RESOURCES
Our RESOURCES page is for highlighting materials that might be helpful to teachers and leaders: articles, research studies, polices, videos and more.
FOR TEACHERS
This section is for providing instructors with pragmatic support for implementation of Deeper Learning practices.
Illustrating the Competency-Based Education Definition. A 2024 update by Aurora Institute/CompetencyWorks that visualizes their latest definition of CBE.
What is Deep Learning? Who are the Deep Learning Teachers? ASCD, 2018.
KAS for Technology Dashboard of Resources and Examples. This Kentucky site has pragmatic student work examples, sorted by grade level and KAS Technology competencies. For more on the work of Digital Learning Coaches behind this curation, visit their website.
Planning for Deeper Learning: Virginia ASCD.
Cognia (formerly AdvancED) Performance Standards, published July 1, 2022.
PBLWorks PBL Gold Standard: Essential Project Design Elements.
Blended Learning Basics. From Blended Learning Universe. Discusses and defines blended learning, as well as seven models of digital instruction.
Quality Work Protocol process. A calibration and tuning system for examining student work. This is a somewhat modified version of the original EL Education process, customized by OVEC's Deeper Learning Team.
EL Education's Models of Excellence: Projects. A filterable databank of ideas, helpful for PBL inspiration.
High Tech High's Projects. Another bank of ideas for PBL.
Shifting Into Deeper Learning by Mary Davenport. Edutopia, October 20, 2021.
Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning by Andrew Miller. Edutopia, April 15, 2014 (updated June 2016).
5 Instructional Shifts to Promote Deep Learning by Susan Oxnevad. Getting Smart, October 30, 2012.
IN writing
This page from KAEC details Kentucky's Portrait of a Learner (PoL) along with links to other Kentucky districts that have their own PoLs or Profiles of a Graduate.
Diving into a Deep Blue (grass) Sea of Innovation, Part One: How Educational Cooperatives and Deeper Learning Teams are Poised to Help Transform Kentucky Education by Adam Watson, Aurora Institute's CompetencyWorks blog, January 19, 2023.
"What is deeper learning?" Dr. Jason Glass, Kentucky Teacher, December 1, 2022.
Transcend Education. A website with resources focusing on redesigning school. Be sure to check out the "Models Exchange" filterable database for ideas to inspire you.
The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning by Kia Darling-Hammond and Eliza Byard, Learning Policy Institute, August 22, 2022.
The Students at the Center. A hub of resources, with a concentration on personalized learning, student agency and voice, competency-based education, and real-world connections.
New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. Website for Michael Fullan's institute with resources and professional development.
Developing the Most In-Demand Skills for the Future of Work by Bernard Marr, Forbes, June 15, 2022.
From Good to Great, Initial to Ideal: A Way to Improve Exhibitions and Other Performance Assessments by Adam Watson. Edtech Elixirs, January 26, 2022. (Was republished by Aurora Institute on 5/15/23.)
Instructional Shifts to Support Deep Learning by Jay McTighe and Harvey F. Silver. ASCD, September 1, 2020.
The Absurd Structure of High School by Bernie Bleskie. GEN (Medium), February 26, 2019.
A Pernicious Myth: Basics Before Deeper Learning by Jal Mehta. Education Week, January 4, 2018.
How Deep is Their Learning? by David Cook. Getting Smart, 9/8/22.
Leading for Deeper Learning (4 Part Series) by Carmen Coleman. 2Revolutions, 8/29/22 through 9/2/22.
in FILM/multimedia
Design Thinking: The Future is a Place We Create. Documentary film, 2022.
"Ron Berger on Presentations of Learning." Focuses particularly on "Passage Presentations" (which may also be called Defenses of Learning). HTH Unboxed, podcast episode S3 E22, May 16, 2022. 41 min.
Designing for Deeper Learning: Mastery, Identity, Creativity & The New Grammar of Schooling Slides presentation by Jal Mehta, hosted by The Deeper Learning Dozen. March 2022.
Deeper Learning - Overarching. Hewlett Foundation. August 2017. 4 min.
We are VIDA. December 2021, 4 min.
Beyond Measure. Documentary, 2014, 1h 20 min.
Most Likely to Succeed. Documentary movie, 2015, 1 h 29 min.
NYCiSchool: A Model for 21st Century Learning. February 2009, 7 min.
Austin's Butterfly: Building Excellence in Student Work. 2023, 6 min.
Vista Innovation & Design Academy website. Vista, California. A school that believes strongly in mastery-based grading and design thinking.
POLICIES & evidence-based research
The Valedictorian Project. A 2019 research study conducted by the Boston Globe that followed up with 93 valedictorians from Boston city public schools who graduated 2005-2007. A decade later, how were they doing? Despite graduating top of their classes, many were struggling professionally and personally. There are some profound implications here in the importance of Portrait of a Learner/Profile of a Graduate durable skills as well as questions of equity in education today.
Aurora Institute's 2022 Federal Policy Priorities by Susan Patrick, published July 2022.
Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes. American Institutes for Research. This research comes from various cohorts over several years with followups (2014-2022).
What Made Them So Prepared? Report from Next Generation Learning Challenges, March 2022. Conducted during the pandemic, NGLC surveyed 70 schools across the U.S and looked for innovation that occurred amongst the obvious challenges. These schools/districts were able to thrive because of symmetric, forward-leaning orientation; healthy culture; strong yet flexible systems.
United We Learn Kentucky. In 2020-2021, Dr. Jason Glass (Kentucky's Commissioner of Education) did a speaking and listening tour across the Commonwealth, hearing from many stakeholders on what we need to do to change and improve education. This generated a report in summer 2021 with a challenge for learning to include these "Big Three Ideas": have vibrant student experiences, increase innovation in schools (especially in assessment), and improve collaboration with local communities.
Learning Policy Institute (Deeper Learning). The website of this educational thinktank is full of research on innovative learning.
New Research Makes a Powerful Case for PBL by Youki Terada. Edutopia, February 2021.
Performance-Based Credit. From 704 KAR 303:3. Kentucky Department of Education webpage, last updated October 2019.
Policy Barriers to School Improvement: What's Real and What's Imagined? Reinventing Public Education. June 2014.
Legislative Declaration on goals for [Kentucky] Commonwealth schools. Statute 158.6451, made effective July 1990, last amended 2009.