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

The post A Portrait As Activation, Interpretation and North Star 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.

The post Virtual Accessible Training and Skills Development appeared first on Getting Smart.

“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.

What would it look like to make a commitment that come graduation every senior will have at least basic AI literacy? This includes an appreciation of AI as a creation engine and learning partner but also an understanding of the risks of deepfakes and biased curation. We’re entering a time where to quote Ethan Mollick “You can’t trust anything you read or see ever again.” Whether formal or informal, it’s time to start building AI literacy.

In a recent article for EdSurge, teacher Mike Kentz provides tips for how he engaged his students in learning about and how to use AI,  

“When I introduced the HoldenAI project to my students, I explained that we were entering uncharted territory together and that they should consider themselves explorers. Then I shared how I would monitor each aspect of the project, including the conversation itself.

I guided them through generating meaningful, open-ended interview questions that would (hopefully) create a relevant conversation with HoldenAI. I fused character analysis with the building blocks of journalistic thinking, asking students to locate the most interesting aspects of his story while also putting themselves in Holden’s shoes to figure out what types of questions might “get him talking.”

Next, we focused on active listening, which I incorporated to test a theory that AI tools might help people develop empathy. I advised them to acknowledge what Holden said in each comment rather than quickly jumping to another question, as any good conversationalist would do. Then I evaluated their chat transcript for evidence that they listened and met Holden where he was.

Lastly, we used text from the book and their chats to evaluate the effectiveness of the bot in mimicking Holden. Students wrote essays arguing whether the bot furthered their understanding of his character or if the bot strayed so far from the book that it was no longer useful.”

This kind of curriculum can be brought into any subject and not only teach the students about AI but also about themselves, the importance of asking the right question and much more. 

Emerging Programs and Resources

Several organizations have released useful AI Literacy courses applicable for high school students including: 

• aiEDU has a 10-week project based intro course and quick challenges 
• SkillsBuild from IBM offers a suite of free AI courses 
• Amazon Educate has an Intro to Gen AI. 

Sector leaders have published useful guides for school adoption:  

• XQ published a guide to Incorporating Generative AI in High School Classrooms
• AI for Education from Amanda Bickerstaff offers helpful guides and prompts to get educators in the sandbox
• ISTE released valuable AI resources and Standards for Students 
• Michigan Virtual released a roadmap for upskilling their teacher force.
• TeachAI summarized guidance in a toolkit 

The Middle States Association recently announced Responsible AI in Learning (RAILS), a framework for safely and effectively deploying AI in schools. RAILS is a series of self-study modules that result in a series of endorsements that will allow schools to signal their progress. 

We’re excited to be supporting the forthcoming ASU+GSV AIR Show, an exciting opportunity to gather with those on the cutting edge of AI and education, including many of those mentioned above.  

We Have a Civic Duty

We’re at an inflection point — a moment where information and trust are some of the most fragile (and essential) elements of society. Without developing the necessary critical thinking and literacy skills, AI will undoubtedly play a wedge role in the continued fracturing of truth.  

A great new book, Verified: Discerning Truth in the Disinformation Age, authored by Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg suggests implementing the SIFTing technique as a fundamental building block of AI literacy:

• Stop: What do you know about the argument and its source?
• Investigate: Is the source trustworthy?
• Find: What do other credible sources say?
• Trace: What’s the original context of the claim?

It’s time to build, select or pilot an AI literacy strategy and sprint to the end of the year. One option might be to invite a couple of upper-division students to make campus-wide AI Literacy a capstone project. Let’s make sure that every student and faculty member heads into summer AI literate.

The post AI Literacy: A New Graduation Requirement and Civic Imperative appeared first on Getting Smart.

Recently GTE has been collaborating with Bellflower USD (BUSD) to not only learn about growing food sustainably, but also to provide this food to numerous schools across the district. Much of this learning takes place on a rooftop farm and greenhouse. “We are a month into harvesting 500 heads of lettuce a week for their Food Services Dept and salad bars across the district,” said Paul Hudak. “This work is all being done in a converted storage container unit through hydroponics at Bellflower High School and on the rooftop farm and greenhouse at Mayfair High School (both in the Bellflower Unified School District).”

Bellflower USD is forward-thinking in that they are approaching urban farming and environmental science with both an educational and public health focus. It takes a dedicated group of district and school leaders to make moves to implement and maintain these types of programs. 

Hudak continued, “It’s been great to be sharing this work with K-12 students and see their continued level of engagement and ownership.” 

A Day in the Life

Students spend time in the gardens during the school day where they learn about seeding, planting and harvesting greens for the BUSD Food Services team. GTE also collaborates with and supports teachers in designing classes and programming to utilize the garden spaces with their students, making interdisciplinary opportunities. The team is currently designing after-school cooking classes incorporating their farm-grown produce. This course will work in conjunction with the district’s mental health programming to highlight the connection between mental health, lifestyle choices and diet. 

“It’s interesting seeing the process of growing all this lettuce knowing that it’s going to be offered at our cafeteria for us to eat,” says Nathaley, a student at BUSD. “It’s exciting knowing that we, as students, helped grow this lettuce. We’ve witnessed the whole process from planting the seedling to transferring it to the vertical growing panels. The most interesting thing is how in this tiny shipping container, so much lettuce could be grown. I enjoy working with plants because I like knowing that we nurtured these plants and now we can see people eat them.”

Throughout this process, students also get to learn about the high-tech operation of the Freight Farm and how it utilizes LED lights, and has access to remote operation via apps (phone) for watering, nutrient delivery and climate control.

“I find the sustainable farming methods used on the Freight Farm to be really interesting. The ability to grow fresh produce in a controlled environment, regardless of external conditions is shocking to me,” says Rana, a student in the program. “I’m excited to see how technology could revolutionize the way we think about farming and food production! It could truly change the game for communities that struggle with access to fresh, healthy food. I find working with plants to be therapeutic and rewarding. I feel accomplished watching something I planted grow.” 

At Mayfair High School, students are engaged in various projects on the rooftop farm and greenhouse through their Environmental Science class. One such lesson was a part of a Cycle of Matter course that tested the impact of nitrogen-fixing legume plants and their potential effect on the growth of lettuce plants. An upcoming lesson will serve to establish a native pollinator garden on the rooftop while providing data points. These points will show the impact on how the spatial proximity of pollinator plants impacts the yield in edamame. After comparing various soybeans planted around the garden the class will enjoy the edamame at the culmination of the lesson.

At Mayfair High School, students have the opportunity to attend the STEAM building that prominently features solar panels which will not only power aspects of the building and farm operation but will also teach the students about producing electricity and the fluctuation in production as the seasons change. 

What’s Next for Growing Together Education?

GTE hopes to one day generate revenue with the farm by selling ingredients to local restaurants and other partnerships. “We are in our second month of huge harvesting now and the school district has been able to use all the produce in lunches to serve just under 10,000 students. There are active plans in place to provide produce to families, local food banks and the culinary arts program at Cerritos College (a local college attended by many students from Bellflower and the surrounding school districts),” says Hudak. “I truly believe that BUSD is on the cutting edge of creating a district-wide Urban Farm Education program that not only serves the educational needs of students but works to incorporate these practices into a larger conversation around public health and community development in urban areas.” GTE will continue to support schools across the country in designing and implementing programs similar to the work with Bellflower.

The post Growing Together Education Connects Learners and Communities to Green Food and Green Skills appeared first on Getting Smart.

At the time, Jeanes Teachers were funded through the Negro Rural School Fund, established by the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation in 1907 with an endowment of $1 million and recruiting Booker T. Washington to be the chairman of the Trustees. By 1909 -1910, there were 129 Jeanes Teachers operating in thirteen southern states. Soon, North Carolina took the lead with 36 Jeanes teachers by 1915.

To build on this legacy, in 2022 North Carolina created the Jeanes Fellowship. The Jeanes Fellows Program is a partnership between The Innovation Project (TIP) and the Dudley Flood Center designed to provide consistent and intentional infrastructure to support community-school relationships using an equity lens. 

