10 Questions to Ask Students

Listening to learners is essential when leading change. This tool will help you spark conversations with your students to understand what’s working and where innovation may best serve your school. Empathy – listening to learners – is the first step in designing solutions that scale.

Choose the format for connecting with you learners that best aligns with your goals—student forums, focus groups, surveys, or interviews—and use these key questions to help guide the conversation.

To download this tool and get started, complete the form below:

Publications

Pathways to Possibility: Reimagining CTE in California’s Continuation High Schools

Across California, continuation high schools are creating more personalized, purposeful learning experiences for students who have often been underserved by traditional systems. These schools support young people navigating poverty, housing instability, and other complex life challenges, yet too often these students are left out of education redesign efforts. Career Technical Education (CTE) is a…

Blog

Reading, Writing, and Rising: Centering Literacy in Learner-Centered Education

By Stephanie Buelow and Charlotte Frambaugh Kritzer, Professors of Literacy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Literacy is the cornerstone of a learner-centered education—it unlocks the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and engage meaningfully in a rapidly changing world. Few leaders embody this understanding as powerfully as Dr. Lori Gonzalez. A visionary…

Blog

Debunking the Math Myth: How Learner-Centered Classrooms Deepen Understanding

In a learner-centered classroom, math is about more than numbers and formulas—it’s about curiosity, exploration, and making sense of the world. Picture this: It’s 10:00am in Ms. Kim’s 3rd grade classroom and students are gathered on the rug around a chart. Two students have just finished sharing their strategies with the whole class on…

Tools

Durable Skills Learning Experience Accelerator App

Welcome to the Durable Skills Learning Experience Accelerator (LEA) App! If you are an educator looking to embed Durable Skills into your learning experiences, lessons, units, and projects you’ve come to the right place. Trained with the Pathsmith™ Durable Skills Framework from America Succeeds and learner-centered strategies from Learner-Centered Collaborative, this powerful tool supports…

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Tools

Liftoff Models Reflection Tool

In December 2025, a group of young people, school leaders, technologists, researchers, and nonprofit leaders came together to explore what new learning models for ages 13–22 could look like at the Liftoff Design Sprint (read more about the gathering here). This tool is designed for you to explore the 10 innovative models that came…

Blog

Our Mission: Redesign the Future of Public Education

Five years ago, Learner-Centered Collaborative was founded on a simple but ambitious vision for all learners to know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engage in the world as their best selves. Today, that vision remains unchanged. However, to honor the moment we find ourselves in—where the world is being reshaped by…

Blog

This Regional Network is Putting Learner-Centered Practice in Motion

This reflection emerges from a collaborative effort between Learner-Centered Collaborative and the University of California, San Diego Department of Education Studies. I am especially grateful to Dr. Dave Trautman, Dr. Mimi Lockton, and Dr. Alan J. Daly, whose incredible vision, design, and facilitation played a central role in bringing this work to life. What…