featured Archives

Deconstructing Construction Projects

Last spring I was standing in my fifth-grade classroom, mid-project, rearranging student groups when I realized we had a problem. My students were building scale models of dog houses and cat condos that they had designed—and would ultimately build—to donate to a pet-adoption event later that spring.

Warren High School — CARPE Story of Impact

How was Warren High first in the state for financial aid submissions three years in a row? Watch how they did it

Kofi B on the power of teachers, peers, and music

Alec talked to 23-year-old keyboard player, band leader, public speaker, and Akron, Ohio native Kofi B mere hours before Kofi kicked off the 2024 Deeper Learning conference with an incendiary set!

Giving Teachers a chance to “Test Drive” their Lessons

M’s fourth graders were buzzing as they worked in pairs to solve the math problem M. had just presented to them. The other educators in the room circulated and listened in as students used academic language to discuss their answers with each other, jotting down notes about what their partner had said and the language they had used.

Schools as Equitable Communities of Inquiry

We wrote this chapter several years ago, in response to a request from the Sitra Foundation in Finland that we envision the school of the future. The chapter is dated in some respects, but apart from minimal updates and revisions for clarity, it appears here as written.

How to do Student-Centered Assessment

In Student-Centered assessment the students first reflect and then receive feedback from peers, teachers, community, and experts to fully develop their projects.

Student-Centered Assessment

In student-centered assessment, students make important decisions about the nature of assessment and participate in the process

A Handbook for Community Partnerships: Service Learning

This is one in a trio of articles that provide tried-and-tested, actionable advice for community partnerships in school.

Community Partnerships

Community partners enrich classroom experiences by fostering real-world relevance for broader topic exploration.

The 2×10 Intervention

A concentrated approach to boosting student trust and growth. Try this strategy to deepen class connections and encourage students to reinvest in learning goals.

How Iowa WTF organized a state-wide school walkout

Alec talks to Waverly Zhao and David Lee, co-founders of Iowa WTF, about what it took to organize a state-wide school walkout in response to anti-Gay legislation in 2023

It Takes a Village to Raise a Writer

We called our project the Earth Authors Program. It began with Ramnath setting the groundwork by giving children an authentic reason for writing.

The Six Relationships that Characterize Great Schools

Underlying Deeper Learning are the relationships that make learning meaningful and sticky.

They Have a Point…

I want to tell you a story. It’s a story about innovation. It’s a story about improvement. It’s a story about equity.

The Performance Cycle: Building Community

A learning community’s activities and relationships are designed to help set a learner’s feet on a path toward a positive social future.

For Bernita Bedah, Language is Foundational to Building Identity

Navajo teacher Bernita Bedah teaches a bilingual kindergarten class in Navajo and English. She talks to Alec about why that’s important for her students, and her community.