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Design the Learning First. The Structures Will Follow
Ask most educators what the basic unit of learning is at a high school, and they’ll most likely say a course, subject, or period. Forty-five minutes with one teacher, one group of students, one set of standards to cover. We’ve organized schools around this container for so long that it no longer feels like…
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Portrait of a Learner in Practice: Why Every School Needs an Exhibition of Learning
As I sat in the parking lot of Hampton Township’s High School just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reflecting on my experience attending their Exhibition of Learning, I tearfully thought, “Oh, I hope this is the future of education!” On paper, the event sounds impressive enough: a voluntary evening showcase for students from 3rd through…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: A National Student Exhibition Experience
In this one-of-a-kind webinar, learners from across the Learner-Centered Collaborative national partner network took center stage to share authentic exhibitions of learning—offering educators and leaders a rare, firsthand view of what purposeful, learner-centered education can look and feel like in practice. Rather than hearing about student exhibitions in theory, participants experienced them directly: engaging…
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Now is the Time for Systemic Coherence: Reflections on the 25-26 Academic Year
I’ve been going through this year’s Bright Spots, and I keep coming back to the same line of thought. As educators, we know what works. We know what we want our classrooms and schools to be like. We know what purposeful learning feels like. And, I am so grateful to the brave communities who…
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Connecting Research, Development, and Evaluation in District Systems
Some of the core structures of conventional schooling have rather surprising (and old) origins, and they act as a clarion call for research, development, and evaluation to work as one within district environments. Let’s take a quick look at just three of these historical examples to ground ourselves in the “why.” Why do…
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Building a Public Education System That Learns, Adapts, and Endures
 In 1972, Kodak Research Labs began experimenting with digital photography. By 1975, they had their first battery-powered digital camera prototype. Four years later, a Kodak employee predicted digital photography would be ubiquitous by 2010. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. What happened and what can education leaders learn from Kodak’s unexpected collapse? Kodak…
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Making Learning Feel Real With Community Engagement in the Classroom
Written by Kim Landry, 3rd-Grade Teacher, Alamogordo Public Schools We’ve all been there: you’re deep into a unit, the students are engaged, but there’s a lingering sense of “so what?” You want your students to see that what they learn at their desks actually breathes and moves in the real world. One of the…
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Testing Change Helps Educators Learn Their Way Forward
There’s a paradox at the heart of meaningful change in education: educators need shared direction while maintaining individual ownership within their schools and classrooms. They need coherence across a system and professional learning that honors and grows the ability to adopt new practices for their unique learners and contexts. Testing change honors this…
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Writing a New Chapter in Educational Leadership
With each passing day, the challenges educational leaders face have fewer and fewer straightforward solutions. The leadership handbook is being rewritten, requiring a shift in mindset, behavior, and identity. Many of the structures and systems in education were built to solve predictable problems. Originally, the aim was to develop an educated citizenry capable of…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: How to Redesign Your School Through a Learner-Centered Lens
In this webinar, Carmen Sanders (Executive Director of Instructional Support, Alexandria City Public Schools) and Michael Anderson (Principal, West Campus, Colorado Springs School District 11) join Jesse Ross of Learner-Centered Collaborative to share how they are leading learner-centered school redesign within very different contexts—one a large, diverse comprehensive high school system and the other…
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What Learners Really Experience: Reflections from the LiftOff Design Sprint
I recently had the opportunity to participate in the LiftOff Design Sprint, where 75 leaders from education, technology, research, philanthropy, and civic sectors came together in Silicon Valley. Over three days, we worked in teams to rapidly prototype 10 innovative learning models designed to help young people build the habits, skills, and mindsets they…
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Public Microschools as an On-Ramp to Systemic School Redesign
The idea of microschools is generating growing interest across the education landscape. They’re showing up more frequently in philanthropic conversations, conference sessions, and learner-centered education spaces as leaders look for new ways to respond to longstanding challenges and emerging opportunities. For school and district leaders, this rising interest can feel irrelevant to their local…
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Rethinking SAMR in the Age of AI: Why the Model Needs a Second Axis
This article originally appeared on Getting Smart and has been republished with their permission. Written by Vriti Saraf, Nate McClennen, & Katie Martin Key Points The SAMR model needs a second axis (positive vs. negative impact) to better evaluate AI’s effect on teaching and learning. AI’s role in education is nuanced—its success depends on…
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What an 8th-Grade Defense Taught Me About Competency-Based Learning
Written by Maysa Dadmun Have you ever watched a student light up when they get to learn about something they truly love? That spark is what shaped my entire 8th-grade defense project, and now, as a freshman in high school, it’s shaping the way I approach learning every day. I attended Sussex School, a…
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If No One Was Telling Us What To Do, What Would We Build?
For decades, K-12 educational leaders have worked within a system and structure of someone else’s design. We’ve generally been operating with an “outside-in” policy model where Federal rules, funding, accountability systems, and compliance requirements have shaped what we do and how we think about what is possible. State Departments and local education agencies have…
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Looking Back to Move Forward: Our Year of Redesign, Renewal, and Relentless Hope
As 2025 comes to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on a season marked by uncertainty, rapid change, and a growing chorus of voices calling for something better for our kids, educators, and communities. From the fluctuating role of the federal government to the dizzying acceleration of AI, the context around education has shifted…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: Let’s Talk About Competency-Based Learning
In this webinar, three learner-centered leaders share their journeys implementing competency-based teaching, learning, and assessment in their unique school systems. Melissa Olson (Spring Lake Park Schools), Wendy Fairon (Chico Country Day School), and Sharon Stanley (Compass Academy) describe how they shifted from traditional grading and reporting toward systems that elevate clarity, student agency, meaningful…
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This is Our Opportunity to Create A Learner-Centered Path for AI Integration in Education
In conversations across the country, I hear a growing mix of excitement and apprehension about the role of artificial intelligence in education. Many see the potential, yet most also sense a disconnect between what today’s AI tools produce and the kinds of learning experiences we want for young people. This tension is not incidental—it…