The revitalized program builds upon and operationalizes needed action from 3 foundational documents: 

• The Leandro Action Plan: Sound Basic Education for All: An Action Plan for North Carolina can be found here. A few key recommendations called for a qualified and well-prepared teacher in every classroom and finance and resource allocation. 
• DRIVE Task Force Final Report and Recommendations: a report with 10 key recommendations to increase teacher diversity. Recommendations include affordable postsecondary access, diversity goals for schools and districts, and support networks for educators of color.
• NC State Board of Education Statewide Strategic Plan: a plan grounded in the guiding principles of equity and the whole child with goals to eliminate opportunity gaps, improve school and district performance, and increase educator preparedness to meet the needs of every student, all to be fulfilled by 2025.

This first cohort of fellows is working hard to advance equity, diversity and cultural responsiveness in districts across North Carolina. From EdPrep partnerships with community colleges to micro-credentials through the diversity office, these educators and district-level leaders are making a huge difference in North Carolina. 

A New Approach to Advocacy Curriculum

One Jeanes Fellow, Saletta Ureña, is laser-focused on advancing racial and culturally responsive curriculum across Guilford County Schools in a new district role focused on supports and leaning into her fellowship position. As a veteran classroom teacher (Spanish and Language Arts), it is important to her not to get too far removed from “what kids are doing in the classroom.” 

Her new district-level position allows her to find a unique space within schools and systems change. “Some people told me to try for principal, but I’ve never wanted that role,” said Saletta. In her current role, she reports directly to the Chief of Staff and is grateful for the ways that the district has supported her growth and recent training in access mapping and liberatory design. “[Guillford has] all the bells and whistles,” she says.

In her classroom days, Saletta began to recognize that she heavily focused on building a decolonized curriculum. This became the unifying thread that tied each of her roles together. She began to notice that students were not participating in spaces that encouraged good civic behavior: discourse, tolerance and advocacy. “Student councils are a great practice ground for some of the core mechanisms of civics, but they’re not diverse, and their goals aren’t diverse.” With the Jeanes Fellowship, Saletta was able to start changing that narrative. 

Using her curriculum background, Saletta focused on creating a no-prep lesson for social studies teachers with a focus on advocacy. Much of this curriculum hinged on a children’s book that was perfect for second graders. Unfortunately, that book was flagged by some recent legal challenges, and Saletta had to do a quick pivot. At a time in which the political landscape is uniquely fraught, particularly around what’s being taught, Saletta adds, “This work is not about indoctrination, it’s about systems recognition.”

Saletta was able to use the unveiling of a recent newcomer school named after the de-segregationist Sylvia Mendez to build and announce a curriculum around her book Separate is Never Equal. Currently, the curriculum is best suited for 5th-8th graders. She already has one school on board and ample funding for many more students to participate, so she begins the courting process to make the lesson a whole grade requirement or, perhaps even, a whole course. 

“North Carolina is one of the states that is constitutionally bound to provide an ‘adequate education’ to all learners,” said Saletta. “If we’re not graduating children with core literacies, character and understanding of the systems they are in and how to participate we are quite literally breaking the law.” 

An Iterative Journey

During the planning phase of the project, the Jeanes Fellows began working with Open Way Learning (OWL) to hone their liberatory design skills. In one half-day design sprint, Fellows analyzed historical Jeanes supervisors’ case studies along with current data from their home districts. This analysis helped to ground their projects in empathy data of their place and people, including the district’s learners, their families, communities, and educators. With this foundation, they then built empathy maps around each stakeholder’s point of view, uncovering common problems hindering their learning, health, and opportunities in school, home, and the community.  

This session engaged Saletta and gave her the materials she needed to communicate an emerging project idea to her leadership teams. She later explained, “Liberatory Design is EYE OPENING. My immediate takeaway from the initial session was that this was a more in-depth way of looking at and including stakeholder groups.”

In another example, Jessica Parker in Edgecombe County Schools led community co-design sessions in order to build trust between communities and support this shifting population of learners (and their conflicted families). Her experience using design thinking in prior school team collaborations, also to great effect for her learners and educators, gave her a valuable foundation for picking up and shaping liberatory design tools to engage and connect the goals of her district leadership, affected communities, and their learners and families.

