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Webinar Series | November 2024 - May 2025

Reimagining Education: Transforming High School for Powerful Learning

Hosted by LPI’s Center for School and System Redesign

Co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Community Schooling and the John W. Gardner Center for Youth

Two high school students work together in science class holding up a model skeleton

Most schools are not designed to educate today’s students to face the challenges of our time. Too many young people still experience the factory-style model of learning prevalent in U.S. high schools, which emphasizes uniformity, efficiency, and rote learning. There are schools that have been successfully redesigned to prepare students for a global workforce, and they offer a powerful blueprint for creating learning environments that are more humane, enriching, and productive than our current models. 

This webinar series, based on the recent report Redesigning High School: 10 Features for Success, surfaces the key features of such schools, using examples from California, and includes speakers who have put these approaches into practice and are at the forefront of research-based school transformation initiatives.

In addition to the main webinar series, LPI is offering three professional learning deep dives into specific topic areas. These four-series sessions are designed for teams; attendees are expected to commit to all four sessions in the series. For more information, please see details in the box, below.


Systemic Implementation of the 10 Features

November 20, 2024 | How can educators, families, and communities transform factory-model high schools into schools where students feel safe, belong, engage in meaningful learning, and thrive physically and emotionally? An overview of the 10 features that lead to whole school transformation will be followed by a discussion of practices and strategies for effective teaching, learning, and student support. Watch video recording >

Speakers
  • Matt Alexander, School Board President, San Francisco Unified School District
  • Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO, Learning Policy Institute
  • Jeff Gilbert, Lead Principal, Hillsdale High School, San Mateo Union High School District
  • Cheryl Jones-Walker, Director, Center for School and System Redesign, Learning Policy Institute
  • Nicky Ramos-Beban, Chief Academic Officer, TutorWorks; Founding Principal, East Palo Alto Academy

Relationship-Centered Approaches That Matter

December 12, 2024 | This session introduces structures and practices that support positive relationships and create caring learning communities. Presenters highlight how redesigning high schools to be relationship-centered enables academic learning, social and emotional development, and adolescent well-being. Participants consider how these approaches might be enacted in their educational settings. Register

Speakers
  • Rebecca Alemán, Vice Principal, Addams Elementary School, Fresno Unified School District
  • Tatiana Chaterji, former Restorative Justice Coordinator, Fremont High School, Oakland Unified School District
  • Roberta C. Furger, Senior Director, Stuart Foundation (Moderator)
  • Laura E. Hernández, Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute
  • Lauren Markham, Director, Oakland International High School Learning Lab

Student-Centered and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

January 14, 2025 | Effective schools create an environment that is identity-safe—where all students feel welcomed and included, where their identities and cultures are not a cause for exclusion but a strength to be valued and celebrated. Presenters will highlight how to design instructional strategies that build on students’ knowledge, identities, and interests using culturally responsive practices and Universal Design for Learning as interrelated frameworks. Register

Speakers
  • Chela Delgado, Humanities Faculty Advisor, Berkeley Teacher Education Program
  • Zaretta Hammond, Founder and CEO, Transformative Learning Solutions LLC
  • Cheryl Jones-Walker, Director, Center for School and System Redesign, Learning Policy Institute

Additional speakers to be announced.

Authentic Curriculum and Assessment

February 11, 2025 | This session will highlight examples of schools that have designed curriculum and assessment connected to authentic inquiry. Learn how educators create engaging, well-scaffolded experiences for their students and the structures and feedback they offer to support learners. Participants will draw connections between the practices featured and their educational context. Register

Speakers
  • Charlie Thompson, Research and Policy Associate, Learning Policy Institute
  • Esther Soliman, Vice President Pathways Implementation, Linked Learning Alliance
  • Devin Vodicka, CEO, Learner-Centered Collaborative

Additional speakers to be announced.

Centering Students and Families

March 13, 2025 | The ongoing success of a redesigned school depends on centering the perspectives and voices of students and families. Experts will discuss their experiences in building systems, structures, and environments that nurture the inclusion of students and families in decision-making and leadership roles. Register

Speakers
  • Sarah Klevan, Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute
  • Karen Mapp, Professor of Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • J. T. Schiltz, Managing Partner, Transcend Education

Additional speakers to be announced.

Preparing Educators and Ensuring Essential Supports

April 10, 2025 | Effective teaching requires a deep understanding of how students learn and develop and the ability to connect with each student. Speakers will discuss how redesigned high schools invest in preparing and supporting their teachers by providing opportunities for them to create a coherent set of practices and develop expertise. Creating regular time for embedded collaboration and professional learning is essential, but it can be challenging to create. Speakers will share how this can be accomplished as well as how to build connections between teacher preparation programs to support the learning of students and preservice educators simultaneously. Register

Speakers
  • Kristen Ferris, Partner, Education Resources Strategies
  • Maria E. Hyler, Director, Washington, DC Office and Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute
  • Carolyne Quintana, Strategic Education Leader and Consultant

Additional speakers to be announced.

Authentic Strategies for Engaging Communities

May 8, 2025 | In this session, community schools in neighborhoods experiencing rapid demographic changes and high concentrations of poverty will share how they redesigned the high school experience to be student-centered, asset-based, and culturally responsive. Register

Speakers
  • Karen Hunter Quartz, Director, UCLA Center for Community Schooling
  • Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Deputy Director and Senior Research Associate, John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities

Additional speakers to be announced.

 

Reimagining Education: Professional Learning Mini-Series

School staff who attend the webinars and are interested in diving deeper into strategies and practices for creating relationship-centered and culturally responsive learning communities may register for one or more of the following professional learning mini-series starting in 2025:

    Budget, Staffing, and Scheduling - January 15, 22, and 29; February 5
    • Facilitators: Jeff Gilbert and Matt Alexander
    • Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m. PT
  • Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Practices - January 21 and 28; February 4 and 11
    • Facilitators: Cheryl Jones-Walker and Chela Delgado
    • Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m. PT
  • ​Advisory Models - January 23 and 30; February 6 and 13
    • Facilitators: Nicky Ramos-Beban and Linda Darling-Hammond
    • Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m. PT

Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages