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Low literacy rates continue to persist, especially in low socioeconomic communities. Recent data indicates that approximately 40% of K-12 students in the United States are not reading at basic levels and almost 70% of low income 4th grade students are below basic levels. We know that struggling readers often exhibit behavioral challenges in the shortContinue reading “The Future of Elementary Education: Literacy Launchpads that Ensure Literacy for All”

What sort of problems did you want to solve when you were younger? When I was younger, I didn’t entirely know what I wanted to do. I often spent time playing school because I really enjoyed learning. I also loved animals and thought that maybe I might choose a career that involved working with animals.Continue reading “An Education Journey: A Q&A with Rachelle Dené Poth”

By Mary Ruppenthal Schools, as integral components of the social tapestry within any given community, possess the potential for a more profound role. They hold the potential to be dynamic centers of community engagement and enrichment, creating learning experiences that touch every demographic of the community. Too many schools are shuttered at the end ofContinue reading “The School as a Whole Community Resource”

It is hard to understand the changes we should make in education without considering how life and work might evolve. If school is meant to prepare students for adulthood, and if education is meant to equip them with the tools needed to shape their lives and our future, it seems worthwhile they would understand theContinue reading “Education and the Economy: How Might Education Shape the Future of How We Live and Work”

By: Wayne Pan If you’ve done any amount of innovation and redesign work you’ve inevitably had experiences with skeptics. The doubt can come in the form of snide comments about plausibility, subtle questions about data, or outright rejection of any possibilities that don’t fit into a comfortable, already-held narrative about the future. While it mightContinue reading “How to Win Over Your Futures Skeptics”

By: Hilary Sontag and Kerri McDermid Over the past 20 years, competing ideological agendas have challenged public education in almost every arena: in state legislatures, on school boards, and across local communities. However, there is reason for optimism, because the current education ecosystem is circling around that rare thing that everyone agrees on: the importanceContinue reading “Advice From More than A Decade of Career Pathway Innovation”

By: Hassan Hassan “What we need to do is actually get out there and talk to people, gain their trust, and understand from their point of view what they need, not assume what they need. It’s not about us, it’s like you got to de-center your ego.” 4.0 Alumnus Textbooks. IQ tests. SAT tests. ClassroomsContinue reading “Designing at the Margins”

It was the end of the school day, and I was tired. I grabbed a stack of about 130 equation worksheets to grade on the train ride home and picked up the dry-erase markers (that I bought myself) and put them in my purse. I’d bring the pens back in the morning, but I didn’tContinue reading “Style and Substance: Help teachers create the classroom of their dreams”

By: Dr. Eric Oglesbee I never intended to start a high school. It was in the Spring of 2015 while walking with a junior high teacher from the private Montessori school my children attended that I asked a simple question whose answer would fundamentally alter the trajectory of my professional and personal life. “Has anyoneContinue reading “Talk About It: Why Asking Questions and Sharing Ideas is a Core Part of Starting a School”

Facilitating a transformative journey starts with a comprehensive visioning and strategic process that revolves around four interconnected and dynamic portraits: the Portrait of a Learner, the Portrait of a System, the Portrait of an Educator and the Portrait of a Leader. These adaptable frameworks exhibit interconnections tailored to the specific context of each role. ForContinue reading “Charting a Course for Educational Transformation: The Power of Aligned Portraits”