Getting Smart Innovation Playlist

Our Framework

Everything in this collection connects back to one organizing question: what does it actually take to build a learning system that works for every student? The Getting Smart Learning Innovation Framework is our answer. Built through years of co-design with schools, districts, and communities, it is not a checklist or a reform model. It is a set of generative questions that help leaders see both what is already working and where the disconnects are that limit overall impact.

The framework centers on four stakeholders (learner, educator, leader, and community) and organizes system change around five essential questions:

Why? A Community Vision establishes the foundation for redesign by identifying community needs, building a shared mission, and ensuring that transformation is rooted in what a community actually values and aspires to for its students.

What? Learner Outcomes define the competencies, progressions, and standards that guide learning and development, moving beyond content coverage to describe the full range of skills, mindsets, and capacities students need to thrive.

How? The Learning Model outlines the systems, design principles, and instructional frameworks needed to help every learner reach proficiency, grounded in learning science and oriented around a positive, learner-centered culture.

For Whom? Signals describe how proficiency is communicated and valued through report cards, portfolios, credentials, transcripts, and learner records, creating transparent ways for students, families, and educators to understand and celebrate progress.

Where? The Learning Ecosystem encompasses the full range of spaces and systems that support learning, including facilities, scheduling, staffing, partnerships, and technology, both on-site and beyond school walls.

Read this framework first. Every article in this collection is in conversation with at least one of these five questions. Knowing the framework helps you read the rest of the list with a clearer sense of where each piece fits in your own redesign journey.

To go deeper:

• Building Systems That Serve: The Power of the Getting Smart Innovation Framework explores the framework in action across real systems
• Our podcast episode on the framework brings the five questions to life through conversation with practitioners
• Related reading for each framework element is woven throughout the sections that follow

Why Now: The Future Context

The most important question a leadership team can ask is not how to improve the current system. It is whether the current system is designed for the world students are actually entering. These two pieces make the case for urgency before any redesign conversation begins.

Probable and Possible: Why the Era of Probabilistic Computing Requires Real World Learning with an Entrepreneurial Mindset 

AI systems can now complete hours of expert work in minutes. That changes what schools are actually for. We make the case that as probabilistic, agentic AI takes over more routine and even complex cognitive tasks, the human capacities that become most valuable are not the ones most schools currently prioritize: judgment under uncertainty, opportunity recognition, curiosity, and the ability to create value in ambiguous situations. Drawing on research from MIT, UCLA, and the KEEN engineering network, as well as Bandura’s work on the agentic mindset, we argue that real-world learning is not an enrichment model. It is the appropriate response to the world students are entering. The most provocative piece in this collection is the one most likely to shift a leadership team’s conversation about long-term direction.

Entrepreneurship: The New Core Curriculum

Every student benefits from thinking like an entrepreneur, meaning they identify problems worth solving, design solutions, test and iterate, and take initiative toward something that matters. We make the case that entrepreneurial thinking is not a specialized elective but a transferable capacity that belongs at the core of any personalized learning model. Pairs naturally with Probable and Possible as a more grounded, program-focused companion, and connects forward to the CTE piece in Strategic Leadership & Change. 

Vision & Community

A portrait of a graduate without aligned systems is a poster. These pieces explore what it takes to build a vision that lives in daily practice, not just in strategic plans, and to extend that vision outward to every stakeholder in the community.

Charting a Course for Educational Transformation: The Power of Aligned Portraits

We introduce the multi-portrait model (Portrait of a Learner, Portrait of a System, Portrait of a Leader, and Portrait of an Educator) as a powerful conceptual framework for aligning a district around a shared vision of transformation. This is essential grounding before any system redesign work begins.

A Graduate Portrait Names What We Value. Our Learning System Shows That We Mean It.

A Portrait of a Graduate identifies the traits a community wants for its students. But without aligned grading practices, instructional design, professional culture, and policy, it remains aspirational rather than lived. We explore what coherence actually requires, including two approaches districts use to extend portrait expectations to adults, with examples from Glenbard Township High Schools and Goose Creek CISD. We also offer a concrete design process for alignment grounded in observation, small experiments, and iterative revision. This piece bridges vision and practice more directly than any other in this collection. Read it alongside So, Your District Wants Personalized Learning… Where Do You Start? When your team is ready to move from aspiration to action.

Portrait of a Community to Empower Learning Transformation

We extend the Portrait of a Graduate concept outward to the broader community, making the case that a truly personalized learning ecosystem must align with the values and needs of every stakeholder, not just those inside school walls. A necessary read before any community engagement or co-design process begins.

The Power of Participation: Why Public Leadership and Civic Readiness Is a Solution to Our Schools’ Engagement Problem

Disengagement is not a student problem. It is a design problem. We make the case that civic readiness and public leadership are not separate from academic transformation but are among its most powerful drivers. This piece reframes community participation as a core design strategy rather than an outreach obligation.

