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Aurora Institute

Resources on Education Innovation

Working collaboratively with experts in the field, we publish reports 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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Issue Brief

Aurora Institute’s 2024 Federal Policy Priorities

September 2024

Aurora Institute

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Leverage Career and Technical Education, Redesign Accountability Systems for Continuous Improvement, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments

Report

Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative Evaluation Report – Cohort 1, Year 3

August 2024

Eliot Levine

Issue(s): Lead Change and Innovation, Support Professional Learning, Create Space to Pilot Systems of Assessments

Report

ExcEL Leadership Academy Micro-credential Pathway Adoption in Rhode Island

March 2024

Jennifer Cohen Kabaker, Laurie Gagnon

Issue(s): Aurora Institute, State Policy, Support Professional Learning

Report

Promising Practices to Advance DEI Among Non-Profit Boards

October 2023

Dr. Loretta Goodwin, Jennifer Cohen Kabaker, Dr. Kumea Shorter-Gooden

Issue(s): Commit to Equity

Report

Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative Evaluation Report, Year 2

September 2023

Eliot Levine

Issue(s): Lead Change and Innovation, Support Professional Learning, Create Space to Pilot Systems of Assessments

Report

Expanding Student Access to Work-Based Learning: Federal Policy Recommendations

July 2023

Susan Patrick, Khamiah Alderman, Laurie Gagnon

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Commit to Equity, Rethink Instruction

Report, CompetencyWorks

Teachers Making the Shift to Equitable, Learner-Centered Education

September 2022

Wendy Surr, Kim Carter, and Andrea Stewart

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, Commit to Equity, Support Professional Learning, Rethink Instruction, Learn Lessons from the Field

Report

Measuring Forward: Emerging Trends in K-12 Assessment Innovation

November 2021

The Aurora Institute, The Center for Assessment, C!E, the Center for Innovation in Education, Envision Learning Partners, The Great Schools Partnership, KnowledgeWorks

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, How to Get Started, Commit to Equity, Evaluate Quality, Rethink Instruction, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments, Learn Lessons from the Field, Activate Student Agency, Engage Community, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments

Report

Agency by Design: Making Learning Engaging

October 2021

Derek Wenmoth, Marsha Jones, Joseph DiMartino

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, How to Get Started, Commit to Equity, Evaluate Quality, Rethink Instruction, Learn Lessons from the Field, Activate Student Agency, Engage Community

Report, CompetencyWorks

Habits of Success: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for Learning, Work, and Life

October 2021

Eliot Levine

Issue(s): How to Get Started, Commit to Equity, Support Professional Learning, Rethink Instruction, Learn Lessons from the Field, Activate Student Agency

CompetencyWorks, Issue Brief

A Mastery-Based Math Teacher’s Journey

September 2021

Ashley Ferrara

Issue(s): How to Get Started, Support Professional Learning, Rethink Instruction, Learn Lessons from the Field, Activate Student Agency

Issue Brief

Mere Engagement: Reflections about the Connections Between Online Learning, Student Agency, and Student Engagement

January 2021

Laureen Avery, Marsha Jones, Sara Marr, Derek Wenmoth,

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, Rethink Instruction, Activate Student Agency, Engage Community, Design for Educational Equity, Develop Educator Capacity, Base Learning on Mastery Not Seat Time, Create Enabling Conditions for Competency-Based Education

CompetencyWorks, Issue Brief

Strengthening Local Assessment Systems for Personalized, Proficiency-Based Education: Strategies and Tools for Professional Learning

October 2020

Pat Fitzsimmons

Issue(s): State Policy, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments, Develop Educator Capacity, Issues in Practice, Support Professional Learning, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments

Book

A Promise for Equitable Futures: Enabling Systems Change to Scale Educational and Economic Mobility Pathways

October 2020

Susan Patrick, Katherine Casey

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Design for Educational Equity, State Policy, Redefine Student Success, Create Meaningful Qualifications, Redesign Accountability Systems for Continuous Improvement, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments, Develop Educator Capacity, Modernize and Diversify the Educator-Leader Workforce, Base Learning on Mastery Not Seat Time, Fund Innovation, Issues in Practice, Lead Change and Innovation, Commit to Equity, Evaluate Quality, Support Professional Learning, Rethink Instruction, Activate Student Agency, Engage Community

Report

How Systems of Assessments Aligned with Competency-Based Education Can Support Equity

January 2020

Carla Evans, Maria Worthen, Scott Marion

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Design for Educational Equity, Create Space to Pilot Systems of Assessments, Issues in Practice, Commit to Equity, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments, Develop Educator Capacity

Report, CompetencyWorks

What Is Competency-Based Education? An Updated Definition

November 2019

Eliot Levine, Susan Patrick

Issue(s): State Policy, Base Learning on Mastery Not Seat Time, Create Enabling Conditions for Competency-Based Education, Issues in Practice, Lead Change and Innovation, Commit to Equity, Rethink Instruction, Activate Student Agency

Report

Aligning Education Policy with the Science of Learning and Development

October 2019

Natalie Truong

Issue(s): Federal Policy, State Policy, Develop Educator Capacity, Issues in Practice, Rethink Instruction, Learn Lessons from the Field

Issue Brief

Developing a Modern Teacher Workforce: Federal Policy Recommendations for Professional Learning and Supporting Future-Focused, Competency-Based Education Systems

March 2019

Katherine Casey, Maria Worthen

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Design for Educational Equity, State Policy, Develop Educator Capacity, Modernize and Diversify the Educator-Leader Workforce, Issues in Practice, Support Professional Learning

Report, CompetencyWorks

Moving Toward Mastery: Growing, Developing and Sustaining Educators for Competency-Based Education

November 2018

Katherine Casey

Issue(s): State Policy, Develop Educator Capacity, Modernize and Diversify the Educator-Leader Workforce, Issues in Practice, How to Get Started, Evaluate Quality, Support Professional Learning

Book, CompetencyWorks

Quality Principles for Competency-Based Education

October 2018

Chris Sturgis, Katherine Casey

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, How to Get Started, Lead Change and Innovation, Evaluate Quality, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments, Activate Student Agency, Engage Community

Report

A National Landscape Scan of Personalized Learning in K-12 Education in the United States

June 2018

Susan Patrick, Betheny Gross, Sivan Tuchman

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, Lead Change and Innovation, Rethink Instruction, Create Enabling Conditions for Competency-Based Education

Report, CompetencyWorks

Levers and Logic Models: A Framework to Guide Research and Design of High-Quality Competency-Based Education Systems

May 2018

Chris Sturgis, Katherine Casey

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Design for Educational Equity, Issues in Practice, Evaluate Quality

Report, CompetencyWorks

Meeting Students Where They Are

April 2018

Antonia Rudenstine, Dixie Bacallao, Sarah Hakani, Sydney Schaef

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, Rethink Instruction

Report, CompetencyWorks

Designing for Equity: Leveraging Competency-Based Education to Ensure All Students Succeed

April 2018

Chris Sturgis, Katherine Casey

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Design for Educational Equity, Issues in Practice, Commit to Equity

Issue Brief

Redesigning Systems of Assessments for Student-Centered Learning

November 2017

Susan Patrick, Dale Frost, Maria Worthen

Issue(s): Federal Policy, Create Space to Pilot Systems of Assessments, State Policy, Build Balanced Systems of Assessments, Issues in Practice, Create Balanced Systems of Assessments

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Over the last two decades, the Aurora Institute has driven the transformation toward student-centered, next-generation learning for K-12 education. During that time, the Aurora Institute published more than 200 reports and webinars in support of these efforts.