In many high schools in the nation, the traditional course sequence and graduation requirements remain static: four years of English, three years of math, three years of science, etc. Both mathematical and language literacies still hold major importance for every graduate. And, as the world becomes more complex and unpredictable, new consideration should be given to the required core content. 

We talk a lot about the most innovative learner-centered schools that combine personalized, competency-based and project-based learning co-designed around real-world experiences. Here, content emerges from student interest in high-purpose topics while also linking to standards or competencies. These learning environments are challenging the Carnegie status quo and sit on the horizon of education. While important signals for the future of learning, they remain the minority.

Updating content areas would accelerate learning around three core types of skills expected by schools: core skills (typically the skills of writing, reading, mathematics, history, arts found in state standards), technological skills (industry skills earned through CTE programs, work-based learning, apprenticeships, career pathways, etc.), and transferable skills (durable skills, XQ). Weaving in the content below will create engaging and future forward ways to nurture the core, technological and durable skills while preparing young people to govern, contribute and thrive as adults.

Next-Gen Economics

Every learner should engage in learning about entrepreneurship. Releasing a generation of empowered problem-solvers equipped with the tools to contribute to ventures that have both financial and/or social impact, helps future generations find their sense of purpose and ownership. Uncharted Learning, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and KnoPro from NAF all provide resources to embed entrepreneurial experiences and content.

Additionally, with both our country and many individuals experiencing significant debt, financial literacy remains low for graduates. Yet, it can have the most profound outcome on financial stability. Budgeting, credit, borrowing, and investing increase the long-term probability of financial stability for graduates. Both entrepreneurship and personal finance are well-represented in those who choose the CTE Finance or CTE Business and Administration career clusters, but this is not universally available. Many free or low-cost resources exist (see list here).

Artificial Intelligence

While school leaders and educators still are in the early stages of understanding the impact of AI, there is no doubt that it will rapidly become immersed in the education sector (likely in hyper-personalized learning of core skills and support for learning design and assessment). However, every graduate should understand the core principles of AI functionality and how to use it to augment intelligence and performance. These skills will be requisite in almost every future professional career. TeachAI.org recently released a guide for AI implementation while some districts, like Gwinnett County Public Schools, offer an AI CTE program pathway.

Civics and Citizenship

While often found in civics classrooms, the content remains less about good citizenship and more about the structures and function of government. While the structures and function are important, every student should understand their role in a democracy through political processes, how to move an idea to action, and community organizing for change. For example, the United States, with less than 50% of eligible 18-29 year old voters participating in elections, is in dire need of core education in civics. Organizations such as iCivics and Citizens and Scholars offer innovative and engaging approaches to civic education.

Media Literacy

Few other influential forces impact the current (and future) generations like digital media. The power of disinformation, misinformation, bias, etc. propagated through heavily financed algorithms will only increase. High school graduates need the tools and filters to process and evaluate everything they see online to better understand ways to get to the truth. Advances in AI around image, audio and video generation will make discernment of fact even more difficult. Resources such as Civic Online Reasoning at the core of every high school curriculum will have a significant positive change for future generations.

Healthy Living

Data shows the declining mental and physical health of adolescents. A generation struggling with mental and physical health increases the emotional and financial costs of a nation. While physical education programs have changed significantly over the years (like less dodgeball and rope climbing and more yoga and personal fitness), students still disengage from physical education. Accelerating, personalizing and customizing healthy living as part of core learning will increase the odds of healthy adults. Healthy food programs such as Food Corps and innovative physical education programs that focus on personal fitness can be integrated into the school day.

Place and Sustainability

Too many learners graduate high school with little to no knowledge about their local context and the long-term social, economic and ecological factors that drive the success or demise of a community. Every learner should graduate not only with a deep understanding of their own place, but should also know how to understand and impact future communities. Finding local purpose to inspire students through the creation of high-impact projects (Teton Science Schools’ Place-based Education, High Tech High) and building content around sustainability standards (Cloud Institute) can increase the long-term vitality of local and regional communities.

Neuroscience

One of the last frontiers in understanding the human body (along with the microbiome) is the brain. Every day, students are bombarded with outside stimuli that impact their brains from substances (alcohol, vaping, drug use, etc.) to technology (media, phones) – all while going through one of the more significant changes in the human brain – adolescence. Teaching relevant neuroscience could improve choice-making, mental health and learning in general (Global Online Academy, University of Wisconsin Neuroscience Training Program). By graduation all students should be able to describe the conditions and processes for how they learn and how they manage stress.

Data Science

Data science has surfaced over the last decade as critically important in many higher ed institutions and professions. Too many young people graduate high school never having had to create a spreadsheet, let alone organize, analyze and synthesize large amounts of data. Given the continued acceleration (again hyper-charged via AI) of data creation, every graduate needs to understand how to find, interpret, organize and analyze data in every form (YouCubed). 

Current Events 

While traditional history has expansive coverage in schools, most learners experience fact immersion rather than relevance and understanding. Every high school learner should experience history through a modern-day lens to both understand the throughline (see Throughline podcast) and the repeated themes of history — war, peace, power, oppression, freedom, religion, etc. — to find hope and skills to imagine a more peaceful future. Facing History provides a Current Events toolkit for those ready to jump in.

Systems and Futures

Understanding both systems thinking (the complex interactivity of multiple elements) and futures thinking (aptitudes for transformative vision-seeking over short-term solutions) is critical in a complex and uncertain world. By explicitly creating content and experiences around these concepts, young people are better equipped to anticipate and address current and future challenges.

To be clear, literacy remains paramount and a core pillar of society. While as a nation we still greatly struggle with literacy rates, we cannot wait to adapt our current content base toward possibility, opportunity and contribution. If a high school does not have the support or resources to complete redesign, rethinking the core curriculum may be an alternative first step when state or local policy allows. Replacing or merging the typical core content with the ten content areas above better supports the current generation of students to tackle an unpredictable and uncertain world.

The post The Content Every High School Student Should Learn (But Doesn’t) appeared first on Getting Smart.

In 2020, however, the pandemic enabled families to see (and often engage in) their children’s school experience. This window into school made transparent the quality, types of learning and community that made up the lived experience of their children. For some, low satisfaction fueled renewed interest in microschooling led by parents, political support and philanthropic dollars.

The last two years of microschool growth (estimated enrollment by the National Microschooling Center at 1-2 million current students), heavily subsidized by the philanthropic sector, demonstrated that the demand exists. Alongside this resurgence, key questions arise: Are microschools sustainable? What outcomes should they measure (if any)? Are they compatible within the public sector? Can they scale? 

Below, we briefly hit upon the first three questions and then dive into the question of scaling.

Sustainability

Most microschools operate in the private sector, sustained by public funds (via Education Savings Account structures) or private tuition. Both of these funding sources supply individual students with far less than can be found in the public sector, making the business models and staffing (1-2 educators and a handful of students without the support of larger operations systems) challenging over time. Organizations like Microschool Revolution (investment model) and Prenda (service and support model) have emerged to address this issue.