In a second half-day sprint as the school year started their projects, Fellows reconvened to iterate on their original ideas with agile prototyping tools, starting with a revised problem definition based on the power of story and NOISE strategic planning. In this meeting, they were encouraged to see their role as developing and engaging with their district’s equity “coalition of the willing” by identifying the innovators and early adopters they could build relationships and partnerships with as they piloted their Fellowship efforts.

Saletta believes that this experience has given her a name for something that she has always had, a “Jeanes Fellowship Mindset,” and she hopes to spread that message at educator gatherings in the years to come. This mindset can help her and other Fellows ensure that their projects’ outcomes translate into equitable change in their districts based on a foundation of trust, collaboration, and innovation.

“You can make changes from wherever you are.”

The post Honoring A Legacy of Leaders: The Jeanes Fellowship appeared first on Getting Smart.

Student Experience

True to their stated goals of focusing on purpose and student profiles, KWS students are gaining a variety of skills outside of core content areas to grow into both thriving students and humans. Through Seminar, students engage in real-world discussions that develop their critical thinking skills. The students may be presented with a question like: Is college worth it? Is climate change a bad thing? Are U.S. elections fair? Will people live to be 150 years old or more? Should we pause AI development? They will then work together to reason and address challenges, develop solutions and better articulate their ideas on the subject. 

Along their learning journey, students focus on specific passion projects, developing their research and creativity skills. “We encourage choice and voice as much as possible. For example, in all humanities courses (and many STEM) students can self-design projects to demonstrate mastery,” said Jessica Jaeger, Khan World School Guide Manager and Humanities Guide at ASU Preparatory Academy. KWS allows students to exemplify their skills and knowledge in any way they choose, but are still expected to reason through their thinking when answering questions, they are assessed on their processing as well as their accuracy. 

Jaeger continued, “The parents are noticing that through projects and Seminar, students are building transferable skills. Employers can teach job-specific skills, but [at KWS] we’re helping equip them with some of the more durable skills.” 

At KWS, particularly at the high school level, oftentimes the feedback cycle is peer-to-peer rather than facilitator-to-student. This helps form a close cohort of students while also getting them comfortable with content and expertise, editing and much more. One 6th grade student reflected on the agenctic model by sharing “We DEFINITELY have a choice in what we dive deeper into here! For example: book talks. We can read any book we like as long as it’s not a baby book. ANY BOOK! Do you know how many books there are in the whole world?”

Student Projects

These passion projects have yielded impressive results. One student shared “I really like the mastery projects because you can do ANY IDEA YOU CAN IMAGINE!” Through co-authorship and intentional rubrics, the students are given just enough information to get started and just enough flexibility to follow their curiosities wherever they may take them. For example, one student leveraged their love of video games to explore Ancient Mesopotamia through the game Sumerians. Their critical question revolved around the historical accuracy of the game. Unprompted by the facilitating staff, this student sent an email to Dr. Irving Finkle, a scholar at the British Museum and asked questions about the game and how it compared to research on Mesopotamia. In another history project, this one at the middle school level, a 6th grader completed a humanities inquiry project that centered on the building techniques of Roman Aqueducts. They then used this lens to investigate the water system of their city. 

This work is not limited to History class, however. It also applies to Science. Some labs are structured, but when they aren’t, students are encouraged to “Design Your Own Science Lab.” This has resulted in some of the following questions and corresponding projects: 

High School

• What is the effectiveness of a linearly progressed strength training program?
• What is the effectiveness of special moves in chess?
• What was the effectiveness of COVID-19 protocols on public health outcomes (using an ASU simulation)?
• What is the correlation between the mass of an organism and the size of its genome?
• Do PEMF frequencies affect plant growth?
• What is the effectiveness of UV phone sanitizers?
• What is the effect of exercise on sleep quality?
• How efficient are different rowing strokes?

Middle School

• Does a PCle 4.0 slot actually make a huge difference over a PCle 3.0 slot when compared to desktop and gaming functionality?
• Which sports drink actually contains the most electrolytes when measured by a multimeter?
• Is a pneumatic system or a hydraulic system more efficient?
• Which colored light will cause the least amount of bacterial growth in an agar plate
• Does the density of a liquid change how fast something sinks?
• In randomized samples would people prefer photos that have an increased amount of saturation?

