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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    

Leading Personalized Learning

Michael DeArmond, Tricia Maas

CRPE researchers analyze how school leaders can both encourage experimentation and support the formalization of innovative practice.

  • The Lens    

Personalized Learning’s Weakest Link?

Much of the work going on nationally to study and build the evidence base for personalized, student-driven learning focuses on changes in traditional metrics—scores on state standards-based tests and on similar forms of academic assessment, such as NWEA’s MAP tests.

  • The Lens    

Removing the Boundaries Between High School, College, and Career

Robin Lake, Betheny Gross

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant more individualized learning pathways or supports.

  • The Lens    

Today’s Education Systems Won’t Support Tomorrow’s Learners

Robin Lake

Today CRPE released a report that delivers some hard news about what we broadly refer to as “personalized learning.” As it has come to be defined in the field, personalized learning has little to do with technology and is more about finding ways for students to work at their own pace and in ways that help them learn via their own motivations, interests, and potential.

  • Research Reports    

Personalized Learning at a Crossroads

Betheny Gross, Michael DeArmond

This report explores the early promise and challenges in personalized learning and calls for more system-level supports and strategies for innovation. 

  • The Lens    

How Can Public School Students Get the Personalization that Private Schools Offer?

Paul Hill

Seattleites are familiar with this 48-year-old picture of two teenagers in the basement of Lakeside, a local private school. It shows Bill Gates and Paul Allen—who would later found Microsoft—working at computer terminals linked to the local Boeing Company’s giant mainframe.

  • The Lens    

Connecting the Dots: What Do These Examples Imply for System Change?

Robin Lake

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant more individualized learning pathways or supports.

  • The Lens    

Solving for Complex Learners: NYC Autism Charter School

Robin Lake

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant more individualized learning pathways or supports.

  • The Lens    

Curating a Portfolio of Student Pathways: Workspace Education

Robin Lake

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs warrant more individualized learning pathways or supports.

  • The Lens    

How Can We Get Serious About Successful Pathways for Every Student?

Robin Lake

Twenty-five years ago, CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. We asked, “How can public oversight and funding be made compatible with school effectiveness?” Working outward to identify systemic barriers and solutions brought us to the portfolio strategy, pupil-based funding, recommendations for more effective charter authorizing, new roles for state education agencies, and other policy recommendations.

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