THE DOWNLOAD

Your monthly curation of learner-centered insights, tools, & resources.

Dear Educator,

This time next month, school will be back in session and new relationships will begin developing between young learners and educators. One of the best ways to establish trust in these early days is to understand your learners' strengths, interests, and lived experiences.

That's why we just released our tool for Facilitating Empathy Interviews and Focus Groups! This comprehensive guide includes tips for building rapport, asking effective questions, and ensuring equity of voice. By using this resource, you’ll be able to uncover bright spots, key challenges, and surprising insights that can inform your planning throughout the year.

As always, that's just one awesome resource we published in July. Check out more gems below!

Enjoy!
The Learner-Centered Collaborative Team

QUICK HITS

📖 Listen, Learn, Lead: Start with Community Engagement (5-minute read)

"Listening and engaging in empathy work with your community, especially with learners, is the first step to meaningful, sustainable transformation in your educational community."

📖 4 Practical Tips for Creating Coherence Within Your District (3--minute read)

"The clarity of vision and its consistent application is not just an administrative responsibility; it’s the linchpin of organizational success in education."

📖 Leadership Coaching: A Mechanism for Supporting Organizational Culture and Enabling Conditions (4-minute read)

"Leadership coaching isn’t just another task on your to-do list—it’s a critical investment in your success and the success of your entire school community."

📖 Why Your Framework for the Future Needs These 4 Essential Elements (4-minute read)

"By integrating these four elements, organizations create a comprehensive Framework for the Future that guides their transformation towards learner-centered education."

DEEP DIVES

🎙️ This is What Happens When Everyone Gets an "A" (with Monte Syrie) (50-minute listen)

"I discovered the dark side of grading when I discovered it wasn’t about learning. It was about ranking, sorting, and labeling kids. Now that I’ve seen that, I can’t go back."

🎥 How to Personalize Professional Development (40-minute watch)

"If you're not involved in the learning, then you can't speak to it."

THE TOOLBOX

📊 Competency-Based Reporting Playbook (access here)

"We must acknowledge our current grading practices are rooted in industrial-era beliefs and school-centered structures. In a learner-centered paradigm, we hold different beliefs and therefore need different structures."

🤗 How to Facilitate Empathy Interviews and Focus Groups (access here)

"By using this resource, you’ll be able to uncover bright spots, key challenges, and surprising insights that can inform your planning for the upcoming school year."

🤝 Partner With Learners to Reach Their Full Potential (access here)

"Ensure all learners can access learning experiences equitably and are supported in their next steps in life by exploring different college and career options while building their social capital through a support network."

OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH US

☀️ Connections Leadership Cohort (apply here)

October 1-2, 2024 | Encinitas, CA

🦐 Aurora Institute Symposium 2024 (register here)

November 2-5, 2024 | New Orleans, LA

🔗 View all upcoming events here.

SOMETHING WORTH SHARING

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HOW DID WE DO THIS MONTH?

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