Full Steam Ahead…Together: A Shared Tagline for the CBE Community

This post about ways to work together on a shared message is part of our Aurora Institute Symposium 2024 series moving ideas from #Aurora24 forward. 

One of the biggest shifts I noticed at the Symposium was how advocates from all sorts of educational strategies – like project-based learning, deeper learning, SEL (social-emotional learning), ed tech, work- and community-based learning, personalized learning, and competency-based education – are finally feeling like we’re all moving in the same direction. Instead of each of these being seen as the magic fix for our education system, there’s now a deeper understanding that each approach is just one piece of the puzzle in building a modern, effective education system. We’re all pulling, pushing, and wiggling our way forward together!

With this shared sense of purpose, I heard repeated calls to create a unified vocabulary – a common language that everyone would use. It makes sense: how much easier would it be to understand each other if we didn’t have to pause to ask, “What do you mean by personalized learning?” or “Which aspects of SEL are central to your work?” We’d cut down on the confusion and make it simpler for policymakers and the public to understand our work if we all spoke the same language.

Now, do I believe we’ll ever have a perfectly shared vocabulary with universal agreement on every term? Not holding my breath. Each state is going to stick with language that fits its own history and culture. And, let’s face it, the innovative spirit of our field (not to mention the competition for funding) will always keep generating fresh ideas and dazzling new language.

But maybe there’s another way to build our collective voice and power. 

Let’s take a journey back to 2007. A group of funders who each focused on different strategies – juvenile justice, foster care, homeless youth, and supporting youth who hadn’t earned a high school diploma (then labeled “dropouts,” as if they had complete control over their schooling) – joined forces as the Youth Transition Funders Group. 

They realized they were competing for policymakers’ attention and creating confusion with varied solutions and terminology. Thanks to the leadership of Tia Martinez and Michael Wald, who produced a paper looking across these youth facing major barriers in the transition to adulthood, the funders coalesced around the shared message of “Connected by 25.” For about seven years, this unifying idea brought everyone together. (Why it eventually faded, I’m not sure. Maybe it lost its effectiveness, or maybe leadership changed?)

As we worked under this common banner, we saw guiding principles begin to flow across policy solutions. We encouraged, though never required, local partners to use “Connected by 25” in their communications or at least include it as a logo. All of our reports whether it was about juvenile justice, older youth, or foster care carried the branding Connected by 25. And it made an impact.

The work I was involved in – a loose coalition of foundations, policy advocates, researchers, and alternative schools – helped turn policy on its head. Instead of blaming students for dropping out, we pushed for schools and districts to take accountability for helping all students earn their diplomas. Districts began to understand the importance of early intervention, so fewer students would start high school with elementary-level reading or math skills. High schools explored ways to keep students engaged, and districts expanded alternative schools that could better support students facing tough challenges. Federal and state policies began monitoring 5- and 6-year graduation rates, breaking the assumption that all students should finish high school in just four years. And that’s where I first encountered competency-based education and started seeing how traditional views on education can sometimes hold students back.

So, here’s my question: What kind of unifying message could we all rally around? Something that, when parents, educators, and policymakers hear it, they instantly know it’s about fostering the joy of learning and growing great thinkers and problem-solvers. The Reinventing Schools Coalition used the motto, “Doing What’s Best for Kids,” a phrase you’d hear in every school following their model. Sydney Schaef and I are working on a book using “Let’s Get ReaL” – a nod to the REsearch About Learning.

Let’s get creative! I’m sure together we can brainstorm a few slogans that say, loud and clear, you’re on the team that’s Lighting the Love of Learning. Share your ideas in the comments of this LinkedIn post, and let’s see what we come up with!

Learn More

• Implementation with Integrity
• The Field of Competency-Based Education Is In Motion
• Competency-Based Education: Moving Forward with Purpose

Chris Sturgis has spent her professional life building national collaborative efforts to bring about improvements in the education system. Over a decade ago, she co-founded CompetencyWorks and this blog, the go-to source about competency education. In 2018, she was awarded the Outstanding Individual Contribution to Personalized Learning Award by iNACOL (now the Aurora Institute).