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A Transformative Vision

Most Americans want public education to be individualized rather than standardized. (source)

We are working with communities, policymakers, and school districts in WA State with the goal of implementing an education model that is tailored to each child's unique needs, interests and strengths.

This can be done with existing infrastructure, budgets, and staffing.

If you would like a digital copy of the Washington State Elementary Student Centered Initiative (WESCI), click HERE.

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Join the campaign to replace the 100-year-old standardized public education model.

This obsolete way of teaching is a significant root cause of chronically low test scores, the youth mental health crisis, teacher burnout, and other negative outcomes in US public education.

For over a century, children have been sorted by age and randomly placed into groups of 20 to 30, then taught the SAME material, at the SAME time, at the SAME pace, in the SAME way, by the SAME teacher.

We refer to this as the Whole Classroom Instructional Model, or WCIM. Policymakers have spent decades trying to improve WCIM with reforms that have proven to be mostly ineffective.

We must stop tinkering around the edges of this outdated model. It is obsolete, harmful, and structurally flawed.

Click HERE to read TESTIMONY FROM EXPERT WITNESSES making the case that our current public education model is obsolete, harmful, and needs to be replaced.

A Better Vision

There is now an international movement to replace WCIM with a new model that naturally inspires ALL students to be curious learners, good people, and responsible global citizens.

Extensive research shows that by switching to a student-centered* model, we can significantly increase test scores and other student outcomes while simultaneously addressing inequity and the mental health crisis faced by youth and teachers. (*Note; "learner-centered" and "student-centered" are often used interchangeably.)

A 2015 report encapsulates the striking conclusions of 28 widely respected educators, scholars, business leaders, parents, and advocates. Their findings reinforce research that has unambiguously shown that public education in its current structure does not prepare children to succeed as adults. This diverse group concluded that it should be replaced by a learner-centered environment.

Prompted by this report and after further research, members of the group of 28 formed Education Reimagined. This cutting-edge nonprofit's mission is to make learner-centered education available to every child in the U.S. regardless of race, background, or circumstance.

The call has been heeded across the United States. Educators, policy makers, non-profits, and citizens in Texas, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, Washington State and elsewhere are working to implement learner-centered education in public schools.

Read about our learner-centered model here.

Our goal is to make every public school as good as the best private school.

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KEY TERMS

Whole Classroom Instructional Model (WCIM) - The century-old structure of sorting children by age, randomly placing them in groups of 20 to 30, then teaching them the SAME material, at the SAME time, at the SAME pace, in the SAME way, by the SAME teacher. Children are seen as passive recipients of information and knowledge and rarely, if ever, take ownership of their learning. Students move between classrooms during the day, move “up” through grade levels over the years, and eventually leave school for the workforce, likely to never step foot again in the place where they spent so much of their childhood. Assessments in this rigid system are done primarily via test-taking. The teacher is at the center of the learning process.
Synonyms:

Standardized Education
Teacher-Centered Learning
One-Size-Fits-All Instructional Model
Factory (Assembly Line) Education Model
Taylorist Model
Coercive Schooling

Student-Centered Model - The impetus for learning comes from a child's innate curiosity. This structure gives students control over the content of lessons and the learning method and promotes autonomy and active learning. The learner is at the center of the learning process. The teacher is seen as a facilitator of the learning process rather than "the sage on the stage."
Synonyms:

Individualized Learning
Learner-Centered Model
Adaptive Learning
Blended Learning
Personalized Learning
Competency-Based Education

Inspired Learner Model (ILM) - A learner-centered education model developed by the Center for Inspired Learning that is designed to work in US public elementary schools using existing school infrastructure, budgets, and staffing. Its components include project and activity-based learning (PABL), peer mentoring, enhanced learning through technology, student choice, parental involvement, community engagement, and other mechanisms to support and encourage children to become lifelong curious learners. Besides traditional elementary school curriculum, ILM may include an emphasis on self-care, financial literacy, media and digital literacy, communication skills, conflict resolution, global citizenship, the arts, and learning at least one foreign language.

A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit - EIN 82-4387189

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