Outcomes

In the public sector, there is a heavy focus on narrow slices of accountability which challenges  many families. Although microschools have far fewer accountability expectations outside of the public sector, they do have a responsibility to ensure that every child finds success. As a sector, we remain in the early stages of alternative, efficient, adaptive and flexible forms of measurement addressing both academic and whole child development.

Public Sector

With increasingly diminished enrollment in many districts (3% post-pandemic), the public sector needs to imagine the power of microschools within their existing communities. More specialized approaches, autonomy for teachers and small communities that benefit from larger districts will better serve all students. High school academy models such as CAPS and NAF have scaled around professional pathways to provide more opportunities for high school students.

Scale

Roughly 1-2 million students are enrolled in some form of a microschool, just 2% of all students enrolled in K-12 schools (estimates are difficult as many microschools are not required to report enrollment numbers). If demand is high for microschools – and demonstrated success continues, then scaling support is needed. ASU Prep in Phoenix, Arizona built a Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship Program program to help facilitate this scaling. Based on the success of their microschool options — powered by ASU Prep Digital and partnered with ASU Prep school or ASU higher education campus — ASU Prep wants to support others in this journey. 

The size of microschools may provide the sense that they are easy to start and run. Yet, anecdotes from the field indicate challenges with sustainability and operations. Partner organizations and programs, like ASU Prep’s Microschool in a Box fill a needed space in the ecosystem to help these programs thrive and scale.

The ASU Prep Microschool Entrepreneur Program provides training and support for microschools. The fellowship spans one year with coaching calls starting for those accepted as early as October. A 3-day in-person Fellowship gathering in February in Tempe, Arizona kicks off the formal programming which leads to an online community of practice designed to build community amongst fellows. They then round out the year with frequent resources and ongoing mentorship and support. The program will support the launch of several new microschools in the Fall of 2024 to serve diverse learners across the country leveraging the assets of ASU Prep. The fellowship covers a range of topics including:

1. Policy and funding. Policy, rules and regulations, and funding models are the lifeblood of the microschool. Adhering to local and state regulations and securing appropriate funding is a key priority that ASU Prep will support.
2. Operations. Hiring, space design, leadership training, and general operations (schedules, transportation, facilities, etc.) can be overwhelming for microschools with 1-2 teachers and no administrators. Using established templates and resources, ASU Prep guides the construction of the operations of the microschool.
3. Pedagogy. While most microschools founders have some ideas of the approach for a school, ASU Prep’s robust resource base from a variety of approaches allows for more rapid development in this area. ASU Prep’s experience with professional learning and growth supports microschool leaders as they maintain relevance in the education landscape.

Funding is often a barrier for entrepreneur support programs like this but the Stand Together Trust has funded this program enabling up to 20 full grants for fellows. Similar programs from the Learning Innovation Fund at Getting Smart Collective and Community Partner Grant Program have also funded microschool models.

Microschools are meeting strong market demand for more personalized, more contextualized and more relevant learning for every student. Programs like ASU Prep’s Microschool in a Box make it possible for more learners to become future-ready with access to affordable, relational microschool learning.

The post Microschool in a Box: Programs Enabling the Microschool Movement appeared first on Getting Smart.

For the last few years, we’ve been making the case that purpose and contribution are the core outputs of a society. Because of that, there are skills and habits that young people need to strengthen and flex with regularity in a learning setting. This will result in generations of difference makers and solutionaries, people who spot problems (inherited or otherwise) and respond rapidly and systematically toward a future that works better for all. We must not continue to perpetuate a world where our long-term outcomes are purely economic or academic. 

Powerful technology like AI increases the complexity given the challenge of bias in AI models, the susceptibility of humans towards influence, and the propensity for false narratives and information generated from AI sources. These challenges add a layer of increased urgency to the work of embedding purpose and imagination in our communities and schools. 

In a recent interview on the People I (Mostly) Admire Podcast, guest Kevin Kelly shares “Part of my critique about the A.I. folks who are concerned about the end of the world is that they overestimate the value of intelligence. There are a lot of intelligent guys who think intelligence trumps everything, but most of the great things in the world are happening not by the smartest people in the room. They’re happening with people who have enthusiasm, who have imagination. Smartness and intelligence is one component, but if you put a man and a lion in a cage, it’s not the smartest one that’s going to win. It’s only one part of what we need to make things happen in the world. And the key thing of that is imagination. Imagining what could be, what we’d want, an alternative way of doing things. And that’s not just I.Q.”

As we continue to think about the role that AI will play in society, we must also consider what the core variables are that must be kept alongside exponential information to better drive decision-making and lead to a better world. For now, we will call the dream of a better world ‘purpose’. In an equation where information is merely one variable in a combination of factors toward a better world, what are the other variables? How might we preserve, promote and proliferate those variables while also using smart tools? To some, this may be viewed as “What makes us human?” To others, this may be viewed as “What constitutes a community?” And to others, “How does an ecosystem function, sustain and grow?”

A Proposed Formula

With purpose as an extended goal, supported by meaningful income and access to information, we propose a clear formula as a North Star for living and learning in an AI-influenced world.

(Skills + Reported Knowledge + Observed Phenomena) x Purpose = A Better World

Skills. Durable or transferable skills are a critical element and will be at a premium for those emerging into the workplace. Creating the systems and opportunities for learners to practice and show proficiency in these skills will move the needle toward a purpose-driven future. Fundamental building blocks tools such as those in the core skill set (literacy in language and mathematics) and technical skill set (relevant technical skills that change over time) support the application of durable skills. For now, AI is capable of many mental skills, however, without the aid of robotics and other technological advancements, it does not yet possess the ability to fully occupy and affect the physical world.

Reported Knowledge. Reported knowledge is the accumulated set of digital information (seeing as most information has been digitized or originated digitally). This reported knowledge can be loose in validity but due to insufficient truth systems and exponential dissemination technologies, it propagates as fact quickly. With AI scraping and building from this reported knowledge, information will continue to be useful, but only under close scrutiny. The “hallucinations” of early AI tools such as ChatGPT indicate occasional unpredictable results and very confident false results. AI tools are not thinking tools, but intelligence augmentation tools.

Observed Phenomena. With the proliferation of reported knowledge, we, as a species, will rapidly become distant from first-hand accounts of actual phenomena. These superpowers, the ability to observe the world, communicate directly with other humans and verify proclaimed data will be increasingly difficult and must be explicitly taught in education systems. Place-based approaches can support these efforts.

Purpose. We multiply the sum of all by ‘purpose’ which is a key multiplier towards a better world. A purpose-less pursuit regularly results in growth for growth-sake and while purpose can be variable, when we say it we mean that it is aligned to “the benefit of all life” and is at least reflective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. While shared values may be harder to come by in an increasingly complex world, some, like empathy, safety, kindness and mutuality (working together towards common goals) may transcend divisiveness and increase belonging. 

What happens if we ignore a variable in our educational systems? What happens if the multiplier (purpose) is not accounted for?

As stated in a recent article by Tom Vander Ark, “This change won’t be easy but this new era means young people can do more than ever–more than we dreamed possible even a few months ago. It’s time to invite them, especially learners furthest from opportunity, into a future of possibility, into work that matters. Their potential just got bigger and better.” 

In many cases, AI is a boon to the variables above rather than a threat, however, without a carefully calibrated purpose, the end result gets a whole lot murkier. Augmenting a design of the future with AI can certainly amplify purposeful futures for young people, but without careful evaluation of each element of the equation, future generations may end up falling into the trap of a highly developed AI world that misses the mark, or worse. 

The post Is Knowledge Power? What the AI Conversation is Missing appeared first on Getting Smart.

The promise of Khan World School is a small, academically challenging virtual microschool model serving students from around the world. The program is personalized and mastery based using the offerings of partners Sal Khan of Khan Academy and ASU Prep. Small group tutorials help students accelerate their learning while weekly seminars bring the real world in through relevant topics generated by RISC at the University of Chicago. It is not easy to build culture and climate through an online learning experience, but the school has tackled this challenge by designing a house system for advisory and group connection. Within the houses, students complete projects and rely on peer mentoring and tutoring both within the program and through schoolhouse.world tutors (another program built by Sal Khan and his team). Many of the students tackled ASU college courses to accelerate their progress toward a college degree. 

So what happened by the end of the first year for the approximately 50 9th graders who were part of the inaugural class? First, average growth via standardized metrics proved extraordinary. Students’ percentile score average is 90% or higher in all subjects (Reading 90%, Math 92%, ELA 98%) and from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, scaled score improved 2.8 times the typical growth in Math, 3.4 times the typical growth in Reading, and 5.3 times the typical growth in Language Arts. While this data supports a strong traditional model, students also loved the seminar to discuss real and relevant global topics. Given the geographic diversity of the class with about half of the students from Arizona (where tuition is free) and the other half national or international (8 countries) students, educators (called learning guides) reported that listening, empathizing and understanding other points of view became well established by the end of the year. 

With this first-year success, Khan World School is expanding to 6th-12th grade next year. As with any new venture,  the learning model will evolve based on feedback and observations from this past year which include:

1. Onboarding. The shift from time-based to mastery-based can be difficult for students who have been well-trained in compliance rather than agency. In response to this, the school is building a robust onboarding program to help with the adjustment.
2. Scale: While online learning is one solution to impact more students, the team also predicts that the model will succeed within an existing bricks/mortar school. To test this hypothesis, the team is exploring partnerships with existing schools to embed Khan World School. This microschool within a school model may help scale the microschool movement in general – providing microschool benefits within the traditional system.
3. Purpose. Students asked for a continued focus on purpose through projects and seminars. Given the most recent survey data indicating challenges with K12 engagement, the school is well-poised to build on and improve relevant and real-world learning from the first year.
4. Artificial intelligence. With the addition of Khanmigo to Khan Academy, the school now has the start of a personal tutor for every student. Khan World School students will continue to test this tool, especially around using AI to evaluate higher order tasks more efficiently. 
5. Student profile. While the school focused on traditionally-evaluated high-aptitude students, the team learned that the profile of a successful Khan World School student centered more on characteristics such as willingness to learn, self-regulate, be curious and commit to the school model. As education moves towards mastery-based approaches, these learner characteristics will be critical for student success.
6. Accelerated college. The positive reception to college courses in year one prompted the school to offer almost all 10th-12th grade courses for college credit through ASU. This increases the odds that graduates will earn a college degree faster and without significant accumulated debt.

In the long term, Sal Khan sees a three part system to support Khan World School students. The existing Khan Academy model enables personalized and individual practice on content and skills. Embedded AI tools provide scalable 1:1 coaching and assessment for all. Finally, the schoolhouse.world model of connecting peers to support human-powered acceleration of learning will support human connections around learning. 

As Khan World School embarks on year two, it fits within the larger microschool portfolio of ASU Prep. Hybrid learning within existing schools and in-person college campus microschools offer opportunities for on-site students in the Phoenix area – complementing the virtual programs of ASU Prep Digital and Khan World School.

“With the launch of any new learning model, we’re carefully assessing its efficacy in meeting student needs and ensuring we are anchored to our commitment to increasing academic achievement. With KWS, we had high expectations, but the outcomes were far more dramatic than we anticipated. It’s a clear signal the program can bring meaningful opportunities for accelerated students who are motivated by curiosity and the joy of learning.” – Amy McGrath, ASU Prep Managing Director

As education models move towards microschools powered by AI, personalized learning and competency-based approaches embedded in the real world, learning from the Khan World School initiative should help all innovators.

The post Khan World School – One Year Later appeared first on Getting Smart.

        “Own your own learning, become better at it.”

        “Reliability, you can get your work done in a good way.”

        “To speak up for yourself.”

        “Mutual trust between educator and learner.”

        “The willingness to ask questions and take action for yourself.”

These thoughts, by students from Northern Cass School District, north of Fargo, North Dakota, paint a very different picture compared to the national discussion on accountability.

The Northern Cass District emerged in 1997 after the union of five small rural towns within two districts 30 miles north of Fargo, ND.  Drawing its 688 PK-12 students from a 400 sq. mi. area and an additional 35% out-of-district open-enrollment students, this consolidation provided better resources than any individual school but meant hard work to build strong culture and climate and a new academic program. Five years ago, more than 20 years after consolidation, with lower college graduation rates than expected and low student engagement rates, Northern Cass embarked on a journey to reimagine the learning experience.

What has emerged is a remarkable, learner-centered, personalized school that continues to build better experiences for its learners, delivering on their why: We believe every learner can change the world; therefore, we will provide a world-class education.

Standards-based

The journey began with a partnership with the Marzano High-Reliability Schools model. This grounded the district in a high-fidelity standards-based assessment model supported by quality instruction in every classroom. North Dakota law allows local districts to set more rigorous standards than the state standards, and thus all classes have identified 7-14 priority standards that are transparent to each student. Every class uses playlists and proficiency scales that guide learners to meet the expectations of the standards with assessments recorded using the Empower LMS. When prompted, learners of all ages in the school easily described their current understanding connected to each standard. To earn credit for a class, the district follows the 80/100 rule, meaning 8 out of 10 standards in any given class must be at 3 or higher to earn credit for the class (out of a 4-point scale). Even at the youngest levels, learners showed portfolios with literacy and reading progress and their growth over time.

Grades and percentages are not used anywhere in the school with the exception of final translated transcripts to support higher education and scholarship requirements. A roadshow by the school leadership to most regional higher education institutions built trust and confidence in Northern Cass graduates, even without a traditional transcript.

Dual-enrollment

While Northern Cass still has three AP courses (Chemistry, Psychology and Human Geography), most college-level courses are dual-enrollment. Partnerships with higher education providers such as Valley State University (which pays for Northern Cass educators to get certified to teach the courses), North Dakota State University, and Arizona State University save learners time and money in higher education (one reported having earned close to have an AA while in high school).

Competency-centered

A Portrait of a Learner includes Accountability, Communication, Adaptability, Learner’s Mindset and Leadership. These five competencies describe expectations for every graduate. This culminates in a Capstone presentation in 12th grade where learners describe their development of these competencies and their personal journey to become who they are today in front of a panel of educators.

Educators also are expected to meet these competencies as well through professional learning experiences. A conscious decision was to include everyone as a learner rather than build a distinct portrait of an educator.

In partnership with Mastery Transcript Consortium, Northern Cass is embedding these competencies into both the MTC portfolio platform and a set of Mastery Learning Records that will be stored on the newly approved North Dakota digital wallet.

Future work includes developing progressions for the competencies to help development across the spectrum of grade levels.

Personalized

Certainly, personalized learning is built into the mastery-based approach, but with the support of three different North Dakota legislative moves, learning is on the way to becoming personalized for every student.

HB 1478. Learn everywhere. Learning outside of school can receive credit. The proposal comes from the district and a formal application from the provider. Approval is currently at the state level, but newer changes may allow this to shift to the district level, saving time and paperwork.

SB 2186. General waivers. Waiver for seat time requirements in lieu of mastery-based demonstrations. This is essential for Northern Cass learners to move at a pace that is best for them – within good constraints set by the educators. Learners reported acceleration at the individual level based on interest, time, and engagement.

SB 2196. Pathways to graduation. This allows learners to meet graduation requirements with projects and other learning experiences outside of formal courses approved for credit. This has empowered the formation of the Studio model in middle school and high school (see below).

Project-based

New this year, and based on lower than desired engagement levels, all middle school learners participate in studios where educators coach 6-week learner-centered high-engagement projects. This past fall, one studio was built around a Farm to Fork concept to teach about agricultural careers and to experience the world of food production by going out and exploring the real world.

This effort is also being replicated in a full Studio microschool program piloted in high schools with 10-15 students. In partnership with Building 21, the Studio program allows learners to build independent/collaborative projects and match to expected standards to meet graduation requirements. While not every learner will want this microschool opportunity, it will be a game-changer for some who were disengaged or uninspired.

Each learner needs to meet graduation requirements mandated by North Dakota, Northern Cass expects an additional requirement including an internship and/or job shadow, community service, and a Capstone presentation.

Educator powered

Dr. Steiner and his team believe that “un-learning” of veteran educators may be slower than upskilling of novice educators and thus focus hiring on those new to the field. With partnerships from regional universities, an Teacher Leadership Academy has supported advanced degrees for 60% of educators.

Culture and Climate

Second-grade learners eagerly came to greet us at the door when we entered the classroom. Looking for handshakes and introductions, they were clearly used to visitors – and developing excellent interaction skills. A panel of high school learners could find no real improvements when prompted with the question “What would you do if you were Superintendent”? Engagement rates have soared with the implementation of studio approaches. Learners are part of most decisions with leadership coming from a Student Advisory Committee. Learners and educators report that behavior issues are virtually non-existent – and attribute this to the learning model that develops independence, ownership and agency for learning.

What every school can learn from Northern Cass

1. Get out of the way of students. Aspire to personalize through whatever means necessary – figure out ways to demonstrate mastery AND follow their passions.
2. Don’t accept low engagement scores. Ask students frequently and co-design better solutions – even if academic outcomes are strong.
3. Use legislation. Northern Cass would not be able to do what it does without legislative waivers. Many states have these but are under-utilized.
4. Be brave before perfect. These changes take courage. Many questions have to be resolved. In this case, the district was already getting high marks for academic performance, so redesign did not feel like an imperative for some.
5. Growth mindset. In a school going through redesign and change, every constituent must live with a growth mindset.

At Getting Smart, we see four key elements of school design emerging in innovative schools. Mastery-based (including competencies associated with a portrait of a graduate), project-based/real-world learning, dual enrollment opportunities, and a strong social-emotional and character program. Include opportunities to unbundle, and you have a model that is suited for the future. Northern Cass gets this and continues to develop a model where every learner is ready to change the world. It is a school worth visiting!

The post Rural Places, Big Visions – a visit to Northern Cass School District appeared first on Getting Smart.

Through our partner work with XQ Institute, we identified core criteria that any next-generation LMS should incorporate.

1. Competency. Competencies can be added, edited and nested in an organizing hierarchy to accommodate both standards and competency granularity levels. Competencies are not unique to one course or class but can be linked to multiple courses or classes.
2. Learning Experience. Learning experiences can be created by educators and/or learners (tasks, activities, projects, units, modules) where competencies can be connected at the task or project level. Learning experiences can be shared/stored in a library for use by other educators and searchable by competency.
3. Self-assessment. For any given learning experience, the learner can submit and evaluate their artifact/evidence against any competency.
4. Assessment. For any given learning experience, the educator or a community member can evaluate the submitted artifact/evidence against any competency.
5. Documenting. Multiple methods are available to evaluate whether a learner demonstrates proficiency on a competency. These could include teacher decisions, calculations (most recent scores, decaying average, mean of least three scores, etc.) or external moderation methods.  Once proficiency is confirmed, options should exist to award a badge/credential that is assigned to the learner, interoperable, and exportable as an LER (Learning and Employment Record) to store in a digital wallet owned by the learner.
6. Reporting. Learners, educators and caregivers can view an aggregated dashboard to determine learner progress toward completion of competencies over any time period.
7. Analysis. An educator or admin can view aggregated performance data around groups of learners (based on identifying data connected to the learner). This may include grade level, course groupings, school, district, etc.

Next-Generation Platforms

The technology stack for most schools now is significant and includes many pedagogical, communication, assessment and database tools. The next-generation LMS is integrated into the Student Information System (SIS) and Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) for linking individual learner proficiency with future opportunities. Mastery transcripts (sometimes called “page 2” transcripts will eventually replace the one-page course/grade/credit format. Transcripts (or the competency validations within them) can be a Learning and Employment Record (LER) that is stored in a digital wallet as part of the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR).

Learner-centered and competency-based

While many competency-based schools have bootstrapped solutions with spreadsheets, a number of platforms in our review built learners into the core of the design and generally met the core criteria from above. Area9 Capable is a newcomer to the K-12 space but has built significant credibility in the adult learning landscape. The Capable platform provides extensive lesson-building tools, a project-based learning interface and a competency-based dashboard. LiFT Learning, Foundry and HEADRUSH Learning are both project-based and competency-based learning platforms with sophisticated and customizable interfaces and reporting for school partners. MyLC was launched by the Kettle-Moraine School District (WI) and is customizable for other schools interested in competency-based assessment. Building21 is designing the next generation of their original competency-based solution built on the open-source Slate LMS and extended spreadsheets/documents version after years of using the solution within their network. The new platform is designed to meet the needs of all schools with competency-based progressions (for example, built around a Portrait of a Graduate) with a simple, learner–centered approach. Beta versions will be available in Summer 2023.

Badging and credentialing

Most of the platforms above are also in the design phase for badging and credentialing. While badging is available in existing legacy platforms (Schoology and Canvas), competencies are often restricted to the course level (meaning competencies are assigned to a single course) rather than a system wide view where competency progress can be viewed across multiple courses. Instructure’s (Canvas company) recent acquisition of Badgr (rolled into its Canvas Credentials platform) may provide Canvas K-12 users with opportunities to connect badges to Canvas assessment in the future.

A few platforms are leaning into connecting skill and competency with employment via Learning and Employment Records (LER) functionality. Territorium has just launched in the United States with an AI-driven Life Journey toolkit after successful international use cases. The platform links CareerBit (which connects learners with employment and higher ed opportunities using Lightcast market research and recommends pathways and learning experiences to achieve employment goals), assessments to evaluate learner progress towards goals and a comprehensive learner record to document lifetime learning).

“Our LifeJourney toolkit empowers institutions and enables all students, especially the nearly 40 million adults with some or no college degree, to demonstrate their complete capabilities in a verified digital record, including the skills they have acquired from all of their experiences,” said Jonell Sanchez, Chief Growth Officer, Territorium.

Mastery-based and personalized

Cortex and Empower Learning are both personalized mastery-based learning platforms that use a variety of features to track mastery of standards for both teachers and students. Empower Learning was originally designed with Alaska schools as ‘Educate’ by 3 Shapes, then rebranded ‘Empower’ through a partnership with Lindsay Unified School District (and their Race To The Top Funds). This platform has since joined Marzano’s Center for Competency Based Education). Cortex was launched out of Brooklyn Lab Schools to meet the needs of its personalized learning model.

Schoology (owned by Powerschool) and Canvas, are widely used legacy LMS platforms and both can incorporate a standards-based assessment. Canvas uses a Mastery Gradebook feature based on Outcomes and Schoology allows for standards/rubrics to be linked to assignments.

While not moving beyond its existing use case of lightweight assessment and document-sharing around the Google ecosystem, Google Classroom is the most widely used (and currently free) “LMS” type platform. Modifications and add-ons to this platform may be a successful tactic to build a widely adopted next-generation LMS.

Learner showcase and portfolio

See-Saw, widely used in elementary schools, provides a visually appealing lightweight but evidence heavy portfolio platform that showcases student work to parents. Unrulr allows for sophisticated story-telling and interactive features that feel like a social media stream and allow learners to document their learning experiences while peers, community members and educators can provide feedback. EKadence’s portfolio feature connected to district-determined 21st-century skills enhances their traditional grade book and LMS. The NuVu Portfolio Tool, build for NuVu’s specific project-based learning program, also allows a clean showcasing of student work.

Future

It is clear that platforms will need to be more learner-centered and learner-driven in the future as the ecosystem becomes more unbundled. Successful technology that expands on existing LMS features will include, 1) learner-centered LMS, where learners can co-design experiences with educators; 2) tools to assess different types of competencies. These include core competencies (ELA, math, civics, etc.), transferable competencies (from Portraits of Graduates, durable skills, power skills, etc.) and technical (16 Career Cluster CTE) competencies; 3) portfolio features that allow learners to select, display and share badges and credentials connected to competency; and 4) connection of these verified learner skills with potential educational and employment opportunities via Learning and Employment record data stored in one or more digital wallets.

Did we miss a platform? We recognize that new platforms launch every year and that we were unable to list every possible platform in this post. Contact me at nate@gettingsmart.com if you have a solution to share so we can learn more.

The post The Learner-Centered Competency-Based Learning Management System appeared first on Getting Smart.

North Dakota implemented the first state-sponsored digital credential wallet for high school students during the 2022-23 school year. In Texas, students in the Dallas College system have access to their transcript via Greenlight Credentials, which they can selectively choose to share with employers. In New Hampshire, Concord’s Community College NHTI, is rolling out verified credentials in partnership with ProofSpace to store learner outcomes and extra-curricular experiences.

Kirstan Osborne, an educator from the Balmoral Hall School for Girls in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada shared how her school is working with Convergence Tech to distribute and store digital credentials and maintain wallets. When it comes to ownership, Osborne says that “Students will always have access to their credentials, regardless of whether the school continues to pay for the platform or not.” This characteristic of self-sovereignty is essential for digital wallets.

Osborne believes that this will allow the school to “improve student agency in learning,  provide real-world context and the opportunity to look at learning through a different lens, and promote the idea that schools should be part of and not apart from the community.” As for students, they were pleased when they realized their potential for supporting resumés and post-secondary applications.

As employers continue to emphasize the need for both core (literacy, math, etc.) and transferable (collaboration, leadership, communication, etc.) skills, technology is accelerating to meet the need to match learner skills with employer needs. Below is a primer on what every school leader and innovative practitioner should know about the technology within the credentialing ecosystem.

Why

If all learning, whether from formal learning experiences in K-20 schools, industry-related credentials and experience (such as internships, work-based learning and apprenticeships), and out-of-system learning (currently not credited except via states that have passed Learn Everywhere legislation) could be curated in one place, learners will be better matched via demonstrated skills to employers looking for talent. Education is ready for a learner-centered digital learning and employment record stored in a digital wallet (or a set of interoperable wallets) owned by the learner. This would address persistent challenges that include:

1. Difficulty in recording all of a learner’s educational experiences in one place.
2. Inaccuracy in matching potential employees to employers due to the relatively limited methods to verify learning
3. Given #2, using degrees as a proxy for new workplace talent which excludes significant numbers of potential candidates for employment.
4. Inability to share skills and competencies from non-degree programs, incomplete degrees (never earned the final credential), or credentials for organizations that have closed.
5. Cost of requesting and sharing proof of competency (ex. Asking for a college or high school transcript to be sent costs money).

Digital wallets enable individuals to store all Learning and Employment Records – a verifiable record of lifetime learning in one shareable space owned by the individual.

“Verifiable credentials are the most ideally suited standard for educational credentials. They extend digital trust to individuals, allowing them to hold their records and exchange them in secure, reliable, privacy-preserving ways. Together with decentralized identity, individuals can be in control of digital assets, online identity, and reputation.” — Kim Hamilton Duffy, Director of Identity and Standards, Centre Consortium.

How

Due to the technical nature of digital wallets, language can be confusing. To provide clarity, we provide the core definitions below.

