Blog | Getting Smart

What does it look like when a city becomes a learning system? Big Thought's story spans 35 years, 480,000 young people, and a foundational insight that changed everything: dosage matters, but it doesn't have to happen inside a single organization. This Steward Story traces how Erin Offord, Greg MacPherson, and the leaders who came before them built Dallas City of Learning into one of the country's most sophisticated learning-ecosystem intermediaries. For education leaders thinking about scale, community partnership, and what real systems change requires, this one is essential reading.

New Pathways

What Makes Dual Enrollment Actually Work: Building Pathways Students Can Actually Trust

Getting Smart Staff

Sep 15, 2026

A student can earn a dual enrollment credit, feel proud of the work, and still discover a year later that it transfers nowhere they actually plan to go. Blog 2 of our series with Britebound examines what it takes to build guided pathways that genuinely count and postsecondary partnerships that share vision, budget, and responsibility rather than simply purchasing seats. For district leaders and intermediaries, this post offers concrete questions to ask and a framework for knowing whether your dual enrollment model is keeping its promise to students.

Future of Learning

One Map, Every Framework: The Shared Architecture Behind School Transformation

Nate McClennen, Rebecca Midles

Sep 14, 2026

If your teams have ever spent valuable meeting time translating between frameworks instead of moving learning forward, this piece is for you. Nate McClennen and Rebecca Midles analyzed 16 leading school-design frameworks and 7 change models and found something remarkable: beneath every different vocabulary, the same seven questions keep emerging. Their Learning Innovation Wayfinder offers a common map, not to replace the frameworks your system trusts, but to help every partner finally see they have been working toward the same destination all along.

Equity & Access

What Makes Dual Enrollment Actually Work: Intentional, Coherent Design & Equitable Access

Getting Smart Staff

Sep 11, 2026

Dual enrollment promises a head start on college, but for which students? In the first installment of a four-part series developed with Britebound, Getting Smart examines what separates a well-designed dual enrollment model from a catalog full of disconnected courses. This post introduces two foundational principles, intentional design and equitable access, and offers concrete questions every district can ask about its own program. It is essential reading for leaders who want dual enrollment to be more than a line item.

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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