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2020 Symposium Keynote & Breakout Session Videos Available
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| We’ve just experienced an incredible three days of intense learning, sharing, and networking at the first virtual Aurora Institute Symposium, which took place October 26-28, 2020. In the spirit of democratizing knowledge, we’re pleased to share all of the video content from the event. Follow these links to view:
The collective energy and the renewed sense of purpose toward systems change in K-12 education was rejuvenating. We hope we made you proud and equipped you with the resources to keep leading the future of teaching and learning.
It is time to rethink K-12 education in the context of an ecosystem for lifelong learning, driving equity, and thinking big on the challenges that await humanity. That’s what these three days have been about, and it was all grounded in real work happening around the country and around the globe.
We encourage you to watch and share your learnings with your colleagues. We also request your feedback to support our improvement. Please take our survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AuroraSymposium2020. |
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CompetencyWorks Releases Report on Professional Learning Strategies to Strengthen Local Assessment Systems for Proficiency-Based Education
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| The Aurora Institute’s CompetencyWorks initiative released Strengthening Local Assessment Systems for Personalized, Proficiency-Based Education: Strategies and Tools for Professional Learning. The report is authored by Pat Fitzsimmons, the Proficiency-Based Learning Team Leader at the Vermont Agency of Education and a former public school teacher and science specialist.
The report describes a series of professional convenings in Vermont to support schools and districts seeking to create high-quality local comprehensive systems of assessments (LCAS). It can serve as a resource for schools, districts, and states that are working toward improving their own assessment systems. Readers will learn about formative, summative, and student-designed performance assessments as well as essential components of assessment systems and their rationales. The report also features tips for conducting the convenings remotely, as Vermont has continued offering them during COVID-19 school closures. |
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| We’re delighted to announce that the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT) has awarded Susan Patrick, Aurora Institute President and CEO, its 2020 Systems Change Leader Award. AECT bestows this award to acknowledge individuals or groups making significant contributions to the evolution of learning, demonstrating systems thinking and positive impacts that are aligned to 21st century needs. The award was conveyed yesterday in a virtual ceremony. |
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The “All Fall” Webinar Series Continues
The learning continues. Please join us for the remaining webinars in our “All Fall” Aurora Institute Symposium webinar series. Below are links to descriptions and information about how to register.
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Aurora Institute Mourns the Loss of Board Member Layla Avila
We are grieving. It is with profound sadness that we announce that Layla Avila, a member of our Board of Directors, has passed away. On behalf of our board and team, we extend our deepest sympathies to Layla’s family and friends and colleagues, and all who love her. The education world has lost a remarkable leader in Layla Avila, and we have lost a dear friend and colleague.
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The Learner Promise: A Paradigm Shift Whose Time Has Come
Fewer than one in five American students follow a clear and uninterrupted path from high school through college to career. What’s more, no matter the path they take, they are shackled to a siloed, linear, and time-bound system that was designed more than 100 years ago to intentionally create the inequitable outcomes we observe today. We can do better. |
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Grading Policies Need to Be Re-Examined to Support the Shift to Competency-Based Education
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New Edition of Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments Published
The second edition of Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments is now available. Published by KnowledgeWorks and CCSSO, the new competencies build on the previous edition with a vision for how teaching can evolve to meet the changing needs of learners and society. This framework highlights the teacher competencies that are most applicable to and essential for preparing students to succeed and thrive in an increasingly complex world. The framework also closely examines the skills and dispositions educators need to foster antiracist learning environments and close longstanding opportunity gaps. |
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Aurora Institute in the News
The Mastery vs. Seat-Time Debate Takes Center Stage Under Remote Learning – via Education Week
“History may prove the situation with COVID-19 as a watershed moment of true transformation for K-12 systems,” said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the Aurora Institute, which helps schools develop and refine online and personalized learning programs. “The structures that traditional systems rely on are just not built to support all students’ needs at a personalized level.”
Will the pandemic make us better educators?– via MultiBriefs
For years, my staff have been working hard to get better at a student-centered, personalized learning model known as competency-based learning. In this model, according to the Aurora Institute’s latest 2019 definition, students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.
Let’s Talk Competency-Based Education– via U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology
Efforts to expand the quality of CBE systems are continuously growing as a result of contributions from various organizations, state leaders, districts, and schools have invested in this education reform. Organizations like the Aurora Institute, Digital Promise, The Learning Accelerator, and more all have worked to advance and expand the CBE framework. For this blog, I sat down with Eliot Levine, an expert on competency-based education from the Aurora Institute. The Aurora Institute focuses on advancing policies, best practices, and research on quality learning through initiatives like CompetencyWorks. |
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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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