• Learning and Employment Record (LER):  Records of an individual’s verified skills, competencies, credentials, and employment accomplishments. An LER can be used to highlight verified skills and match people to employment opportunities. LERs are stored in digital wallets. While platforms like LinkedIn can publicly display this type of information, the LER adds verification to the record.
• Digital Wallet: A digital wallet in education is a technology solution that stores the verified learning completed by the individual. The wallet is owned by the individual and can be built on decentralized blockchain architecture (which generally means that the wallet platform is not owned by/stored on a single platform). This decentralized approach keeps data ownership with the user rather than a centralized entity (corporation or government).
• Self-sovereign: Gives individuals full ownership of their digital identities without needing to rely on a third party, thereby providing greater security of personally identifying information. Users can decide what to publicly and selectively share.
• Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR): The CLR is a technical specification built by 1EdTech to provide technical specifications for LERs. The CLR is the recommended standard for lifetime learning records by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and has been widely adopted by the credentialing ecosystem.
• Verified Credential: A credential that can be cryptographically verified and is not alterable. Examples can include birth certificates, employee identification cards and records and educational certificates. In education, these credentials often are a set of stacked LERs, which are also verified.
• Awarder (Issuer): The person or entity that creates and issues the credential to the holder.
• Trusted Issuer List: A machine-readable registry of credential awarders/issuers that meet a specific set of quality, accreditation or licensing criteria.
• Holder: The person or entity whose information is being stored in the verified credential.
• Reviewer: The entity which verifies that the virtual credential meets the requirement of the credential. In systems based on Web3 architecture, this can be done in a trustless environment, where interactions between two parties does not have to be mediated by a trusted third party.
• Machine-read: Information/data can be processed by a computer rather than relying on human interaction for processing and verifying the information.
• Interoperability: The ability of apps, computer programs, devices, or products to connect and communicate without the need for third parties. Through the ecosystem, individuals will have the ability to move data into and out of wallets, as well as between wallets.

A widely-adopted credentialing ecosystem will have seamless integration of awarders, holders, and reviewers working within an interoperable framework of LERs stored on the digital wallet. Organizations such as Velocity Network Foundation and Lightcast optimize the match between employers and prospective hires by scanning job databases and matching them with the public data from learner wallets or other collections of verified skills.

Institutions that award digital credentials will benefit from having to store all learner records to a decentralized user-controlled system that is easy, secure and affordable. Identity fraud will be reduced and the level of granularity to describe the skills of a learner will improve.

What

The technology is readily available to serve this purpose. The challenge is to build a system that has choice and widespread adoption in the K12, higher ed, credentialing and employment sector. Displacing legacy practices such as digital transcripts that cannot be machine read, paying for paper copies of transcripts to be shared, and employer human resource departments that find it easier to use degrees as proxy for talent will be difficult.

Credential data can be stored within one or more digital wallets as a way to document the LER.

• GreenLight Credentials – provider of blockchain records for students, K-12 and Higher Ed institutions and employers. For K-12, it offers a “digital locker” that includes student information that enables students to control and share their academic records instantly.
• Territorium – offers verifiable records which includes competencies and skillsets, for students from K-12 and into the workforce. Territorium just launched its Life Journey platform that connects assessment, learner wallets, LER and skills-based job matching in a single platform.
• MIT Digital Wallet – open source wallet designed by the Digital Credentials Consortium
• LearnCard – open source digital and physical wallet. It is also a free app that can  issue, earn, store and share credentials
• Disco.xyz – in beta, will be a way for individuals to have a personal data backpack and control and own what is shared
• Proof Space –  interoperable identity hub wrapped with no-code tools for issuing and verifying reusable identity credentials – to both issue and store credentials.

Mastery Transcript Consortium, the leader in competency-based high school transcripts, has launched the MTC Learning Record (MLR). This MLR documents learning and allows the student to share the record with anyone through a portal where students can curate and display learning data. The MLR is interoperable and can be exported in CLR format to be stored in a digital wallet. MTC is working with partner districts in North Dakota to provide high school students with an LER that documents learning and is stored on the state-designed credential wallet. Approaches like this will become more widely adopted in LMS platform management in the future.

What can you do?

With all of the movement in this space over the last few years, it is difficult to imagine first steps. We recommend the following.

1. Get educated. Get a wallet, earn a simple credential and store it in the wallet. Follow Ed3DAO, a decentralized education organization that helps the education sector understand wallets, credentialing, web3 and all other front-end technologies.
2. Especially in secondary and higher education, now is the time to ensure that every course or program has a clear set of competencies that are linked to career-relevant skills. And, that these competencies are accurately assessed.
3. Feeling innovative? Partner with a platform that will store verified credentials for your students in digital wallets owned by the user (and figure out who will pay the fees for as long as the wallet exists). Few districts and schools are doing this and you can lead the way.
4. For educators, think about badging and credentialing your classroom. Most LMS platforms allow for this (D2L, Canvas, Schoology) and if not, other options exist such as Credly and Open Badges. Young people today will be employed in a marketplace of the future where badging and credentialing of individual competency is common-place. Give them practice.
5. For higher-ed admissions officials, build the processes now to accept LERs from learner wallets as part of the admissions process.
6. For employers, move beyond trusting resumes and believing that degrees are a proxy for talent. Build a human resources department that hires based on verified skills. The long term benefit is immense.

The post Credentialing Everything: A Primer on Learning and Employment Records and Digital Wallets appeared first on Getting Smart.

The challenge, however, becomes implementation. With Katie Martin, we highlight the specific steps to take the Portrait of a Graduate into reality. Nomenclature can be confusing here, so for clarity, we define some overlapping terms. A Portrait of a Graduate (also called a Profile of a Learner, Learner Outcomes, Profile of a Graduate, etc.) consists of a set of competencies (also called outcomes, proficiencies, etc.). Competencies are broken down into progressions (also called indicators, rubrics, etc.) that describe multiple levels of proficiency on each competency. Most progressions articulate a level of competency that is expected of learners prior to earning a credential (such as a diploma).

These competencies can be:

• core: high-level skills in core academic areas such as written communication, mathematical thinking, etc.
• technical: high-level skills specific to a particular sector, often CTE related, and
• transferable: transferable across multiple sectors often built into the Portrait of a Graduate)

Regardless of the type, competencies are broad assertions that a learner can apply a particular set of skills across multiple situations with varied contexts.

Learners that can demonstrate these competencies are better equipped both personally and professionally as adults. And, the one question we continue to get is how to specifically assess competencies once a progression of indicators has been built out for each competency?

Traditional standardized assessments often are accurate but not valid measures of a learner’s potential. When assessing deeper learning and application, there are multiple methods to assess a competency. With these types of assessments, it is challenging for measures of assessment to be both valid (correctly measuring what you want to measure) and accurate (being consistent in what you measure).

Standards-based

While standards-based is not competency-based, it is certainly related and worth explaining. The main difference lies in the granularity of a standard (very specific) compared to the more broad skill applications described in competencies. All public schools are required to design curriculum that aligns to state-mandated standards. Some schools explicitly connect all learning, especially in math and literacy, to standards. Most primary schools are now using standards-based report cards with students where each class articulates student proficiency on a set of standards for that class. These standards are evaluated using rubrics that can describe three to four levels of performance where the third level is often deemed “proficient” and the fourth level is deemed “exceeding/extending/applying”.

Dr. Robert Marzano has extended standards-based work to help schools build Proficiency Scales for each standard. These scales articulate the content and skills expectations leading up to and exceeding the standard. This assessment rubric shows performance on the skills/expectations of the level of proficiency. Portage High School in Indiana articulates proficiency scales around each standard, as an example.

