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Day 2 of our Learner-Centered Connections Cohort in Hunter, ND brought 26 educators from Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California together for an inspiring site visit with our industry partner, @BobcatCompany.
The day began with a powerful panel discussion at Bobcat, where educators explored how learner-centered approaches align with the evolving needs of today’s workforce. Teams then spent time reflecting and collaborating to turn insights into actionable next steps for their schools.
When educators come together with purpose, incredible things happen. Every conversation and connection moves us closer to creating ecosystems where all learners know who they are, thrive in community, and engage in the world as their best selves. 🌍
The LCC networks are thriving! We had a blast at the @FullScaleLearning Symposium in New Orleans last weekend.
👉 We started off with our pre-conference session where teams from Colorado, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Missouri, Montana, California, and more gathered to reimagine assessment through a learner-centered lens.
Participants embraced joy and engaged in reflection, collaboration, and creation, developing their own learner-centered assessment philosophies that honor the whole learner and promote agency, growth, and context.
👉 During the conference, we hosted a total of five sessions on various elements of learner-centered education. We were so excited to see such great energy and engagement at all of them!
We`re so grateful to everyone who joined us for your energy, curiosity, and commitment to reimagining what’s possible for learners.
Last week, district leaders and educators engaged in powerful site visits, exploring how learner-centered design is creating meaningful pathways, stronger communities, and deeper engagement for students.
⭐️A team from Salinas Union High School District engaged in a 2-day Inspiration Visit to four schools in Oakland USD: Latitude High School, Fremont High School, Life Academy, and MetWest. Student-led tours, classroom visits, and conversations with students and educators all revolved around the importance of small learning communities, collaboration, community partnerships, and real-world learning. The team left with actionable insights to continue bringing their Framework for the Future and Portrait of a Graduate to life this year and beyond.
⭐️ The North County Superintendent Network visited Vista High School for showcases of student leadership, career certifications, and high levels of engagement and connectedness for learners. It was inspiring to see a high school focused on learner-led pathways and real-world challenges!
We’ve visited hundreds of learner-centered schools and interviewed many of their leaders to create LCC’s School Redesign Playbook – and it just launched today! 🥳 Check it out at the link in our bio!
Wherever you are in the school redesign process, this comprehensive resource offers tangible examples, inspiration, and tools to build a school ecosystem where all learners know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engage in the world as their best selves.
We’d also like to give a HUGE shoutout and thank you to the many folks who contributed to the final product:
· Dr. Andy Johnsen, @SanMarcosUSD
· Benjie Walker, @VistaAcademyVUSD
· Dr. Bryanna Norton, @HiddenValley_EUSD
· Carmen Sanders, @AlexCityTitans
· Damon Patterson, @VIDAsharks
· Ellen Crews, @VIDAsharks
· Dr. Eric Chagala, @VistaUnified / VistaUnifiedSD
· Jeremy Walden, @MVHStimerwolves
· Kelly Eveleth, @Design39Collaborative
· Kristi Desuacido, @HalauKuManaPCS
· Dr. Laura Philyaw, National School District
· Michael Anderson, West Campus
· Krystle Miller, Conway Academy
· Tyler Thigpen, Forest School/Institute for Self-Directed Learning
Alamogordo Public Schools made this video to document the thought, intentionality, and months of work that have gone into creating their Framework for the Future with guidance from the Learner-Centered Collaborative team.
#FrameworkfortheFuture #GuidingCoalition #Learner-Centered
Our 3rd-annual Learner-Centered Connections cohort kicked off on Monday with 26 educators from Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California visiting @NorthernCassSchool for an inspiring and educational look at standards-based assessment, student agency, and many more learner-centered elements in this community!
🤔 What happens when educators align on what learning really means?
At @wiseburnusd and The Innovative School of Temple Beth Sholom, teams are rethinking assessment, not as a grading task, but as a shared language for growth.
Through calibration, educators are building trust, clarity, and confidence in how learning is measured and communicated. The result? Assessment becomes a promise: one that truly reflects what learners know and can do.
Our newest blog by Holly Stipe explores how schools are aligning purpose, process, and practice to make learning more meaningful. Check it out: https://learnercentered.org/blog/assessment-philosophies-calibration
It’s been a busy and inspiring week for our team! Here’s a quick recap of the on-the-ground work we’ve been doing to support learner-centered change:
📚Leaders from across the Hawai`i Public Charter School Network came together this week for the Scorecard Institute, part of the Accountability Plus initiative. The session focused on aligning school goals, metrics, and measures of impact to authentically reflect each community’s vision for learning.
📚Working groups in Salinas Union High School District met to begin crafting the district`s Portrait of a Graduate Progressions and Instructional Model. Both groups began by making personal connections to Portrait Outcomes and engaging learning experiences and then ideating on how to apply those tenets to their group`s work this year.
📚Adelanto Elementary School District educators took an exciting step toward bringing their Framework for the Future to life during the first of three Project-Based Learning workshop days. Throughout the workshop, teachers will explore key elements of PBL, brainstorm authentic projects, and collaborate to craft learner-centered experiences.
📚Templeton educators came together for a powerful day of learning and collaboration. They spent time deepening their shared understanding of the Portrait of a Learner, gathering another round of thoughtful feedback on the competencies, and exploring practical strategies to bring the Portrait to life across classrooms, schools, and roles.
📚This week, we kicked off the Measuring What Matters Community of Practice hosted in partnership with Scaling Student Success. Teams from 6 districts across California met for the first of 6 virtual sessions to begin to create their district-wide Scorecards to measure implementation of their Graduate Profiles.
📚 Lamont leadership reflected on the district-wide instructional focus cycles. The teacher artifacts of learning help shine a bright light on the impact of personalized professional development and a coherent instructional approach.
In order to improve our work and expand our impact, we use surveys to measure what matters.
This new blog discusses all things surveys in education, using real-life examples from LCC partner districts: National School District & Colorado Springs District 11.
Read it at the link in our bio.
Learn from Michelle Culver (The Rithm Project) and @KatieMartinEdu (Learner-Centered Collaborative) in Episode 47 of the Learner-Centered Collaborative Podcast -- out now.
Listen or watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & YouTube, all available at the link in our bio.
True learning isn’t about completing tasks. It’s about sparking curiosity, creativity, and agency. As Katie Martin reminds us, when we empower learners to make an impact, we don’t just teach content: we inspire innovators. Let’s keep building classrooms that cultivate purpose and possibility. 💫
School redesign is an integral part of our work at LCC, and West PK–8 in Colorado Springs School District 11 is serving as a prime model for a community-centered redesign. They`ve created a movement where the whole community plays a role in reimagining a learner-centered future where all learners know who they are and thrive in community.
By opening up leadership to students, families, educators, and local partners, West is rewriting its story into one of pride, belonging, and possibility. This is #OneWest — and it’s a model for what’s possible when schools lean into learner-centered redesign.
Read the full story: https://hubs.ly/Q03Nz-9s0
Something exciting is happening in Pittsburgh and San Diego!
We brought together educators from opposite sides of the country to co-design a middle school unit rooted in learner-centered values:
📕 Authentic Learning: Connecting projects to real-world purpose and impact
📙 World of Work Integration: Helping learners explore their strengths and passions
📒 Inclusive Community Building: Grounding learning in local voices and culture
This winter, the team will continue collaborating virtually before bringing this shared vision to life in classrooms across the country this spring, showing what’s possible when educators design collaboratively.
🎯 Big Moves lead to real change.
One of the core ways we help schools and districts evolve is by guiding leaders to define and activate their Big Moves: 3–5 focused priorities that align daily work with a shared vision for learners. When systems focus on coherence over complexity, meaningful transformation follows.
Devin Vodicka`s new Catalyst blog, Big Moves: How to Create a Strategic Plan That Leads to Real Change in Your District, outlines exactly how this works and how to make it work in your district.
The good news? You don`t have to do it alone. Learner-Centered Collaborative supports districts throughout the country with creating strategic plans that bring learner-centered education to life. To learn more about our services, reach out to us at the link in our bio.
🔗 Read the full blog there, too.
How one teacher felt seen and heard during her district`s learner-centered change process
#education #elementaryschool #highschool #middleschool #schoolmovement #teachers
Hey Montana educators, we`ll see you at the Montana Federation of Public Employees Conference Educator Conference! Megan Parry, Missoula resident and Director of Strategic Partnerships at LCC, is leading two innovative and transformational sessions that you don`t want to miss. See you next week!
Register for the conference at the link in our bio.
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Session Descriptions
1. Bridging Pedagogy and Graduate Portraits: How to Bring a Portrait to Life with your Students
Is your district implementing a portrait of a graduate, or are you curious about how this framework can transform your classroom? In this session, we’ll collaborate to explore how to align teaching and learning with the key elements of a Graduate Profile—skills like critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving. You’ll leave with practical strategies to apply in your classroom tomorrow that are tailored to your context and the needs of your students. Together, we’ll uncover powerful connections that support both your students` growth and your professional development.
2. Why Now is the Time to Evolve Your Mindsets and Practices. And How.
Session Description
The pace of change in the world our students are living in and will inherit is accelerating. How can we ensure they are prepared to thrive now and in that future? In this session we’ll explore why it’s important that we evolve our practices and mindsets now. We’ll cast our own vision for what learners need now to be successful. We’ll seek inspiration from others who have started to do things differently and identify ways we can start our own shifts now.