Additionally, a high school student in Art Independent Study has been experimenting with a variety of mediums and painting techniques.

In addition to core content projects and assignments, the KWS model provides learners with the flexibility to pursue additional passion projects outside of school. Some examples include competitive gymnastics, world champion chess, national robotics competitions, theater and a student who worked on developing an app for pregnant women in rural India that would help them track their pregnancy including when they should be visiting a doctor.

What’s Next

Khan World School is a free virtual public school option that operates as a private school in other locations. It is now enrolling for the 24-25 school year.  Interested applicants should submit their application online and select their interest in the Khan World School program. Applicants can expect to submit the following materials:

• Current transcript
• Most recent standardized test scores in math and ELA
• Letter of reference
• Student interest video essay

Interested in learning more? Check out this conversation with Sal Khan and Amy McGrath on the Khan World School.

The post Passion Projects and Peer Feedback: A Recipe for Work That Matters appeared first on Getting Smart.

As the summer neared, TPS Superintendent Dr. Josh Garcia addressed the City of Tacoma Joint Municipal Action Committee (JMAC), an assembly of officials from various governmental organizations, with a challenge to not let the tragedy of the last year go unnoticed. The community needed to act. 

The response to Dr. Garcia’s challenge was the establishment of the Summer Late Nights in Tacoma. This initiative was an incredible demonstration of what rapid and effective community collaboration can look like. Metro Parks Tacoma spearheaded marketing and grant writing, while nonprofits like the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs provided staffing and programming. Their combined efforts raised over $1.4 million from both public and private funders. The result was 12 safe spaces across the city, which, throughout the summer, hosted over 12,000 participants. There were no gun violence-related injuries or deaths among students that summer.

The Beginnings of JMAC

Understanding the roots of JMAC is crucial to appreciating this success. Initially formed in the 1970s to bring the Head Start program to Tacoma, JMAC evolved significantly over the years. The COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point, transforming JMAC from a social meeting group into an action-oriented body. Under the leadership of Chair Elizabeth Bonbright and Vice Chair Kristina Walker, JMAC focused on Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (J.E.D.I), Health and Security, and Community Wealth Building. The redefined vision and commitment to action laid the groundwork for future collaborative successes like the Summer Late Nights program.

During this period of reinvigorating the action committee, the team hosted a summit of 60 and invited community partners (including business, non-profit, and faith leaders) to share JMAC’s new united direction and ask for ways to engage with them so that their collective work would be aligned. Even after the urgency of COVID had begun to wane, a group of 75-100 attendees—mostly comprised of interested staff from participating organizations and community partners—continued to move their collaborative work forward. 

In December 2022, they held another Summit and were proud of the significant impact they achieved by shifting away from agency-siloed thinking in favor of aligned policies and funding.  

Leveraging Relationships

TPS already had a collaboration framework in place, having worked with Metro Parks Tacoma and Greentrike on the Beyond the Bell and Club Beyond programs. These programs provided after-school care to meet the post-COVID child care void and were quickly adapted for the summer initiative. The district offers TPS families free or low-cost (pay as you can) extended learning opportunities after school between the hours of 3 – 6 p.m. every weekday during the school year. The community vendors provide a wide range of engaging activities including STEAM programs, tutoring, sports, art, music, theater, and leadership opportunities. Metro Parks coordinates and Greentrike manages the vendors by recruiting vendors, performing background checks and paying for their services. By leveraging the existing infrastructure and partnerships, the community was able to quickly deploy the Summer Late Nights program.

In late April/early May of 2023, Dr. Garcia challenged JMAC members to commit dollars to stand up a program for Middle School and High School students during the summer every weekday from 5 – 10 p.m. for the 10 weeks of summer.  “We adapted the Beyond the Bell/Club B model with similar staffing but a less structured environment. And we provided hot nutritious dinners to all participants at all 12 sites.”

Throughout the program, TPS maintained a strong leadership role. Dr. Garcia’s involvement was pivotal in rallying community support and ensuring the program’s alignment with the “Whole Child, Whole Educator” approach. Half of the 12 sites were housed at a TPS Middle School and the district provided janitorial services and other in-kind supports for our 6 sites.  In addition, TPS staff often dropped in on the 12 sites throughout the summer to speak with students and Late Night staff to learn more about the impact and any suggestions for improvement and canvassing to ensure the community knew about the great opportunity.

