Plugged In | 11.1.19 – Announcing – iNACOL Is Now the Aurora Institute, New Paper on Education Policy and the Learning Sciences

November 1, 2019

iNACOL Plugged In Newsletter

Plugged In
Nov. 1, 2019

Announcing: iNACOL Is Now the Aurora Institute

For 17 years, iNACOL has been a leading voice advocating for expanding high-quality K-12 educational opportunities. Over time, our work has evolved to an expanded view of the need for breakthroughs in policy and practices for systems change required to ensure all students are prepared for success in our rapidly changing world.

We’ve just marked another important milestone in our journey. We are proud to announce that iNACOL has become the Aurora Institute.

Why did we decide to change our name? First and foremost, because every learner deserves a clear path to future success, and we believe that a clearer brand identity will better position us to prepare those pathways.

However, changing our name also creates three other important solutions for us.

We get a name that defines us as an organization committed to systems change in K-12 education.
The change in name responds to a shift in our mission, vision, and values.
The name change illuminates our role as a convener of networks.

As thrilled as we are about the exciting new changes that Aurora Institute will bring, we want to underscore that much will remain unchanged. The change in name does not signal a change in passion. The legacy embedded in the iNACOL name will continue under the Aurora Institute.

It will take time to fully transition the brand. In the coming months, we'll share more about this change and what it means for you. Please watch our rebrand video and learn more through this letter to stakeholders about the journey of becoming the Aurora Institute.

Learn more

Aligning Education Policy with the Science of Learning and Development

Nine Recommendations to Bring Education Policy into Alignment with What We Know about How Kids Learn and Develop

We know more than ever about the science of learning and development, but education policy hasn’t kept pace with these advancements. In a new report, the Aurora Institute explores the emerging research and offers a set of recommendations to align policy with how students learn best.

Aligning Education Policy with the Science of Learning and Development analyzes recent learning sciences research, and provides recommendations to address a critical need: how can education policy support and align with the science of learning and development?

This report intends to bridge a knowledge gap in the field and can be used by education leaders to create a vision and framework for how to best support student learning and development. Policy plays a structural role in setting conditions and framing the expectations for teaching and learning in each state.

To get there, the report makes nine recommendations:

Redefine student success for the whole child.
Focus on supporting inclusive and safe learning environments.
Create meaningful credentials that certify student mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary for students to succeed and thrive in college, career, and civil society.
Provide diverse learning opportunities through multiple pathways allowing students to customize their learning according to their unique needs and interests.
Meet students where they are.
Build educator capacity and professional judgment to support whole-child learning.
Build balanced systems of assessments that better align with student-centered learning.
Rethink accountability systems for continuous improvement.
Support innovative student-centered learning environments.

Download a full copy of Aligning Education Policy with the Science of Learning and Development.

download

Reminders

iNACOL Symposium Evaluation Survey

Thank you for attending the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) Symposium in Palm Springs this week.

Please take a few minutes to complete our post-conference survey. Your feedback is vital to the continued success of the Symposium. Please let us know what we did well, and where we can improve.

If you complete the survey by Friday, November 15, you will have the option of being entered into a drawing for a free registration to the 2020 Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

Thank you, again, for attending this year's Symposium! We look forward to seeing you next year in San Antonio on October 25-28, 2020.

complete survey

Save the Date for the 2020 Aurora Institute Symposium

Thank you for attending the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) Symposium in Palm Springs, California.

We hope you engaged in deep discussions around personalized learning in an effort to foster equity, access, and high-quality educational opportunities for all students.

Please save the date for next year’s Symposium, to be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on October 25-28, 2020. Registration will open in spring 2020.

Look forward to upcoming announcements for the 2020 Symposium on our website.

learn more

New from Education Domain Blog

The U.S. Department of Education Is Inviting New Applications for Round 3 of the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for the third round of the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) on Monday, October 28. The NIA is now available for public inspection on the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/10/28/2019-23477/applications-for-new-authorities-innovative-assessment-demonstration-authority.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) created the IADA, which allows participating states to pilot innovative new systems of assessments in a subset of school districts before scaling state-wide. States may apply on their own or as part of a consortium of up to four states...

- Maria Worthen & Alexis Chambers

New Innovation Spotlight Episode – Education Policy and the Learning Sciences with Natalie Truong

“Policy can play a supportive role in framing the expectations for teaching and learning. Through policy, we can work to create the conditions that are conducive to how students learn best. For example, we can create the conditions that enable schools and districts to design a vision for student success that is grounded in how learning and development happens. But unfortunately, our education systems are built on outdated models of teaching and learning.”

-Natalie Truong

LISTEN

Featured Report

Quality Principles for Competency-Based Education

This book, developed with input involving practitioners as part of the National Summit on K-12 Competency-Based Education, offers 16 Quality Design Principles to guide the development of competency-based learning with the goal of creating a system in which every student succeeds. While producing high-quality schools certainly requires attention to the structure, policy and operations, it also requires replacing the underlying beliefs and culture of the traditional system with an inclusive culture of learning. As states, districts and schools re-design education systems, the 16 Quality Design Principles provide a cohesive framework that offers a set of guideposts for schools and districts. While all principles are essential, districts and schools are using different entry points to begin transforming their systems and make different design choices. No matter the entry point, the depth of implementation or the model, the Quality Design Principles are composed to spark discussion that will accelerate the shift from the paradigm of the traditional system to one that seeks to have every student succeed.

Read

BONUS:
Webinar: Quality Principles for Competency-Based Education

Plugged In Headlines: News about Education Transformation

Exploring K-12 Competency-Based Education Implementation in the Northeast States
Carla M. Evans, Suzanne E. Graham, Melissa L. Lefebvre, NASSP Bulletin

Thinking About How Kids Will Think in the Future
The Jefferson Exchange Team

Get Schooled by Fourth and Fifth Graders at Reagan Elementary
Keri Mitchell, Advocate Oak Cliff

‘Micro-Schools’ Punch Above Their Weight by Offering Personalized Education
Jude Schwalbach, The Daily Signal

St. Albert the Great Growing Through Personalized Learning
Jennifer Franco, Patch

Moving Away From Timed Tests
Brian Stack, MultiBriefs

Aurora Institute in the News

Online Learning Group iNACOL Rebrands, Says Focus is Less on Tech, More on Transformation
iNACOL, a group formed to promote online learning, is rebranding — and trying to shed its association with education technology...Read More.

Shining a Light on Next Gen Learning at iNACOL
Innovative educators are heading to Palm Springs in California for the annual iNACOL Symposium next week, October 28-31, 2019...Read More.

Aurora Institute Symposium -formerly iNACOL

SAVE THE DATE

Policy

The Center for Policy Advocacy leads the multi-stage evolution of policy necessary for the growth of effective personalized learning models toward the goals of high quality, equity, access and dramatically improving student learning to close the achievement gap and ensure every student has access to high-quality, world-class learning opportunities.

CompetencyWorks

CompetencyWorks is an online resource dedicated to competency education in K-12 education. CompetencyWorks shares original research, knowledge and a variety of perspectives through an informative blog with practitioner knowledge, policy advancements, papers on emerging issues and a wiki with resources curated from across the field. Bookmark this resource and check often for frequent updates.

Resources

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. Use our web-based library to freely access and share materials.


Visit the Aurora Institute \| Contact

The Aurora Institute drives 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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