Wyoming: When Dreams Become Reality
It’s a very powerful thing when educators are allowed to dream up what they think is best for their students, even more powerful when they can turn these dreams into reality.
2Revolutions is currently supporting nine school districts through the RIDE (Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education) Pilot with the Wyoming Governor’s Office, State Board of Education, Department of Education, the University of Wyoming, and the Community College System. Each district is realizing ambitions for what student-centered learning is and looks like in their own unique district. Practitioner teachers and leaders are all committed to the promise of public education and to working deeply within district classrooms and central offices, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
One urban district in Wyoming has over fourteen thousand learners; another has 45% English Language Learners, many of whom are newcomers to the state; another has 114 learners in the entire district. However, they all have one thing in common - their commitment to support each and every learner through student-centered, equitable practices. Their effort is not only aiming at deep work within each system, but also at informing policy changes locally and statewide.
An important part of the innovation process is the relationship between policy and practice. Too often these are seen as separate from one another and the important relationship between them minimized. In the RIDE Pilot Districts and across the state, policy seeks to inform practice seeks to inform policy to help transform the dream of student-centered learning into reality.
We visited each team in the pilot and asked them questions to get a sense of what’s possible:
What are your dreams for your district?
What do you want your students to get out of this?
What do you want to change?
What does success look like for you?
Here are some of the themes that came up:
Dreams, however powerful, are a passive practice. With the support of the RIDE Pilot, Districts are taking an active role in designing for the future of student-centered learning by leveraging their dreams into reality through practice shifts across the district and in classrooms. Here are just a few of their next steps.
In Teton County School District 1, Student School Board Members are taking the lead on what it means to be a Teton graduate by centering student ideas, values, and dreams in the conversation and design of their local Profile of a Graduate. These student leaders are exercising increased agency to bring the voices of students into the design process by creating their profile as a north star for reimagining the purpose of school and its potential design. Students’ voices are guiding building and district leaders as they help to inform decisions to increase student engagement, better meet the needs of today’s learners, and help create the environment and opportunities to better prepare learners for their lives beyond the school.
Park County School District 16 recognizes that students need more than knowledge to be competitive in their pursuits after high school and that this work is the work of the entire school community. Problem- solving, critical thinking, and creativity are just a few of the deeper-learning skills that Park 16 educators are intentionally infusing into learning activities, providing students both the opportunity to practice and demonstrate mastery of in relevant and authentic ways. By focusing K-12 on these skills, through a research-based progression, students will have opportunities to continuously refine and master not only the knowledge but the skills that will support them in college, career, and military.
A common refrain from students is “Why do I need to know this?” Several of the RIDE Pilot districts are tackling the question head on through designing relevant, real-word driven and authentic instruction and assessment experiences. High quality performance assessments support students in applying both knowledge and skills to solve authentic and relevant challenges. Whether its 2-5th grade students in Park 6 designing a business to learn and demonstrate communication, collaboration, and mathematical knowledge and skills, or high school students in Laramie County School District 1 engaging in tasks that demonstrate the relevance of social studies and history in their lives today, learners are being immersed in the knowledge and skills needed to solve and engage with complex and relevant demonstrations of learning.