One of the key components of Beyond the Bell, Club B and Summer Late Nights is that all staff working with TPS Students are trained in and must use their “warm welcome” and  “zones of regulation”. 

“Warm welcomes” and “zones of regulation” are components of the Tacoma Public Schools Whole Child approach to education. A “warm welcome” involves greeting each student by name and asking each student about their “zones of regulation” (how they are feeling at that moment: GREEN = Good/Happy or YELLOW = anxious/nervous/worried or BLUE = sad/depressed or RED = angry/highly emotional). These basic self-disclosed bits of the real-time emotional status of each student provide TPS teachers and afterschool providers with critical information to help them best operate a successful environment for all the students in their classrooms/activity space.

The story of the Summer Late Nights program in Tacoma is a shining example of how community collaboration can address and mitigate pressing social issues. By pooling resources, expertise, and commitment, TPS and the Tacoma community created a safe, engaging summer environment for their youth. 

The post Community Collaboration: The Success Story of Tacoma Public Schools’ Summer Late Nights Program appeared first on Getting Smart.

Fortunately, in late 2019, that changed. District Superintendent Jeff Elstad partnered with Wold Architects and Engineers (Wold) to lead a series of community design sessions to get at the heart of what a new high school could mean for Owatonna. Alongside Wold partner Sal Bagley, they sought to get alignment on “why are we building a high school?” and “what are our community/workforce needs?” Eventually, they arrived at building a high school that focuses on community pathways and, critically, meeting the demand of local employers (trades and manufacturing).

“After the early 2019 vote fell just short, I spent some time getting to know the no-voters, listening to their concerns. You know, depending on the community, referenda often has to say no first to get to yes,” said Superintendent Elstad. 

Gathering the Community

First, the District and Wold conducted research and determined that career pathways needed to be a core focus in the community. Even before the pandemic there was a huge gap between the local employer demand and the number of high school graduates who were prepared to fill the roles. Using this as a north star, the leaders assembled a community task force consisting of ~25 members and multiple high school students to vote on whether a new high school would be most likely to satisfy this need. 

Once that decision had been made, a core planning group was assembled. This team helped design the building and consisted of predominantly school staff and both high school and middle school students who got the opportunity to design their prospective high school. Community and faculty listening sessions were critical in shaping the design of the new school. With the support of local foundations, they were even able to build a community meeting space for after-hours and weekend usage by the greater Owatonna community. 

Pathways through Partnerships

Regardless of the referenda, this school could not have been built without business partnerships. After the bond passed, an additional $26 Million was donated from local business partners, making it one of the largest gifts a public school has received and paving the way for community pathways and recognition. Federated Insurance, headquartered in Owatonna, donated $20 million plus the land for the new high school. The Lehner Corporation donated furniture and equipment to the school’s music space. The Mayo Clinic donated nursing equipment to support the nursing program. As of the 23/24 school year, there are 85 students in pursuit of nursing degrees as high school students.

Part of the pathways program is student internships, coupled with 40 hour mentorship programs. Before graduation, each student has at least two internship opportunities at Owatonna High School and these programs support career pathways toward nursing, culinary arts, digital fabrication, science and engineering, publishing and digital content creation. 

“Currently, we have a great relationship with Federated Insurance,” said Brian Coleman, Owatonna Career Pathways Navigator. “They provide internship opportunities in both the fall and spring semesters.  The positions range from Life Operations, Custodian, Print Center/Stockroom, Policy Assembly, Business Coordination Center, IT, Customer Accounts and Accounting.”

The district also has a growing exploratory middle school design. All 8th-grade students take a semester-long course called College and Career Readiness which meets for 82 minutes every other day. In this class, students take an interest inventory, explore post-secondary options, and work with Junior Achievement presenters on career readiness. 

Through innovative partnerships and career awareness models, Owatonna is setting an example for what it looks like to build a school that serves the community’s student needs, economic needs and future. 

