Esteemed Colleague,

In our pursuit to create learner-centered educational ecosystems, out-of-school partnerships play a crucial role. Collaborations across various sectors not only break down barriers to access and opportunity but also infuse real-world learning into the everyday learning model. By fostering diverse partnerships, schools and districts can significantly enrich the learning landscape, offering students relevant and engaging educational experiences.

That can all sound nice on paper, but what does it look like in practice? What are the "right" partnerships to be forming and where should you be looking? These questions and more are explored in my latest blog post on cultivating partnerships in your community.

With anticipation for our shared journey,

Events & Webinars

SoCal LiNK Convening #2 (get involved)

January 30, 2025 | San Diego, CA

Spring Connections Gathering: Mineola Public Schools (learn more about Connections)

March 12-13, 2025 | New York, NY

WEBINAR RECORDING: Creating Coherence and Aligning Systems Toward a Learner-Centered Vision (watch here)

Discover how two learner-centered leaders are navigating system-wide change, creating vibrant learning communities, and empowering learners and educators.

JOIN US AT OUR NEXT EVENT

"Educators from across the district in Encinitas USD gathered to launch the Competency-Based Innovation Cohort. We created a shared understanding of the why and then dug into designing competency-based assessments and rubrics. Everyone played with a Playlab bot that supported them in assessment design." ~Bryanna Hanson

"We gathered with Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission educators to connect school leaders and create an ongoing community of practice, reflect and align on effective metrics for desired outcomes, finalize 2024-25 Scorecard outcomes and metrics for each school, plan for future data collection and analysis, and create a communication plan to share with the wider learning community." ~Katie Martin

"Alamogordo Public Schools launched the design of their Framework for the Future with a Discovery Day of focus groups with students, teachers, and leaders and classroom visits. The next day, we convened 40+ students, teachers, leaders, parents, and community members to begin to imagine what's possible in their schools." ~Brittany Griffin

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIPS

SoCal LiNK - What we learned at our first convening of 2024-25

SoCal LiNK is the new name of our research partnership with the University of California San Diego. A few weeks ago, we came together for our first convening of the new academic year.

Setting the Stage

As we head into our second year of work, we are prioritizing centering relationships while working toward organizational goals, generating evidence-based solutions to shared problems of practice, and building a regional network of support within and between organizations. Schools and districts participating include Poway Unified, Encinitas Union, Vista Unified, Bonsall Unified, Del Mar Union, High Tech High, Guajome Park Academy, and e3 Civic High.

To kick things off, we showed where teams currently stand (blue graphs below) and where they'd like to see things (orange graphs below) when it comes to measuring impact and incentivizing learner-centered practices.

From a confidence level of 1 (least) to 5 (most), participants shared where they currently stand on measuring the impact of learner-centered experiences on learner outcomes. Then, they assessed where they'd like to be in the near future.

Participants shared how much they agree or disagree with the following statement and where they hope to be in the near future: "We have incentive structures in place that mirror desired practices in the learning environment."

Creating Sociograms

To deepen our understanding of the power of networks, we had each participant  identify a problem of practice and map out what collaboration around that problem currently looks like within their school/district. From families and students to teachers and central admin, participants explored who connects daily, weekly, and monthly—showcasing where the connections are strong and where there might be more to be desired. Then, they created their ideal sociogram to set a clear picture of what they'd like to see as they continue exploring this problem.

Sociogram showing the daily (solid lines), weekly (dashed lines), and monthly (dotted lines) connections made between different learning community stakeholders.

Bret Shanzenbach is November's Catalyzer of the Month for his outstanding leadership and contributions through the Vista Chamber of Commerce and the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. His visionary leadership has strengthened local businesses and has fostered vital connections across North County, enhancing opportunities for economic and educational growth. Learn more about Bret's impact here.