Students of color and youth attending high-poverty schools are more likely to endure cycles of skills remediation. Disrupting these cycles will require school and district leaders to redesign instruction, address outdated school structures, and provide personalized support for students and teachers. Schools can – and should – accelerate student learning, meeting students where they are and ensuring that they perform up to their level of capability. Integrating practical and work-aligned experiences into the curriculum should increase the relevance of accelerated learning opportunities.
Instructional System Redesign
Creation of simpler, more transparent, and open-ended instructional systems in which students earn a high school diploma and can demonstrate skills mastery through a variety of performance assessments.
Supporting learner-centered instruction – a model in which students are agents of their own learning and can apply skills in real-world and work-based learning environments.
Post-Secondary Credit
Ensuring that students who complete career pathways and obtain industry-recognized credentials in high school earn post-secondary credit, regardless of where they enroll.
Community-Driven Improvement
Drafting a K-12 accountability model that includes multiple measures of school quality and structures that support performance feedback and improvement.
Providing training and technical assistance to school and district leadership teams as they use student-level assessment data to accelerate and personalize student learning.
Readiness Milestones
Success Milestones
National Organizations and Initiatives