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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.

  • 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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2018 at CRPE: Looking Around the Corner

Robin Lake

At CRPE, our core business is gathering and analyzing evidence to inform education policy and propel systemic improvements. But what makes us unique is our ability to look around the corner to anticipate new challenges and develop bold ideas and pragmatic solutions.

  • The Lens    

In a Changing Rural America, What Can Charter Schools Offer?

Terry Ryan, Paul Hill

Rural America is not your grandparents’ heartland. Its population is getting older: 21 of the 25 oldest counties in the United States are rural.

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Personalized Learning Will Live or Die on Ability to Manage Change

Robin Lake

This is the ninth installment in our series of “Notes From the Field” on personalized learning. Even the best thinking on redesigning schools to personalize learning will be for naught if school and district design teams can’t lead and manage the change process that a move to PL entails.

  • The Lens    

Teachers Don’t Need to Go It Alone on Personalized Learning

Betheny Gross

This is the eighth installment in our series of “Notes From the Field” on personalized learning. When we first visited schools in spring 2016 for this project, teachers seemed to be taking on an unsustainably heavy lift as they transitioned to personalizing student learning (PL).

  • The Lens    

Time to Help Teachers Generate and Use Their Own Evidence on Digital Tools

Betheny Gross, Michael DeArmond

This is the seventh installment in our series of “Notes From the Field” on personalized learning. “There are so many digital resources out there, I am lost as to which ones are good.I usually try things that some of the more technology-knowledgeable people I teach with [use].”From “Teachers Know Best,” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2015, page 21 Teachers in the personalized learning (PL) schools we visit are using a wide range of digital tools—sometimes picking up and dropping them at a rapid clip—but their decisions about which tools to use generally aren’t guided by systematic evidence.

  • The Lens    

Are We Personalizing Learning for the Students Who Need It Most?

Robin Lake

This is the sixth installment in our series of “Notes From the Field” on personalized learning. The theory behind personalized learning (PL)—crafting an individualized education experience for each student—holds tremendous potential for better serving all students, especially students who don’t fit the norm.

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