Competency-based 

Competencies are larger grain size compared to standards, and are transferable across multiple domains, supporting relevancy and useinto the future. Often, competencies are evaluated via performance assessments, complex applied tasks to demonstrate understanding of the competency in multiple and novel contexts. Stanford University’s SCALE initiative offers a database of performance assessments. In competency-based assessment systems three approaches have emerged in the landscape.

Rubric-based competency systems are often found in secondary schools and use the levels of performance articulated in the progression as a rubric. Students submit and re-submit work until they get to a proficient performance level, typically a three. Levels 1-2 show progress along the way, but these lower performance levels are meant to guide the student not serve as levels of attainment. Once a student has submitted enough evidence against level 3, then they could challenge themselves to the exceeding or level 4 performance. In this system, students are submitting and resubmitting until they receive a 3 or 4 on multiple artifacts. At that point, the student has demonstrated proficiency on the competency. Northern Cass in North Dakota uses this system)

Progression-based competency systems are different. A progression may be a series of levels, depending on whether this is a PK-Graduate system or a secondary approach only,  and a student is expected to demonstrate proficiency at one level before moving onto another level. This progression based system implies that a student will demonstrate evidence toward each level. Summit Learning’s Cognitive Skills, Building21’s Competency Continuum, and XQ Competencies are all built on this system.

Rubric/progression-hybrid competency systems articulate a progression of indicators for each competency and articulate assessment rubrics for each level of performance. This approach is complex in terms of construction, but provides clarity on each indicator for both the learner and the educator. Specifically, for any given indicator, the evidence submitted is evaluated against the rubric to assess the quality of the submission.

Determination of proficiency threshold

Once a school has a set of competencies, a related progression and has made a decision around how the progression will be used, a series of protocols on how to determine proficiency must be made. Often these protocols are dependent on a teacher who is assessing the artifacts submitted toward the particular competency. Some competencies may only require one artifact while others may require more. Some schools may decide to use a mathematical determination if they are applying a rubric-based competency system. The average of the last three scores, the highest scores, or a decaying average all are methods to determine proficiency on a competency (these calculations are also used in standards-based systems). Some LMS platforms will provide these options (or allow a school to build its own custom auto-calculation). Whether teacher-determined or calculated, proficiency determination should aim for both accuracy and validity.

Translation of Competency Systems for Reporting

While traditional letter grades are typically not relevant in a competency-based system, a translation is sometimes needed to meet state, district or school requirements around grades, courses, etc. This can be challenging as competencies are binary, you either do or do not meet the expectations articulated in the competency progression. However, a few different methods are observed in schools. First, a competency-average is when the score on each competency (which was determined by an auto-calculation or teacher determination) is averaged across the competencies for the course. That resulting average is translated into a letter grade through a school-determined translation table. Second, competency-completion looks at the number of total competencies in a course and the number of competencies determined proficient and calculates a “percent-proficient” score. This score is then translated into a letter grade for the course. This last option avoids any averaging but does run into the issue of timing in that competencies are meant to be completed over time, so your percent-proficient score will increase over time.

Conclusion

Assessment of competencies tends to be the most challenging change for schools and districts implementing a competency-based system – especially when constrained by state reporting, eligibility, and college applications. Being clear on approaches and methods from the start can provide clarity for all members of the community.

The post Measuring Learning Growth: Competencies and Standards appeared first on Getting Smart.

Moving the needle requires unbundled learning, systems support, new learning models, credentialing, accelerated and personalized learning experiences and larger systems and policy changes. The goal of this initiative is to ensure that every K-12 learner has access to a clear pathway towards a family-sustaining wage and every employer has access to highly-skilled employees. All of this is important for the long-term economic viability of our nation and the world at large. However, as we drive towards economic success for both the employer and employee, organizations that can integrate citizenship skills into their pathways will support both a robust and well-informed workplace and vibrant communities.

As Baratunde, host of How To Citizen Podcast, said on an episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, “Schools are training grounds for how we show up. We hold onto principles, ideals, a sense of purpose that can shift with the changes of the world.” Today, citizenship demands more from us than ever before. If we want to continue to build a strong democratic republic where the intentions matter and every person can participate, we need to deeply embed these core citizenship skills into each new pathway. A few examples of essential citizenship skills are digital literacy, understanding systems, storytelling and civic dialogue.

Digital Literacy

The massive growth of misinformation spread via social media has made it more difficult to govern and be governed at the local, state and federal level. While some funding provided schools and districts with incentives to build-out core citizenship literacy over the last twenty years, the resources are much smaller than those of other initiatives – such as math and literacy. That being said, one place where resources do exist is in digital literacy.

This particular type of citizenship is a race against the clock. New technologies like deepfakes and generative ai are already challenging our level of awareness and ability to trace things back to a source. Young people must be instilled with a foolproof barometer for truth as they navigate the challenging landscape of information, propaganda and content. Sites like ProCon.org are leading the charge of creating trusted sources for big topics: “through our website, ProCon.org, we serve as a non-biased information source for our users. We present sourced pros and cons of debatable issues, as well as a host of reference information relevant to those issues, thoroughly researched and compiled by our research staff and editors.”

Richard Culatta identifies and outlines the following five traits of a “good digital citizen” as:

• Be balanced: understand when and how much tech use is healthy
• Stay informed: discern between true and false information
• Be inclusive: treat others with respect and kindness online
• Be engaged: use tech to strengthen family relationships and community connections
• Stay alert: exercise caution and create safe digital spaces for others

We all have a role to play in helping our students better parse the growing landscape of misinformation, privacy and ownership.

Understanding Systems

Well-informed citizens support a functioning democracy which leads to strong economic growth. Instability, divisiveness, and civic illiteracy does the opposite. Non-partisan approaches will increase success rates. Organizations such as iCivics (which has launched Civix Now) , Facing History & Ourselves, Mikva Challenge, Educating for American Democracy, Thinking Nation and Institute for Citizens & Scholars (launched by ETS) focus on inquiry, original source documents, and discussion. These initiatives focus on both information and design. Education for American Democracy is a partnership between the Harvard Ethics Center and iCivics which centers on seven themes and five design challenges. Many of these programs facilitate deep inquiry and thoughtful questioning, core requirements for the vast complexity of our future.

Storytelling

Time and time again young people demonstrate new possibilities. Through movement building and a dedication to equity and inclusion, they have come to understand the myriad ways in which our record of history is oppressive and flawed. These young people often lead the charge on interrogating history to better reflect the true experiences and evaluate the core learnings of our best. UnTextbooked is a great podcast that demonstrates how students can unpack history and better engage with the materials that propel and perpetuate stories. Part of this narrative is telling the story of peace and global citizenship.

Civil Dialogue

Unfortunately, students of today will be shouldering the burden of communication. Not only with the broader national scene, but also with their communities and families. This creates the need for civil dialogue. Initiatives like 100 Days of Conversation provide students and communities with the tools necessary to host their own local conversations about community feelings and futures. Imagine these spaces as catalysts for establishing organized pathways through and by communities.

