce development experts have been optimistic about the rise of virtual and augmented reality — online training programs that offer immersive, hands-on learning experiences. These radically accessible tools have the potential to provide learners with the practical skills and certifications needed to enter the workforce quickly and confidently.

While this technology has, perhaps, grown slower than many forecasted, new partnerships are forging a pathway for learners and members of the workforce looking to upskill from anywhere. These partnerships highlight the collaboration between educational institutions, industry partners, and community organizations is essential. 

One example of this is Interplay Academy, an initiative of Interplay Learning. This solution empowers other organizations to implement trades certificate programs, enabling learners to gain skills in their chosen field, earn industry certifications, and connect with employers to take on in-demand entry-level roles confidently. 

“We found that many community and workforce development organizations were searching for streamlined, scalable programs to help people enter in-demand trade careers. They had incredible, dedicated program managers serving their communities, but several did not have access to technical experts in their region or access to experts with enough extra time to serve the needs of both the community members and future employers,” said Ariana Dugan, VP of Product at Interplay Learning. “We created Interplay Academy to bridge that gap.”

Industry Skills

“Interplay Academy’s Job-Ready Certificate Programs represent a significant leap forward in skilled trades education where there is a shortage of qualified skilled labor,” said Doug Donovan, CEO and Founder of Interplay Learning. “Our holistic approach provides a direct pathway to job-readiness, empowering educators and workforce development program administrators with the tools needed to pave the way to future careers for learners. We believe these programs will play a pivotal role in developing a pipeline of talent for the skilled trades workforce of the future.”

Industry Certification

Interplay Academy has partnered with several community and workforce development organizations, including those that help unemployed or underemployed at-risk youth and adults, and is also available for use in secondary CTE programs. 

Interplay Academy’s Job-Ready Certificate Programs in HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Residential Construction, Multi-Family Maintenance, Building Maintenance, and Appliance Repair feature a flexible, expert-led curriculum, recognized by the Department of Labor, to effectively prepare today’s digital-first learners to enter the workforce. 

Our courses were submitted to the DOL as part of our Registered Apprenticeship Programs and were approved, which ensures they align properly with industry standards. Using that same content as part of our Interplay Academy gives learners confidence that as they pursue a career in the trades, they are receiving knowledge from a quality program. 

In addition to earning an Interplay Learning Job-Ready Certificate, learners enrolled in Interplay Academy’s programs can earn industry-recognized certifications, including NATE Ready-to-Work certification, OSHA 10 or 30 certifications, and EPA 608 certification, enhancing a graduate’s employability. 

Career Exposure and Exploration

Learners, who may need additional assistance choosing a career path, can take advantage of the programs’ career exploration tool to align their chosen path to their interests and career aspirations. When a learner completes the program, they can connect with employers through Interplay Learning’s partnership with BlueRecruit, a leading job platform for skilled trades professionals.

These partnerships ensure that training programs are aligned with current market needs and that graduates possess the skills employers are looking for. Moreover, connections with local businesses and job placement services can facilitate smoother transitions for graduates into the workforce, addressing employer needs more directly. To date, Interplay Academy has served more than 15,000 learners.

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“Climate Change and its effects are happening now. We can not take any longer to take action. I hope to inspire others, so we can all work together to take care of the only place we call home. Everyone deserves a healthy and sustainable future,” says Farah Djama, Class of 2024 and Secretary of the Climate Action Team.

The continued sustainability focus has led to numerous opportunities for the students. One such initiative, the Climate Champions Grant Program, is a testament to the power of collaboration, youth engagement, and grassroots activism in the fight against global warming. This collaboration aims to equip young learners in urgent environmental conservation and innovation efforts. 

The Climate Champions Grant Program

The Climate Champions Grant Program was catalyzed by discussions between the Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency (CASR), Denver Public Schools (DPS) Sustainability Team, and students. These conversations revolved around how to actively involve youth in environmental sustainability efforts, specifically through the Denver Climate Protection Fund. Recognizing that students had innovative ideas but lacked the necessary resources to bring these to fruition, DPS and Denver CASR leveraged their unique partnership. 

To begin this process, students were provided with an application packet that outlined the project requirements, aligning with DPS’ Climate Action Plan and the allowable uses of funding from the Climate Protection Fund. This ensured that the projects not only addressed local environmental issues but also contributed to broader climate action goals. The application process encouraged a grassroots approach, where students, supported by teachers, classmates, and mentors, took the lead in developing their project ideas. Some schools conducted surveys to gauge interest in various project proposals, while others presented their ideas directly to school principals. Furthermore, DPS facilitated the process by offering pre-application assistance through virtual workshops and one-on-one support, ensuring that students had the guidance needed to refine their proposals.

Student involvement was a critical component of the Climate Champions Grant Program. They were not just participants but were at the forefront of conceptualizing, designing, and pitching project ideas. An interdisciplinary group of experts from both DPS and Denver CASR evaluated the applications based on specific criteria, reflecting the program’s commitment to environmental justice and the promotion of sustainable solutions across different school types and project categories. Despite being in its pilot year, the program received more project submissions than it could fund, indicating strong interest and the potential for future growth. The awarded grants are as follows: 

• Westerly Creek Elementary: Planting and caring for trees onsite
• Marie L. Greenwood K-8 Academy; Barney Ford Elementary; Swansea Elementary: Learning about recycling in Colorado and doing outreach to improve waste diversion onsite
• Valdez Elementary School: Implementing reusable dishware kits
• Park Hill School: Installing bike racks and a maintenance station, and doing biking outreach and education
• DCIS at Fairmont: Performing service learning projects like gardening and composting and hosting an Earth Day celebration
• Vista Academy: Having students attend the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences conference
• Centennial Elementary: Installing bike racks and a doing biking outreach and education
• Northfield High School: Installing solar-powered picnic tables
• Denver North High School: Installing power strips to reduce energy use
• University Park Elementary: Installing outdoor waste stations to improve waste diversion
• Teller Elementary School: Advocating for electrification of HVAC equipment like heat pumps
• McAuliffe Manual: Enhancing project-based learning and enrichment around sustainable gardening, nutrition, and transportation, and facilitating a multi-day outdoor education experience
• Beach Court Elementary: Creating an educational campaign on reducing, reusing, and recycling
• Lincoln Elementary: Improving onsite garden programming

This collaboration is a great example of what it looks like to give students agency, purpose and connections to real world learning experiences. These cross sector collaborations are representative of real world learning in action.

