Category: Taking to Scale

improving student learning in partnership with research towards large-scale change

Student and Teacher Agency in Action: the Self-Direction Toolkit Development Process

Researchers tell us, and employers confirm that individuals who demonstrate the 21st-century skills of self-direction, communication, creativity and collaboration excel in post-secondary and career experiences. So the more schools can support the development of those crucial skills, the more we’ll be ensuring our graduates are successful in both the workplace and college. Figuring out how…
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A Roadmap for Student Self-Direction: Building Essential Skills for the Future

For the full roadmap visit Students at the Center Hub. The BEST Self-Direction Toolkit is a collection of resources for teachers to use in the classroom for instruction and assessment that focuses on self-direction. The toolkit includes the self-direction rubric, self-direction activities and targeted resources for teachers. All tools are designed by teachers and tested in the classroom. Who is the…
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BEST Self-Direction Toolkit for Grades K-12 is LIVE!

Check out our newly released Self-Direction Toolkit to support instruction and assessment in K-12 classrooms. A Roadmap to the toolkit can be found at the Students at the Center Hub. The rubrics and tools in this toolkit are designed to support teachers in K-12 classrooms, with particular focus on grades 6-12, who are interested in…
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Tools for Scaling Best Practices: Windows, Bridges and Roadmaps

Our last two articles (here and here) explored the scaling of Work-Study Practices (WSPs, a.k.a., deeper learning competencies) in New Hampshire, the growth of this education innovation in the state and the role of a statewide, nonprofit intermediary, the New Hampshire Learning Initiative (NHLI) as a scaling agent. There is another driver of scale observed by JFF staff: a competency-based learning…
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Three Ways to Scale Student-Centered Reforms in Your System

Since 2014, New Hampshire educators can meet academic accountability requirements through a statewide Performance Assessment for Competency-based Education (PACE) system. Aimed at capturing a more authentic assessment of content knowledge, educators have developed and scored performance tasks with levels of reliability and validity comparable to state level standardized tests. As part of a William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded…
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Scaling is All the Rage, but How Do You Make It Happen?

reposted from Students at the Center Hub It’s fall 2017 in New Hampshire. The state’s Performance Assessment for Competency-based Education (PACE) system is entering its third year. Using this alternative state accountability system, 150 teachers in nine school districts have created 14 performance assessment tasks in mathematics, English language arts (ELA) and science. The tasks have been…
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Scaling Up Deeper Learning: Results From New Hampshire’s Statewide Efforts

Employers, colleges and families may not agree on much, but they tend to agree about this: our K-12 students need to develop essential skills like self-direction, collaboration, communication and creativity to successfully navigate college, career and community life. Trouble is, standardized tests and traditional assessments do not adequately capture whether students have developed these deeper…
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