Real World Learning

Leadership

When to Innovate, When to Implement, and When to Improve: A Framework for Strategic Schools

Nate McClennen, Rebecca Midles

Sep 8, 2026

Career & Technical Ed

Core Plus Explore: How Embedded Career Relevance Improves Engagement in Foundational Courses

Guest Author

Aug 27, 2026

Staff member from udall.gov leading an outdoor photography workshop with a diverse group of middle school students

Future of Learning

Steward Stories: CommunityShare Proves That the Community Is the Curriculum

Guest Author

Aug 11, 2026

Ed Policy

Exploring Policy From the Ground Up: Illuminations from the Da Vinci Network

Guest Author

Aug 4, 2026

New Pathways

Steward Stories: How the PAST Foundation Turned Real-World Problems Into a Learning Ecosystem

Guest Author

Jul 30, 2026

EdTech

Beyond the Classroom Walls: What Research Says About Virtual Field Trips

Guest Author

Jul 28, 2026

Subscribe to Our Podcast

This podcast highlights developing trends in K-12 education, postsecondary and lifelong learning. Each week, Getting Smart team members interview students, leading authors, experts and practitioners in research, tech, entrepreneurship and leadership to bring listeners innovative and actionable strategies in education leadership.

View Series

Find us on:

apple spotify stitcher

Equity & Access

Steward Stories: How Heart of Oregon Corps Turns Service into Careers

Guest Author

Jul 14, 2026

What does it look like when three community believers spend 25 years refusing to give up on young people? Heart of Oregon Corps has built a tri-county workforce and learning ecosystem that connects youth facing the greatest barriers to paid work, credentials, and real careers. This Steward Stories spotlight examines the trust, time, and relentless community-braiding that make HOC a model for ecosystem intermediaries everywhere. Education leaders will find transferable lessons in partnership design, sustainable funding, and what it means to build pathways that dignify rather than sort.

Future of Learning

What Ecosystem Stewards Know That System Leaders Don’t — Yet

Guest Author

Jul 7, 2026

What does it actually take to steward a learning ecosystem, and how is that different from leading a system? Karen Pittman and Merita Irby spent a year inside four community intermediaries, including CommunityShare, the PAST Foundation, and Heart of Oregon Corps, and surfaced three prerequisites that change everything: trust, time, and idea translation. This post is essential reading for any leader working to connect education, youth development, and workforce systems into something greater than the sum of their parts.

Ed Policy

When Scale Gets Ahead of Learning

Rebecca Midles

Jul 6, 2026

Why honest naming matters in education redesign: distinguish R&D from implementation so leaders scale learning, not assumptions.

SEL & Mindset

What If School Offered More? The Case for Community Schools

Guest Author

Jun 4, 2026

Community schools boost student success by connecting learning with mental health, family support, and local community resources.

	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

Advocacy

Advisory

Topics

Recent Releases

Real World Learning

Subscribe to Our Podcast

Find us on: