Great Teachers Make Innovative Solutions Possible

Guest Author:
Dr. Cory Steiner, Superintendent of Northern Cass School District (ND),
Learner-Centered Collaborative Advisory Council member
Northern Cass is a mentor school district in the 2023-24 Learner-Centered Connections program

Several years ago Northern Cass School District in North Dakota acknowledged that despite traditional markers indicating things were “good” across the district they wanted “great”—a personalized, competency-based student learning experience that tended to whole learner-outcomes. 

Under the leadership of Superintendent Cory Steiner, PhD, the district reinvented what school could be by taking a learner-centered approach that eliminated percentage grades, honored student interests, and put the focus of learning on the district’s Portrait of a Learner. In addition to improving the experience for students, the transformation has also created the conditions for teachers to be the great teachers they set out to be.  

Read Dr. Cory Steiner’s story here: Great Teachers Make Innovative Solutions Possible

 

It’s Your Journey

Explore More Topics

Blog
What is the Purpose of School? A Call for Whole-Learner Outcomes.
What is the purpose of school? For the past four decades, the prevailing national answer—shaped largely by the 1983 report “A Nation at Risk” and documented by historian Patricia Graham—has been singular: Achievement. This focus helped usher in an era of standardization, compliance, and testing. It was designed to respond to global economic anxieties…
Tools
A Learner-Centered Ecosystem
It’s time for a shift from the school-centered education system—where efficiency, standardization, compliance, ranking, sorting, and task completion are top priorities—to a learner-centered paradigm, where we focus on supporting each learner to know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engaged in the world as their best selves. “A Learner-Centered Ecosystem” dives deep…
Blog
4 Lessons From a Competency-Based Community of Practice
No one has completely figured it out, but everyone has something to offer. This sentiment captures the spirit of this year’s Competency-Based Community of Practice. This virtual group is made up of 45 teachers and leaders from nine schools and districts across the country who are currently implementing competency-based assessment and reporting practices. They…