Craft Category: Artifacts

Cedar Rapids: Student Reflection and Goal-Setting Pilot

Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) wanted to solve a problem in their district: “How might we provide relevant, standards-aligned feedback to students so that every student reaches mastery?” After seeking stakeholder input and brainstorming a range of options, the design team decided to pilot a reflection and goal-setting process with students.

This pilot had several assumed benefits. It could help students understand the “why” behind learning and make authentic connections between courses and the world around them. It could also help teachers give more personalized feedback in alignment with the district’s goal of adopting standards-based grading; this process helped teachers and students reflect on their learning progress and chart a course toward mastery together.

To keep the pilot simple, the team followed these steps:

  1. The design team started with a single learning task in one middle school classroom.

  2. Students completed a goal-setting template after an assessment to reinforce the learning task and its purpose, reflect on what they did well, and set goals to reach the next level of mastery.

  3. The teacher tracked simple measures for engagement and performance for each student and the class as a whole.

  4. Finally, the design team worked with the teacher to document the process and lessons learned in hopes of expanding the pilot to other classrooms later.

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February 23, 2021

Plan to Pilot Your Prototype

This template provides design teams with space to clearly define the parameters of a pilot plan (or small test) – including the format, who will interact with the pilot, what messaging and resources are required, and what measures will determine whether your pilot meets its goals. Teams may also document the progress of the pilot and capture reflections.

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February 23, 2021

IDEO Design Kit: Role Play

When building a prototype, it is important to get clear on what the solution looks like in practice. This exercise from IDEO helps teams define a clear prototype by creating a role play.

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February 23, 2021

IDEO Design Kit: Storyboard

When building a prototype, it is important to get clear on what the solution looks like in practice. This exercise from IDEO helps teams define a clear prototype through the creation of a storyboard.

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February 23, 2021

Monterey Peninsula: Students and Teachers Co-Designing Strategies for Belonging

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) sought to address a key problem in their district: “How might we increase flexibility and personalization to build a sense of belonging and connection within the context of our labor and policy constraints?”

The team decided on a solution that would engage students and teachers in a design process to design new systems for personalization, flexibility, connection, and belonging. Though Monterey Peninsula had engaged students and teachers throughout its design process (e.g., to identify the problem of practice), the design team knew that they also needed to be part of defining the solution.

This solution supports equity because it cedes decision-making authority into the hands of those closest to the problem. This solution supports resiliency because it requires the district to be positioned to respond to the solutions that teachers and students develop. It also introduces a new method: teacher- and student-involved design sessions, which the district can use in the future to address other problems.

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February 4, 2021

Mastery Charter School: Student Independence Through Blended Learning

Mastery Charter Schools sought to address a key problem in their district: “How might we build a blended learning model that fosters achievement and independence in our high school students?”

The team decided on a solution that would focus on supporting students to effectively engage in a blended model, especially given the amount of independence required in such a model. Rather than starting from scratch, Mastery decided to base its work in the ISTE Standards for Students, which “are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process.” Mastery decided to focus on one ISTE standard to start and to equip teachers to embed the standard into a unit.

This solution supports equity because it leverages a proven framework (ISTE) that emphasizes empowering student voice through technology as a path to ensuring each student reaches his or her potential. This solution supports resiliency because the ISTE standards can be used across grade levels and subject areas; it also supports resiliency by starting small (i.e., with one standard) so as to allow the network to learn and adapt as it goes.

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February 4, 2021

Cedar Rapids: Building Space and Structures for Student Reflection

Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) sought to address a key problem in their district: “How might we provide relevant, standards-aligned feedback to students so that every student reaches mastery?”

The team decided on a solution that would give students space and structures to reflect on their own learning.

The team intended for this solution to empower students to set their own goals (in academics and beyond) and to prompt conversations between teachers and students about the purpose of the learning and the students’ progress toward goals.

This solution supports equity because it respects each students’ individual goals for and pace of learning, and it provides each student with the feedback and support needed to help them advance. It supports resiliency because it enables teachers to adapt their support of students based on valuable information gathered via the goal-setting and feedback process.

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February 4, 2021
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