Steven Weiner is a former senior research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education. His previous research has leveraged elements of organizational theory, design studies, learning sciences, and foresight methodologies to explore the institutional challenges schools face when adopting innovative educational practices. As a doctoral student, Steven received the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship and was named a University Innovation Fellow by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. Steven began his career as a high school physics teacher and later helped envision, design, and run a community-centered educational makerspace at a major US science center. Steven holds a BA in Classical Studies from the University of Florida and a PhD from Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures.
How are educators engaging with AI to support teaching and learning? In partnership with the Silicon Schools Fund, CRPE studied 18 California schools that piloted AI tools to address core instructional challenges, including learning gaps, low engagement, time constraints, and behavioral issues.
What does it really take to pilot bold, systemwide innovation in public education? Over the 2023–24 school year, CRPE partnered with 11 districts across the country to support and study their “Bold Ideas”—ambitious initiatives designed to make student learning more joyful, individualized, and relevant.
AI has transformed the education landscape, but are teacher preparation programs keeping pace? In CRPE’s latest report, we surveyed leaders from schools of education to understand how their faculty and preservice teachers are engaging with AI, their views on its long-term impact, and how institutions are embedding AI into their curricula.
Innovative staffing models are promising, but challenging to scale up. What does the work of leading strategic staffing involve, and what could make scaling up easier?
This blog is part of a three-part series on school systems that have been implementing workforce innovations or strategic staffing solutions for several years.
As school systems struggle to recover from years of disruption, new programs, policies, and nontraditional organizations that support innovation in the teaching role will need to grow to support all students’ learning.
To be successful, new career pathways must include strategies for overcoming hard-wired habits, schedules, outcome metrics, and course offerings all focused on college prep.
The Rise of Unconventional Teaching Roles: How Do Educators Feel?
Many are talking about ways to rethink the role of teaching these days, whether by reorganizing teachers into teams, leveraging community educators, or allowing teachers to teach in unconventional school models like micro-schools.