Many communities host recurring events that model civic dialogue. American Public Square in Kansas City is a great example for young people to learn how to disagree respectfully, articulate an argument and hold complex challenges alongside nuanced answers. Organizations like the Weave Project out of the Aspen Institute are building capacity in our culture to build deep relationships focused on community success rather than simply individual achievement.  

Conclusion

The education and employment ecosystem is filled with important dialogue around helping every learner get to a rewarding career through a variety of pathways. This is really important work. However, we must ensure that the skills of digital literacy, civic understanding, storytelling and civic dialogue remain deeply embedded alongside the burgeoning opportunities provided by community partnerships and CTE programs. Learners with these skills will not only create more possible futures for themselves, but also more durable, sustainable and thriving communities and economies.

The post Citizenship Skills Support Durable Pathways appeared first on Getting Smart.

We know from the science of learning that motivation is closely linked to individuals’ sense of control (I have choice in what I do), self-efficacy (I believe I have the skills to succeed), constructive emotions (I feel good about my work), and purpose (what I am doing matters). Using this foundation, new models of teaching are possible that increase control, self-efficacy, constructive emotions and purpose.

In a 2018 study of the blended and personalized learning models from eight innovative schools and districts, the Christensen Institute found that the following strategies were effective ways to increase the quality of teaching and personalization for learners:

1. shifting the roles of teachers away from the one-teacher one-classroom model,
2. building highly collaborative teams,
3. implementing intensive coaching cycles, and
4. funding fellowships and residencies to build strong pipelines for future educators, all.

The Teach to One (formerly the School of One) middle school mathematics model launched in 2009 is now in 6 New York City public schools and focuses on getting expert teachers for portions of the curriculum. Instead of one teacher teaching all 6th-grade middle school math during the year, students cycle through different teachers on a daily basis depending on their progress demonstrated in an online learning platform.

Teaming Models

Within schools, new models of collaborative teaching are emerging. Team teaching has been traditionally defined as combining two classrooms with two teachers either within a single subject or across subjects (ex. humanities). This model has existed within the system for many years with mixed results. Differentiated positions (associate, experienced, master teachers, etc) have been attempted and discarded due to reported inadequate planning and inequitable incentive (ex. Temple City Unified School District).

Described by AIR in 2012 as ‘neo-differentiated staffing’ and ‘cooperative teaching’ in 1995 by Bauwens and Hourcade, new team approaches continue to capitalize on partnerships but encourage specialized roles. In most models, teachers require every skill including instruction, planning, mentorship, advisory, assessment, and learning design. New models of team teaching allow educators to develop expertise areas in order to support a larger cohort of students in a collaborative teaching team, thus building efficacy (more confidence about specialized skills), agency (more autonomy as part of a focused teaching team), increased positive emotions (as they are less isolated) and clarity of purpose (more aware of how individual focus supports a teaching team and a larger group of students). Students benefit when educators are more engaged and motivated.

The Next Education Workforce Model

One example of this is the Next Education Workforce (NEW) project of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Now partnered with more than 10 districts across CA and AZ (including the 58,000-student Mesa Public School system which has set a goal of implementing the model in 50% of schools over the next few years), the program builds the capacity of teams of professionals working with larger groups of students. These roles within the team are specialized based on skill sets.

The core elements of the Next Education Workforce model include teams of educators with different expertise sharing a roster of students, deeper and more personalized learning and innovative pathways to professional learning and advancement. Designated team leaders and extended specialized team members (special educators, reading specialists, etc.) support the core group of educators (read about the Stevenson Elementary, AZ journey here).

Hear more information about the Next Education Workforce model in this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast with Brent Maddin, Executive Director of NEW.

In addition to the professional educators on these teams, the model also builds capacity through a Community Educators program. This supports the professional development of community members and encourages them to share their expertise and gain valuable tools for effective pedagogy. Online, asynchronous and in-person learning experiences on specific topics help accelerate the impact these Community Educators have when they collaborate with classroom teachers.

ASU Prep Teaching Teams

ASU Prep, a national network of schools and partners, is also reimagining educator capacity and teams (and via the ASU ecosystem, partners with the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College to offer professional learning courses in Blended and Personalized Learning). A team of Next Generation coaches at ASU Prep collaborate with educators across the schools to increase fidelity to the network learning model which in turn supports the outcomes for students.

Also part of the ASU Prep Network, the newly launched virtual Khan World School model has Guides and Subject Mentors working together to support students. Guides support all aspects of a student’s academic life through mentorship, seminar facilitation, and advisory, while Mentors work with students on subject-specific content. The students are also connected to the online asynchronous portion of the program offered through ASU Prep Digital (the network’s virtual charter school). The division of expertise and skills creates a stronger experience for students and a more balanced and focused experience for teachers.

ASU Prep Local, an ASU Prep Microschool launched last year, also builds teams of educators to facilitate different aspects of the program. ASU Prep Digital Teachers and Learning Success Coaches support student success within the virtual learning platform, and the Personalized Learning Advisors as well as Local Learning Facilitators and/or local experts work with students during the on-site time of the program. University faculty contribute expertise and project-based learning experiences to enhance the student experience.

By design, student numbers are much larger with collaborative team teaching models. Schools rethink their use of space so that, for example, a set of former single-teacher classrooms are converted into multi-use spaces to accommodate a larger number of students. Students learn in different cohorts. Intentional expertise, team leadership and clear communication are required to avoid some of the pitfalls of team teaching models.

Closing

In addition to rethinking the structure of staffing models, the pre-service pipeline and professional learning innovations can support the recruitment and retention of talented teachers. Grow Your Own teacher development programs have exploded after the pandemic with high school apprenticeship models (ex. Alabama teacher cadets, St. Vrain Valley Schools P-Teach), undergraduate/graduate incentives (ex. Rural teacher corps, Urban Teachers) and alternative pathways to certification approaches adopted by many states can recruit talent and reduce barriers to entry.

Virtual training programs in the metaverse (like that at Northern Illinois University) may provide increased access to building a teacher pipeline. Next-generation professional learning such as micro-credentials (Digital Promise) and competency-based graduate programs (Western Governors University, High Meadows Graduate School of Teaching and Learning (now C3BE at the University of Kansas) ) provide more personalized, more relevant and more engaging experiences for educators to develop their practice

Other concerns still challenge the teaching profession. Lack of autonomy, low professional respect, challenging culture/climate, lack of time, and in many places, low salaries all drive teachers to question the profession. Team teaching models present an innovative solution to build high-quality teams of satisfied and empowered educators. The future of the nation depends on the quality of education provided to the next generation. Discovering, creating and retaining great teachers who are driven to support every K-12 learner is one of the most effective ways to change long-term outcomes for both students and their future communities.

The post Team Teaching, Educator Retention and Education’s Next Workforce appeared first on Getting Smart.