Strategic Leadership & Change

Vision and leadership conditions must be in place before design work begins. These pieces address the organizational and relational infrastructure that makes transformation durable rather than episodic.

Trust & Transformation: Why Local Intermediaries Are the Key to Education’s Future

Top-down mandates do not transform systems. Trusted relationships do. We make the case that the missing ingredient in most district transformation efforts is not strategy or resources but the presence of local intermediaries who know the community, hold trust across stakeholder groups, and can translate vision into action at the neighborhood level. Essential reading for any superintendent who has watched a well-designed initiative fail to take root and wants to understand why.

How Can We Build Strategic Learning Organizations? The Power of ‘When’

Most districts know what they want to change. Fewer know how to sequence it so that one initiative builds capacity for the next rather than competing with it. We make the case that timing is a strategic variable, not an administrative detail, and that the districts making the most durable progress are those treating the implementation sequence as a design decision. A practical and underread piece for any leader managing multiple initiatives at once.

How to Leverage CTE for Durable, Personalized Pathways

With 98% of school districts offering CTE programs and over 11 million students enrolled nationally, CTE is one of education’s genuine success stories. But students are telling us they want more than exposure. They want to know what comes next. We explore what it looks like when CTE moves from a single step to a genuine staircase, connecting individual experiences into stackable pathways that build momentum, deepen skills, and open doors over time. We introduce a three-level progression model (Foundation, Connection, and Agentic experiences) and share examples from Tacoma Public Schools and Porterville, California, where CTE has been redesigned to align with community needs, industry demand, and authentic student agency. Connects directly to the Portrait and entrepreneurship pieces earlier in the list.

System & Learning Design

With leadership conditions in place and a shared vision established, the design work begins. These pieces address the practical questions of how to structure learning, where it happens, and how to sequence a transformation strategy without losing momentum or equity.

So, Your District Wants Personalized Learning… Where Do You Start?

Most districts run pilots. Few design R&D. That distinction is why so many transformation efforts stall. A pilot asks whether a unit works. R&D asks what must change in grading, scheduling, staffing, and policy for a new model to work at scale. We introduce a practical framework for matching the scale of your test to the complexity of what you are trying to learn, from two classrooms testing a grading shift, to a small cohort piloting interdisciplinary work, to a microschool testing simultaneous shifts across multiple systems. Includes a decision guide and real examples from districts, including Cheney Public Schools, Liberty Public Schools, and Tacoma. Read this before launching anything. Pairs with A Graduate Portrait Names What We Value for teams moving from vision to action.

Transforming Learning, Deciding Where to Start: Practical Steps for Educational Leaders

We share our design process for getting started on transforming learning systems, from identifying the right entry points to sequencing initiatives so each builds toward the next. A practical, superintendent-ready guide for navigating the complexity of system change without losing coherence or momentum.

How Can We Reimagine Where Learning Happens? Designing Schools as Community Hubs

We reimagine school buildings not as self-contained institutions but as community learning hubs within a broader personalized ecosystem, integrating real-world and digital resources well beyond classroom walls. A forward-looking piece for districts ready to rethink space and structure as a design variable, not just a facilities question.

Why High-Quality Learning Opportunities Must Be Personalized to Each Learner

We make the foundational case for personalized, competency-based learning, exploring how tailoring education to individual needs makes learning more engaging, equitable, and effective. Useful as a shared reading for leadership teams building a common language and a shared “why” before moving into instructional design work.

Assessment & Instructional Practice

System design without an aligned assessment is a vision without feedback. These pieces address the classroom and building-level work that makes personalized learning coherent and trustworthy in practice. The reliability of any signal system, including credentials, transcripts, and learner records, depends on the consistency of the proficiency judgments behind it. The calibration piece below is foundational to the Signals work described in the next section.

What if Proficiency Is Not Proficient? The Case for Calibration

If three teachers in your building assess the same student work using the same rubric, will they arrive at the same proficiency rating? If you hesitate, calibration is the work you have not yet done. We make the case that calibration is not an optional professional development activity. It is the infrastructure that makes competency-based learning coherent, equitable, and defensible. We offer practical peer- and student-calibration protocols and explore how AI-assisted tools can make this ongoing work sustainable at scale. This is the piece for instructional coaches and teacher teams doing the daily work of CBE, and for leaders who want to understand why grading reform without calibration tends to fail quietly. Read alongside A Graduate Portrait Names What We Value for a complete picture of what alignment requires at the classroom level. Read this before moving into the Signals section. A credential or transcript is only as trustworthy as the proficiency judgment behind it.

Braided Learning: How AI Can Enhance What Educators Already Do Well

The most important question about AI in schools is not whether to use it. It is where human judgment ends and where routine cognitive work begins. We introduce braided learning as a practical answer, showing how educators can weave AI tools into four phases of their existing practice (preparing for learning, learning in context, making learning visible, and planning next steps) so they spend less time on tasks that can be automated and more time on the relational, responsive work that only humans can do. Grounded in a real classroom example and built around a clear framework for distinguishing productive AI assistance from counterproductive outsourcing. The most accessible entry point in this collection for educators and leaders who want a principled, practical starting point with AI.

