One District's Approach to Transitioning to an Integrated Approach Through PBL

The motto for the Westminster School District is “Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.” This motto frames the work of all-district teams, including the Department of Educational Services. “Our goals are firm, but the means are flexible.” Lori […]

Making Rigorous PBL by Design Doable

It is difficult to accept that the best learning road is slow and that doing poorly now is essential for better performance later.  It is so deeply counterintuitive that it fools the learners themselves both about their own progress and their […]

3 Steps to Launching PBL at Your School

Starting anything new can be a daunting task, particularly for a school site administrator. But when starting a new instructional focus that requires training, buy-in, follow-through, and follow-up, well now that can be even more challenging.  This […]

Assessing Deeper Learning

The profound disruptions to traditional schooling over the past two years leave educators with unique opportunities to redefine school. Though it may be tempting to try to teach faster to "catch up" on missed content, we contend that the best course […]

Teaching Every Subject with an Eye on Career Readiness

To prepare our students for the next phase of their lives, my district is committed to helping all students have a relevant career experience prior to high school graduation. That authentic learning experience might be a job shadow, apprenticeship, […]

Project Based Learning: 5 Tips for Getting Started

For many educators, the practice of project based learning (PBL) is new. Many educators have long thought that PBL was focused on the project. However, attention should be focused as much on the process, as the content-related products.

Beginning […]

Professional Development That Changed My Teaching and Inspired My Students

Educators have many options to hone their craft in the quest of becoming better teachers. Professional development (PD) opportunities include: 1) improving teachers’ content knowledge; 2) updating teaching practices; 3) learning how to work with new […]

Using Defined Learning to Support Teachers with High-Quality PBL Professional Learning

When Angelina Rowden, principal at Sunrise School, says, “Our school is our community” she means both literally and figuratively. The school, which serves students in grades pre-k through 8 is 50 miles south of St. Louis and the only business in […]

Study Confirms Project Based Learning Has a Positive Impact on How Students Learn Math

A case study conducted by my colleagues and me at MIDA Learning Technologies compared elementary classes that were piloting project-based learning (PBL) against classes that were continuing to use the district’s traditional curriculum.  Our findings […]

Norwalk Public Schools uses Defined Learning to create a launchpad for teachers to get started with PBL

A district leader discusses how they determined the best way to scale PD and prepare teachers to implement project-based learning.

“What does Project-Based Learning (PBL) look like for Norwalk?” This question has been Tina Henckel, Director of K-12 […]