Speakers<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/04-04-25-School-Day-speakers.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
- \n
- Anne Stanton<\/b>, President of the Linked Learning Alliance, an expert on \u201clinked learning,” which not only makes learning more relevant and engaging and prepares students for their careers and life in general<\/li>\n
- Shalonda Gregory<\/b>, Principal of MetWest High in Oakland, Ca., which is implementing a model to create innovative learning environments developed by Big Picture Learning<\/li>\n
- Louis Freedberg<\/b>, a long-time education journalist and former Editor of EdSource who is now Executive Producer of Sparking Equity, a podcast tracking education reforms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n\u201cOne of the positive things that came out of the pandemic is that everybody wanted to get back to school \u2026 then we saw chronic absenteeism rates reach record levels,\u201d said Louis Freedberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reinforced that our current learning opportunities are not sufficient for young people to get up every morning and want to go to school,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In the 2021-22 school year, 29.7% of U.S. students \u2014 nearly 14.7 million \u2014 were chronically absent, compared to 16% in 2019 before the pandemic. That number dipped slightly to 27.9% in 2022-23.<\/p>\n
The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the \u201cnation\u2019s report card,\u201d also revealed troubling results: for the first time, a third of eighth-grade students scored below “basic” in reading, with reading scores down five points and math scores down eight points compared to 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping kids engaged in school presents a crisis for all forms of education,\u201d Freedberg said. \u201cThe notion that we should shoehorn learning into these six-hour daily bites doesn\u2019t work for all kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
He emphasized that many critical skills \u2014 like critical thinking, independent work, collaboration, and persistence \u2014 are just as important for students\u2019 success as traditional academic knowledge. Several states, he added, are now working to measure these “durable skills.”<\/p>\n
In Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, the Carnegie Foundation is collaborating with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to pilot projects assessing students on these skills. Last October, North Carolina received nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to launch a “Skills for the Future” assessment initiative.<\/p>\n
North Carolina and at least 16 other states are also crafting “graduate portraits” \u2014 new frameworks that define the broad range of skills students should possess when they graduate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something that\u2019s definitely picking up steam across the country,\u201d said Freedberg. \u201cWhat do we want our graduates to leave school with? Not just whether you got A\u2019s or B\u2019s, but broader descriptions of a variety of skills.\u201d These involve critical social skills such as networking, communication, cultural competence, civic engagement, and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen modern public schools were started, Carnegie developed credit units to fuel the workforce. But in order for people to be really good workers, they need to be well-rounded,\u201d said Shalonda Gregory.<\/p>\n
Big Picture Learning (BPL), a network of over 140 schools in the U.S. and more than 100 worldwide, encourages students to develop real-world skills through field internships and mentorships up to two days a week, typically Tuesdays and Thursdays at MetWest, while attending core curriculum classes on the other days.<\/p>\n
Every ninth grader at MetWest creates an Individual Learning Plan with specific goals for not only careers and education beyond high school, but also personal development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a student is really interested in becoming an architect, even in standard classes like English, math and science, we try to connect the content to that interest,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cWe also help them find internships with architecture firms so that they\u2019re not just graduating with a diploma, but with career-ready life skills. Some of our students have even graduated with associate\u2019s degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n
One current senior, Johnny, \u201cis really passionate about skateboarding. He\u2019s been interning at a skateboard shop, and previously at auto shops doing collision repair and general maintenance,\u201d Gregory shared. \u201cBecause of those opportunities, he\u2019s set to work at the skateboard shop after graduation and do car repairs as a side hustle to support his future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though MetWest is just 23 years old, its Linked Learning model \u2014 blending academics with work-based experiences \u2014 has inspired similar programs throughout the Oakland Unified School District, including internship programs, college prep support, and a year-long graduate capstone project.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh school is not the end game,\u201d said Anne Stanton. \u201cIn the very recent past, we had a very bifurcated \u201950s model where students were sorted into vocational or college tracks. But at this period in their lives, young people can contribute in so many ways \u2014 and in our country, we think a lot less of what a 16-year-old can do than we should.\u201d<\/p>\n
In California alone, the LLA is rolling out work-based learning initiatives in 80 school districts and 250 schools, serving 330,000 students statewide, funded by a $500 million investment from the state\u2019s Golden State Pathways college and career readiness program.<\/p>\n
Out of California\u2019s 977 school districts, approximately 5.5 million students are enrolled statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to get 600,000 young people in California having these experiences,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cBut for young people to apply their academic learning in the real world, we need deeper engagement from the employers offering these opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven school district superintendents often turn over every two years,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s about who owns the vision of engaging youth. If it\u2019s owned by students, families, communities, and employers, you can\u2019t break it down, no matter who\u2019s in leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe core of our work to support young people in the real world,\u201d Stanton said, \u201crequires that it\u2019s never just one teacher or one part of their lives doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A growing number of educators are reimagining the school day \u2014 and what it means to be a successful graduate. In response to chronic absenteeism and declining academic performance nationwide, new initiatives are restructuring the traditional yearly credit system, or Carnegie units, first established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1906….<\/p>\n
- Shalonda Gregory<\/b>, Principal of MetWest High in Oakland, Ca., which is implementing a model to create innovative learning environments developed by Big Picture Learning<\/li>\n