Agency and Co-Authoring Thriving in Colorado Schools
[…] 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 […]
3 Ways Leaders Can Create The Conditions for Deeper Learning
Leaders are charged with creating the learning culture and environment that is conducive to deeper learning. Three areas to begin with are how we start school, how we share student work and how we culminate the year.
An Equity-Driven Approach Towards Assessments and Grading
[…] to penalize deficits (often arbitrarily), rather than reward growth or learning. This is further exacerbated by punitive practices such as class ranking or curves, which competitively score students relative to each other, as opposed to objectively measuring against learning standards. Traditional point systems often calculate grades as averages. In essence, it penalizes students for […]
From Last Chance to First Choice: Alternative Schools That Show the Way Forward
Last March, high school junior Walter Cortina lost his job, then he found out that his state prohibited high school students from receiving unemployment benefits. As a primary wage earner for his family, he explained this problem in an articulate op-ed in the local newspaper. Walter was able to land a paid internship at The Minneapolis […]
Invention Opportunity: Measuring What Matters
By: Devin Vodicka Our current K-12 educational system continues to operate on a model of age-based cohorts where students matriculate through a set of disconnected experiences, organized by subject area for elementary schools and by courses for secondary schools, with a net result that few learners complete high school prepared for lifelong learning. This […]
The Tail is Wagging the Education System
By Dr. Katie Martin and Dr. Devin Vodicka In a recent workshop a teacher reflected, “Everything we do is focused on getting students to go to college.” When asked how many students go to college she shared, “usually about 30%.” The next question might be what you are also wondering: What is the plan […]
Values-Driven Learning in Hawai’i Helps Learners Find What They Are SEEQing
[…] to reimagine what education could be through the creation of a completely new school, what would it look like? What would be its overarching purpose? How would students engage and what student outcomes would you insist on? These are enormous questions that not many are willing to think seriously about, much less put into […]
Real World Learning in San Diego High Schools
[…] the first freeway in San Diego County). Mesa College was built on a hill 20 years later right around the corner. By the 1990s, three-quarters of Kearny students were economically disadvantaged and achievement and graduation rates were low. In 2004, the school reopened as the Kearny High Educational Complex with four small career pathway […]
ACT Expands Focus from The Test to Holistic Framework
When the pandemic struck the world in the spring of 2020, ACT was impacted by mass cancellations of their well-known admissions assessment. Students preparing for months were disappointed they wouldn’t get a chance to prove their college readiness. Calls started funneling into their Iowa City headquarters and the organization stepped up to work with local […]
Developing Career Clarity in High School
[…] an improving job market, what were often lousy pandemic learning conditions, and increasing college costs and fear of the new worst case scenario–debt without a degree. “ Student debt isn’t the problem, it’s a symptom ,” said Joe Belsterling, founder of MajorClarity. “Only 60% of college enrolling students are getting a degree in 6 […]
