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Federal & State Education Policy Updates
The Aurora Institute Center for Policy has compiled a resource on the latest developments in federal and state education policy. The January 2021 update includes a look at the new leadership at the U.S. Department of Education, CDC guidance on school reopenings, and the educational implications of the proposed COVID-19 recovery package. At the state level, Michigan is seeking to cancel student assessments, Minnesota Governor Walz has unveiled a new education plan, and a state House committee has declared racism as a public health crisis. Nevada has equipped every student with internet and devices for learning. Pennsylvania and Wyoming are working on graduate profiles. The Center is also watching eight bills related to personalized, competency-based education. |
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The following opportunities to learn and network are open for registration.
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| Mere Engagement: Reflections about the Connections Between Online Learning, Student Agency, and Student Engagement
February 9, 2021 | 4 PM ET
How can school leaders and teachers foster student agency and engagement in online settings? The disruption to K-12 learning environments caused by COVID-19 has been profound, yet learning continues virtually, in-person, synchronously, and asynchronously. Join this webinar for a discussion on key takeaways of a new issue brief and for guidance for promoting student engagement and agency in a post-COVID world. |
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| Exploring Innovative School Models in the Canopy Project’s Interactive National Database
March 10, 2021 | 3 PM ET
Newly released data from the Canopy project provide an overview of how 150+ schools are innovating during the COVID-19 era. In this webinar, we will describe the Canopy Project’s crowdsourced approach to building collective knowledge on a more diverse set of innovative schools across the country. In addition, we’ll share trends in how the most innovative schools are redesigning their models to advance personalization, nurture relationships, build an anti-racist society, and ensure well-being for every student. Join us to discuss emerging trends in school model innovation and on what kinds of analyses the Canopy project should prioritize moving forward. |
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| A Strategic Reflection on the Field of Competency-Based Education
March 23, 2021 | 3 PM ET
Schools and districts across the United States are realizing the promise of competency-based education—transforming the culture, structure, and pedagogy of the traditional time-based system into one that is designed to help every student succeed. Attend this webinar to hear reflections on the current state of competency-based education. Gain an understanding of developments happening across the field. The presenters will explore areas of growth for the field, identify emerging issues, and provide insights to inform the future direction of competency-based education. We will also invite your reflections on the field. |
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Ensure Anytime, Anyplace Learning and Enable Competency-Based Learning in Distance Learning
Historically seat-time has become the proxy for engagement. When learning occurs virtually, we are forced to consider other, more meaningful measures of engagement. The concept of seat-time becomes essentially meaningless in a remote or blended learning environment.
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Make the Implicit Explicit in Remote Learning
There needs to be an abundance of communication that gets to the heart of what you want the students to know and be able to do. Great teaching is about much more than delivering content and ensuring content coverage. It also involves support, feedback, encouragement, and identification of next steps in learning. |
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Better than Before
As 2021 dawned, we saw many wishes to “return to normal,” to re-open schools and get back to the way things were before the global COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered life as we knew it. The urge is completely understandable: what is known must surely be better than staying adrift in a time when no one knows where the guideposts are.
I challenge the wishes for normalcy in two ways.
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What’s New in K-12 Competency-Based Education?
In the January 2021 update, the CompetencyWorks blog shares 13 new resources of interest to the field of personalized, competency-based education. New resources include a systematic review of implementation and outcomes research, the second edition of Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments, a publication on strengthening local assessment systems, and a new self-direction toolkit. The compilation also includes notes on upcoming professional learning webinars and convenings. |
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Aurora Institute in the News
Aurora Institute shares 7 steps for engaging remote students – via District Administration magazine
The authors of new guidance from the Aurora Institute have two words for school district leaders as they focus on remote students in 2021: “Mere Engagement.”
Although much of the focus in reopening schools this January has centered on providing safe environments and assurances that technology be in the hands of students – both must-haves – the Institute says there has been a notable lack of attention paid to what can keep kids from falling behind: Those two words above. |
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| Our Center for Policy leads the multi-stage evolution of policy necessary for the growth of effective student-centered learning models toward the goals of high-quality learning and equity. Our policy priorities are designed to ensure the nation’s education system is fit for purpose and help move states forward from their current state of education to future systems. |
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CompetencyWorks
CompetencyWorks is an online resource dedicated to K-12 competency-based education. Drawing on lessons learned by innovators, we share knowledge through a practice-focused blog, research reports on emerging issues, policy advocacy, and resources curated from across the field. |
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| The Aurora Institute hosts a resource library containing more than 200 materials. Working collaboratively with diverse experts in the field, the Aurora Institute produces reports, books, policy briefs, blog posts, webinars, and related resources on key topics and tough issues that equip and empower educators and leaders to catalyze and scale personalized, next-generation learning models. |
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Aurora Institute
The mission of Aurora Institute is to drive the transformation of education systems and accelerate the advancement of breakthrough policies and practices to ensure high-quality learning for all.
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