• Home
  • I
  • Innovation and the Future of Learning

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    

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.

  • The Lens    

Learning Outside of School: Lessons from ReSchool Colorado’s First Year

Betheny Gross, Travis Pillow

The start of spring brings a source of stress for some parents; it’s time to figure out what their children will do over the summer.

  • Research Reports    

Expanding Access to Out-of-School Learning: Lessons from Year 1 at ReSchool Colorado

Betheny Gross, Michael DeArmond

This brief provides an initial, formative assessment of lessons learned in the first year of ReSchool Colorado’s initiatives to expand access to out-of-school learning opportunities for children in the Denver area.

  • The Lens    

Chicago’s mayor sees through the fog on school autonomy

Paul Hill

In politics, there is nothing like a hard knock to focus the mind. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tells how this happened for him.

  • The Lens    

How a proposal for flexible funding can help families close the enrichment gap

Travis Pillow, Ashley Jochim

In education policy debates, we often talk about inequality as if it was primarily driven by learning that happens—or doesn’t happen—in schools.

  • The Lens    

Trust, Autonomy, Achievement Gap — 3 Areas Where Ferebee’s Work in Indianapolis Could Help Him Succeed as D.C. Chancellor

Sean Gill, Shannon Murtagh

It’s perhaps no surprise that Mayor Muriel Bowser selected Lewis Ferebee to be the next chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. His work at Indianapolis Public Schools made him a rising star nationally.

  • Research Reports    

Thinking Forward: New Ideas for a New Era of Public Education

Robin Lake, Travis Pillow, Betheny Gross, Michael DeArmond, Tom Coyne

These essays rethink foundational aspects of the current education system and offer new ideas to shift the lens from schools to students. 

Skip to content