For Whom: Signals

A district can redesign its learning model for years. Still, the moment a family receives a report card or a student applies to college, the signal system either affirms or contradicts everything the system says it values. Transcripts, grades, credentials, and learner records are not administrative details. They are the public expression of what a system values in students. These pieces address the most publicly visible and politically sensitive dimension of transformation. Before reading this section, we recommend the Calibration piece in Assessment & Instructional Practice. A credential is only as meaningful as the consistency of judgment behind it.

The Transcript Trap: Why Our Students Need Credentials, Not Just Grades 

Most students are not learning the art of understanding. They are learning the art of optimizing grades. We make the case that our current transcript and grading system is not a neutral measure of student readiness. It is a design that rewards speed over mastery, compliance over curiosity, and course completion over demonstrated competency. Drawing on both parent experience and systems-level analysis, we explore what it would mean to shift from credentials that document time spent to credentials that communicate what students actually know and can do, including digital badges, Learning and Employment Records, competency transcripts, and skills-based credentials that travel with learners beyond graduation. A strong first read for any leadership team beginning to examine whether their signal system matches their stated values.

Expanding Access, Value, and Experiences Through Credentials 

This publication takes a landscape view of where credentialing is now and where it needs to go, with practical frameworks for implementing equitable and transparent credentialing systems across K-12 and into postsecondary and workforce contexts. It surfaces one of the field’s most important structural gaps: the divide between K-12 credentialing efforts and postsecondary and workforce systems, and offers concrete guidance for districts ready to begin bridging it. Use this alongside The Transcript Trap and the MTC piece as a practical companion for a leadership team moving from conviction to action on the Signals element of the framework.

Proof Point, Pressure Point: Why Signals Will Make or Break What Comes Next

Every learning innovation eventually runs into the same question: how do we show what learners truly know and can do? This piece does not sidestep the difficulty of that question. We examine both why new credentialing systems are essential and exactly where they break down, addressing the adoption headwinds, governance gaps, AI risks, and trust barriers that cause even well-designed signal systems to stall. We introduce the tension between credentialing skills and credentialing experiences, and make the case that the most meaningful signals will need to honor both, connecting demonstrated competencies to the authentic, high-quality experiences that give them context and credibility. We also surface the trust question that no technical solution alone can answer: stakeholders need plain-language explanations, clear rights over their data, and local proof points before they will believe in a new system. The most honest and complete picture of where the signals field stands right now, and what it will take to move it forward. Read this alongside the MTC piece for a full view of both the promise and the genuine difficulty of this work.

A New Infrastructure for Learning Credentials 

College admissions is the choke point. Schools say they want to do things differently, but believe they cannot because colleges want learning communicated through a traditional transcript readable in three minutes. We have spent seven years proving that assumption wrong. Students from Mastery Transcript Consortium schools have gained acceptance to 592 colleges and universities without grades, credit hours, or GPA. In this piece, MTC CEO Mike Flanagan maps the three infrastructures required to make new credentialing systems work at scale: technical (the tools and protocols to capture and share new kinds of learning data), semantic (shared definitions of what skills like collaboration and critical thinking actually mean and look like), and heuristic (the harder work of rewriting the mental frameworks that admissions officers, employers, and educators use to decide what counts as good). The most systems-level piece in this collection on the Signals question, and essential reading for any leader thinking beyond the report card to what a complete redesign of how learning is communicated could look like.

Microschools: Designing Small for Big Impact

Microschools are not a separate category of innovation. They are a high-leverage design option for districts that have done the vision, leadership, and system design work and are ready to test multiple structural shifts simultaneously. If the earlier sections describe what you are building toward, this section describes one of the most powerful containers for building it.

The Public Microschool Playbook: A New Actionable Guide for System Leaders

 Getting Smart, Learner-Centered Collaborative & Transcend

Co-created with the Learner-Centered Collaborative and Transcend, this field-tested guide takes a superintendent from concept to launch inside a public district context. It covers the three phases of microschool development (planning, designing, and implementing) with practical guidance on policy waivers, financial sustainability, enrollment equity, and the structural elements that make small-school models genuinely learner-centered rather than just small. The most concrete and actionable resource in this collection.

The Rise of Millennial-Powered Microschools

We examine the forces driving the explosive growth of microschools, from shifting family values and demand for personalized learning to urgent equity questions about who these models serve and who they leave out. An essential read for understanding the cultural and community context behind the movement, and why districts that do not engage with it may find themselves outside a significant shift in how families think about school.

Microschools Series Hub: Resources, Case Studies & Tools

Our dedicated microschools hub brings together everything we have published on small-school design in one place, including the Public Microschool Playbook, case studies on public microschools in districts, assessment and evaluation guides, a parents’ guide, and our culminating sector report. A practical resource library for any district team doing early-stage exploration or active planning.