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Focus Area:
Innovation and the Future of Learning

At CRPE, we study how public education can evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world. Our research on innovation and the future of learning examines how schools are rethinking teaching and learning models—from personalized and competency-based approaches to the use of technology and AI—to better prepare students for life beyond school. We investigate how these innovations take shape in real contexts, what barriers and enablers schools encounter, and how systems can support sustainable change. Across this work, we aim to understand how schools and communities can design learning environments that are more equitable, adaptable, and responsive to the diverse needs of students.

  • Research Reports    

COVID–19 Showed Us How Important It Is to Focus on Adolescent Well-Being: Here is What School Systems Should Do

Georgia Heyward, Heather Casimere, Ashley Jochim

States and districts should be using this moment as an opportunity to reassess how they support adolescents and their families.

  • The Lens    

What schools can learn from learning pods about supporting effective teacher-student relationships

Lisa Chu

When schools closed down last spring, some parents and educators responded by forming “pandemic pods,” or small groups of students who came together outside of school to learn during the pandemic.

  • The Lens    

Pandemic learning pod instructors loved teaching, but don’t want to be traditional classroom teachers

Steven Weiner

Samantha* had been a veteran educator for fourteen years, first as a classroom teacher and then a principal, when the pandemic shut down schools.

  • The Lens    

It’s time for a new K–12 reform agenda

Paul Hill, Ashley Jochim

For the second year in a row, many school districts are not ready to switch kids to remote learning if in-person school is interrupted.

  • Research Reports    

New England Profiles of Innovation | Margarita Muñiz Academy

Caroline E. Parker, Emnet Shibre

Margarita Muñiz Academy’s development of its “Portrait of a Scholar” project led to a number of changes focused on providing greater opportunities for student voice and participation.

  • In The News    

Technology Made Special Education Parents Better Advocates During the Pandemic

Lanya McKittrick shares CRPE’s special education research in EdSurge. Visit Edsurge to learn more.

  • Research Reports    

New England Profiles of Innovation | Map Academy

Thomas Arnett

This profile of Map Academy from CRPE and the Christensen Institute details the school’s practices that have proven successful, how they have adapted in the face of the pandemic, and how other school communities can begin to make their systems and structures more responsive to students’ needs and interests.

  • The Lens    

What New Orleans Can Teach Us About the Forces Blocking Change in Education

Paul Hill

This is a review of The Politics of Institutional Reform: Katrina, Education, and the Second Face of Power, by Terry M.

  • The Lens    

Introducing the Big Think Network: A Shift from “Scaling Innovation” to Innovation at Scale

Robin Lake, Betheny Gross

At CRPE we have a tradition of looking around the corner. We worry about problems that may be coming and contemplate new ways to get ahead of them.

  • The Lens    

LeBron James’s School Drew Lots of Attention, but It Doesn’t Take an NBA Star for Districts to Forge Innovative Partnerships

Sean Gill

Last fall, NBA star LeBron James and his foundation received a lot of attention for opening the I Promise Academy in partnership with Akron Public Schools.

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