Deeper Learning Resources

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly expanded awareness of the deep and long-standing inequities in the U.S. education system. In this webinar, prominent education and civil rights leaders discussed how policymakers, educators, and advocates can seize this moment to reinvent schools around principles of equity, authentic learning, and stronger relationships in order to transform learning experiences and close opportunity and achievement gaps.

Educators need ways to assess student learning that can also support students’ higher-order thinking skills, help improve teachers’ instructional practices, and give young people a chance to demonstrate college and career readiness. In this webinar, three district leaders discussed how they supported the implementation of performance assessments, how they adapted their work in response to COVID-related school closures, and how they are thinking about meaningfully assessing student learning as schools reopen.

As districts work to reopen schools in the pandemic and post-pandemic era, how can they support schools in creating high-quality summer learning experiences focused on acceleration rather than remediation? The Accelerating Learning Series kicked off with the panel, “Strategies for Whole Child Summer Learning and Beyond.”

How can districts design new schedules to expand learning time for students and accelerate learning? In the third of a five-part series, panelists discussed reimagining the traditional school day through such strategies as partnerships with community-based organizations and community school approaches. They also discussed how high-quality expanded learning initiatives support students’ development of critical skills, as well as their social and emotional well-being.

Access to deeper learning is essential in a knowledge-based economy, but most schools, especially those serving low-income students and students of color, still focus on routine lower-level skills. The inequalities are so deep-seated that clearing a path to deeper learning for marginalized young people has required—and continues to require—considerable engagement in civil rights litigation, enforcement, and advocacy, as well as education reform.

The U.S. Department of Education virtual Professional Learning Series takes an in-depth look at how community schools can transform student learning and outcomes. The series examines programs from across the country, explores ways that community school approaches can further whole child learning, and digs into the ways that pandemic federal relief funding (including American Rescue Plan funds) have been used to support community schools.

An overview of the 10 features needed to transform high school from the factory model to one supporting whole child learning, featuring examples from California schools.

Relationship-centered high school redesign fosters academic growth, emotional development, and student well-being. Experts discuss practical approaches to transform your educational setting in this insightful webinar.

Effective schools foster identity-safe environments where all students feel included. Experts discuss designing instructional strategies that celebrate diverse identities using culturally responsive practices and Universal Design for Learning as interrelated frameworks.

This series explores successful high school redesign efforts that move beyond outdated, factory-style education models. They will discuss key features of a whole child education framework that better prepare students for today's global workforce, featuring experts and practitioners leading research-based transformation efforts.