The post Owatonna’s New School Sets Eyes on Local Pathways appeared first on Getting Smart.

The STEAD School

In Commerce City, Colorado, a new project-based school concept called STEAD is reimagining what it means to have a school and a farm in the community. Sitting on the footprint of a former 10,000-acre farm, this school is committed to continuing to develop leaders in agriculture through nimble, hands-on learning and flexible pathways.

The public charter serves 370 students in grades 9-11, with its first graduating class beginning 12th grade next year. Grades 9-10 are a cohort band resulting in numerous cross-grade learning experiences. 

Through partnerships with Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and Together We Grow, the school is able to deliver on four primary pathways: animal, plant, environmental, food science, within which there are over 3000 career possibilities. The school model also features accelerator weeks which give the students short sprint-like opportunities to develop projects, connections and learn what they like to do. 

On the campus is the Seed Lab, a one-acre farm, a greenhouse and three steel structures filled with flexible learning spaces. The one-acre farm grows vegetables and leafy greens that directly integrate with the school lunch and culinary programs. Moving forward, there will also be stables on the site where students will get hands-on veterinary experiences. To keep the summer garden alive, they launched STEAD Market where students are hired to run the garden and facilities over the summer. To graduate, these students complete a minimum of one Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) internship

When talking with students, we heard that they most appreciate the student/teacher relationships, which often show up in their ‘hive,’ an advisory model that supports students in portfolio creation, career exploration and more. 

They think of the campus as if it were a college, many of the buildings and spaces are named based on donors as a result of how they were able to source the funding and students find themselves frequenting common spaces and controlling their environment to maximize collaboration. STEAD students are also part of Future Farmers of America and soon will be the largest contingent in America.

Watershed School

Nestled against the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, Watershed School fosters a community of intellectually curious and socially conscious learners. Since it was established in 2004, Watershed has been committed to cultivating an educational experience that bridges academic rigor with real-world engagement, preparing students to become active participants in shaping a better world.

At Watershed, learning happens beyond textbooks and outside of classroom walls. Students are encouraged to explore their passions, question assumptions and challenge conventional thinking. The curriculum comprises both Skills and Expedition courses, with the intention of engaging students in work that matters and is based on the 25 global goals referenced in Difference Making at the Heart of Learning.

A cornerstone of Watershed is the belief that education should be deeply rooted in a sense of social responsibility. Students are actively engaged in service learning projects, tackling issues from conservation to community development. These experiences foster empathy, compassion and a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of our world.

Watershed graduates carry with them a sense of purpose and the transferable skills to make a positive impact on the world.  As students navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing world, Watershed provides them with the tools and the courage to help shape a world that is sustainable, equitable and filled with possibility.

Compass Community Collaborative School

Established in 2017, Compass Community Collaborative School in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a learner-centered competency-based public charter school. A sign hangs above the entrance to the school building that reads “WE STILL LOVE SCHOOL Real World Learning in Real Times.”

At Compass, the traditional classroom model gives way to a dynamic learning environment where students take ownership of their education. Students build their personalized learner record, through Mastery Transcript Consortium, moving through levels of autonomy based on mastery of competencies throughout their middle and high school years.

Treating the community as their campus, students collaborate with local institutions and organizations such as No Barriers, Colorado State University and OtterCares to do research, participate in internships, utilize outdoor learning spaces and dive deep into projects that address community needs. Compass is a part of the Big Picture Learning network, and real-world learning, authentic assessments, teacher professional development, post-secondary planning, leaving to learn experiences and advisory are all integral components of the school.

A typical day in the life of a Compass student begins with three Studio courses in the morning, such as Math, Spanish, and ELA, a 90-minute Advisory class, and then the rest of the afternoon is spent in their Venture course. Wednesdays allow for Electives and an extended deep dive into their Venture course. Compass designs each Venture to cover skills and knowledge across competencies while peaking student interest, frequently considering student input and requests as they develop and build new courses each year. One course currently being offered is “The Art and Science of Cosplay” where students design their own costumes incorporating coding in Python.

These schools are great examples of flexible learning environments and the many benefits of embedding in community.

The post Agency and Co-Authoring Thriving in Colorado Schools appeared first on Getting Smart.