Schools Worth Visiting
The Getting Smart team visits hundreds of schools each year and is grateful for the opportunity to see high-quality teaching and learning in action. This series features stories of schools that share best practices, lessons learned and next-gen teaching practices that support high-quality, personalized, project-based learning for all students.
Where High School Starts with Leadership and Design Thinking
Imagine a high school that started with design thinking and leadership training. Imagine having the opportunity to prototype a solution to a community problem and earn a provisional patent. For students at a Kansas City high school, it's a reality.
The Learning Must Go On
How even the coronavirus couldn’t stop agile Asian schools from functioning. With robust learning systems in place, it’s ‘business as usual.’
Why and How to Open a Microschool
Distinctive pathways and competency-based learning are just two of the reasons why microschools are gaining popularity. A look at microschools in the U.S.
Alive With Possibility: 20 Tips for Creating Responsive Schools
Responsive schools create a culture of possibility for youth by giving voice to their interests today and exposing them to opportunities for tomorrow. They enable success in what’s next—in work, learning, and community service.
Teaching A Big School New Tricks: The Huntley 158 Competency Pilot
Despite coming with challenges, some communities choose big schools for some of the advantages they offer. And hundreds of those big suburban schools across the country are innovating to personalize learning and connect youth to meaningful postsecondary pathways.
HopSkipDrive: Safe Ride Share for Kids
What if kids could use ride share services to travel to their internship or get home after soccer practice? HopSkipDrive, a Los Angeles startup, has solved this problem with a safe transportation solution for families and schools.
11 Alternative Schools that are Real Alternatives
Trying to push all kids through a content-centric, compliance-oriented model just won’t work. A variety of alternative approaches have been attempted; here are a few approaches educators have to develop for youth that haven’t been successful in traditional schools.
A Lesson We Keep Relearning: It’s All About Relationships
Good schools build relationships into their structure, culture and practices. Strong relationships build a sense of belonging, they cultivate success skills, and they promote achievement. Strong relationships today makes possible a lifetime of success.
Why Schools Need Signature Learning Experiences
Signature experiences and signature building blocks can promote model efficacy, prioritize important outcomes for students and serve to differentiate schools and networks.
Acton Academy: Hero Launch Pad Goes Global
“We believe each person who enters Acton Academy will find a calling that changes the world.” In a world where most schools have mission statements about preparation for a fuzzy future, the Acton Academy promise is shockingly bold and full of agency. The promise is that through Socratic dialogs and…