The post Denver Public Schools: A Hopeful Generation of Climate Champions appeared first on Getting Smart.

Over the last decade, since school districts around the country began to adopt the Portrait of a Graduate model to define a vision for their learners’ outcomes, we have heard a similar story from many district leaders about these efforts. Typically they speak of the enthusiasm that this vision brings to the community, particularly when their Portraits have been designed with input from all community members including teachers, students, and families. Portraits of a Graduate focus on the mindsets and skill sets that enable lifelong learning, success in all careers, and personal fulfillment—the attributes that have received great attention in the movements for 21st Century Learning and increasing uncertainties about the technical skills and knowledge that will be most useful in a rapidly changing future.

However, while school leaders find inspiration in the collective buy-in (which has become increasingly rare to develop in other areas of school), they also tend to express concern over the difficulty in ensuring that students are achieving these outcomes. While the skill sets and mindsets represented in Portraits of a Graduate have received growing attention, there are still many fewer available systems-wide resources and support for achievement and assessment than there are for academic goals. Meanwhile, the programs and supports that do exist tend to address only particular skills rather than the whole Portrait. As school leaders add more and more of these programs in an attempt to fulfill the complete vision of their Portrait of a Graduate, they also often engender “initiative fatigue” and burnout from the educators and support staff charged with implementation.

How can school districts deliberately and systematically create the structures that enable all learners to become their envisioned Portrait in public schools that are already overtaxed and strained? That is the question our team sought to answer as we began an effort to examine the promise and pitfalls of the Portrait of a Graduate. In our recently released report, Shifting Education with Learning Pathways: Becoming Your Portrait of a Graduate, we share what we have learned about both the Portrait of a Graduate model itself and offer a systematic approach to integration that we see as a key to success in learners achieving the vision of the Portrait.

The Skills that Portraits of a Graduate Say are Necessary for Learners to Thrive

We began by analyzing the content of a sample of Portraits from school districts across the country. While Portraits are designed uniquely by each school district with input from their communities, we found an overwhelming alignment across them in terms of what skill sets are emphasized. In our analysis, 90% of named attributes across all 69 Portraits we studied are aligned to the following six skill sets:

• Analyze to Understand 
• Care For and Contribute to Society 
• Collaborate Across Difference 
• Communicate in All Media and Modalities 
• Create to Solve and Share 
• Practice Self Awareness and Regulation 

While the specific terms used to specify these attributes vary, there is significant unity in the nature of the outcomes being expressed. School leaders and PoG design teams can leverage these resources to support schools and districts in customizing the specific contexts of their own community-developed Portraits.

While districts across the nation agree that these six skill sets are essential for learners, they face challenges in operationalizing them systematically. Each skill set is broadly defined, universally applicable, and deeply interconnected, making it difficult to concretely align them to curricular and pedagogical decision making. They also do not directly correlate to the current assessment and credentialing paradigm, which relies heavily on standardized tests and course grades. 

Integrated Learning Pathways Make the Vision of a Portrait More Achievable

In our direct work with districts, we have seen that a first step in making these attributes concrete is to identify observable practices within these skill sets at each developmental stage or grade level. Schools can use these identified practices to design and define “horizontal” learning pathways that intersect each academic “vertical,” creating a cross-cutting curriculum that allows teachers to see the specifics of how they can implement Portrait practices in their contexts. This reduces the burden on teachers to identify, on their own, every necessary opportunity to integrate Portrait skills, and enables them to concentrate their expertise on ensuring those integrations meet the needs of each of their individual students. 

Partnering with districts from across the nation, we have co-designed Integrated Learning Pathways to identify and implement opportunities for students to develop Portrait of a Graduate skill sets cumulatively through each grade and complementary across subjects. This approach allows the burden of implementing a Portrait vision to be more shared between teachers and leaders and reduce the impact of “initiative fatigue.”

This horizontal approach to creating a Portrait of a Graduate learning pathway also allows districts to more seamlessly integrate new priorities by aligning them with the Portrait pathway, further reducing the burnout caused by continued introduction of new initiatives and programs. In our paper, we share how Indian Prairie School District in Illinois has leveraged this approach to align their focus on Computational Thinking to their Portrait implementation. Portrait attributes are broader than computational thinking alone; however, in this case, computational thinking was a productive framework to operationalize universal and crosscutting Portrait attributes into classroom teaching and learning. Indian Prairie’s Director of Innovation, Brian Giovanini shared, “As we thought about computational thinking, and really, the skills and competencies that feed underneath that term, it really helped us visualize parts of the Portrait and build a learning pathway for our students to get to that outcome.” 

We recommend district leaders leverage Integrated Learning Pathways to align teaching and learning to their Portrait of a Graduate and ultimately better prepare students for a successful future. 

Josh Weisgrau is Chief Learning Officer, Learning Experience Design at Digital Promise

Kelly Mills is Director of Learning Pathway Design at Digital Promise.

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