Blog
Elevating Learner Voices: Deer Lakes Students Share Their Vision in Video
At Learner-Centered Collaborative, we know centering student voice is key for meaningful change in education. We recently witnessed the power of learner voice in an impressive video produced by high school students at our partner district, Deer Lakes School District. To showcase Deer Lakes’ work with Learner-Centered Collaborative to redesign learning, high school students…
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Leadership Forum: Igniting Limitless Potential for All Learners with Encinitas Union School District
Our Learner-Centered Leadership Forum series is an opportunity to gain timely, first-hand insights, examples, ideas, and lessons learned from learner-centered district leaders doing the work in the field with their teams, community, and learners. In this second event in the series in December 2023, Encinitas Superintendent Andrée Grey and Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services…
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Navigating Our Future: The Revised Big Questions Shaping Our Research Partnership with UCSD
In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the need for research and practices that are robust and reflective of contemporary challenges is imperative. Recognizing this need, Learner-Centered Collaborative, in partnership with UC San Diego, has embarked on a journey to foster innovation and advance knowledge in the field of education through collaborative research projects, shared…
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Empowering Educators As Designers
By Liz Perry and Sarah Mathews Liz Perry is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Learner-Centered Collaborative and former Director of Instructional Innovation at San Diego Unified School District Sarah Mathews is the Program Manager of Cross-Content Literacy at San Diego Unified School District. Educators As Curriculum Designers & Decision Makers As…
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What It Means to Center Learners By Design
What does learner-centered education have to do with design? A lot, actually. At the core, both design and learner-centered education are human-centered. Contrary to what one might think, they don’t require a blank canvas or a sleek modern building, but rather a story, assets to build upon, challenges to address, and a deep understanding…
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How You Can (Almost) Have It All With AI: Optimizing the Balance of AI and Human Interaction
Written in collaboration with Brittany Griffin, Director of Strategic Partnerships There’s ample buzz around AI’s potential in K-12 education. It ranges from excitement, to concerns around ethical dilemmas, to debates about the efficacy of learning in front of a screen, to fear that technology will replace educators. Some have called for an all-in adoption…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: Supercharge Learning: Unlocking the Learner-Centered Power of AI
Join host Marlon Styles and guests Sophia Mendoza (Los Angeles Unified School District) and Brittany Griffin as they discuss strategies for leveraging AI to supercharge learner-centered education. In this engaging webinar, they explore topics including: Creative ways educators are currently using AI like summarizing text and generating feedback Ideas for how school leaders, teachers,…
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A Learner-Centered Research Triad Launches in Southern California
In July of 2023, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Learner-Centered Collaborative (LCC) announced a groundbreaking strategic partnership that would unite researchers, practitioners from LCC, and regional districts in advancing learner-centered practices. Among the key objectives of this partnership is to share knowledge and resources and disseminate findings to ensure broader…
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Growth Through Connections
By: Dr. Leighangela Brady, Superintendent, National School District (CA) Dr. Brady shares a first-hand perspective from the Fall 2023 Learner-Centered Connections in-person convening in San Diego, CA where the cohort visited four innovative public schools and Illumina, a biotech company. Hearing directly from a student ambassador panel at Bostonia Global High School in the…
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Using Feedback to Drive Learning, Connection, Purpose, and Ownership
Meaningful feedback is not the same as a grade or an evaluation. Feedback is information for the learner about where they are in relationship to the goal or target to help them get there.
Blog
All Goals Are Not Created Equal
Guest blog post by Erik Burmeister Erik Burmeister is the Founder and Principal of Solutionary Advisors, a member of the Learner-Centered Collaborative Advisory Council, and the former Superintendent of Menlo Park City School District in California. Take any course. Ask any expert. Read any book. When it comes to curating a portrait…
BlogWebinars
Leadership Forum: Reimagining the Learner Experience with Santa Ana Unified School District
Our Learner-Centered Leadership Forum series is an opportunity to gain timely, first-hand insights, examples, ideas, and lessons learned from learner-centered district leaders doing the work in the field with their teams, community, and learners. In this first event in the series in September 2023, Santa Ana Unified School District leaders, Superintendent Jerry Almendarez and…
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Scorecards: How Might We Measure What Matters In Schools?
Identifying strengths and possible Scorecard metrics with Hawaii Public Charter School Commission. There are many good reasons to have ways to determine if a school or school system is effective. For one, our schools are preparing our young people to be productive contributing citizens and (hopefully) thriving adults, so best to measure efficacy before…
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Getting from School-Centered to Learner-Centered
Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages Some say “schools are broken.” We say schools are doing exactly what they were designed to do 150 years ago–but the needs have drastically changed and it is time to build newer and better systems that support every learner to achieve their goals and engage in…
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Changing how students learn, starts with changing how educators learn
As educators, we are socialized into the profession in various ways. These may include observations of our previous teachers (known as the apprenticeship of observation), our preparation programs, and especially our first on-the-job experiences. In short, our beliefs and expectations are shaped by our experiences including professional learning, which is why I often…
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Designing Units with Student Choice, Real-World Problem Solving, and Technology Integration
By: Vince Fabella, Math Teacher & Technology Lead at Laguna Beach Unified School District Student engagement and technology integration are crucial components of effective teaching and learning, helping to promote interactive, dynamic, and creative problem-solving approaches that empower learners. Although the use of educational technology has increased significantly in recent years, there may be…
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Reclaiming Joy at the End of the School Year
At VIDA middle school in Vista Unified School District, students in an English class give each other affirmations and gratitudes throughout the year. “Joy is the ultimate goal of teaching and learning, not test prep or graduation.” – Gholdy Muhammad, author, Unearthing Joy The end of the school year is in plain sight. Maybe…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: Revealing Our Secrets: Professional Learning that Makes an Impact
Katie Martin and Bryanna Hanson share what educators want in their professional learning experiences and where to find it.