Aurora Institute
Project Title
For general support
Date
Jun. 08, 2023
Duration
24 months
Description
Today’s students require learning experiences that are personalized, mastery-based, and student-centered to prepare them to thrive in a dynamic future, and competency-based education offers a promising pathway to achieve this vision. The Aurora Institute (Aurora) was founded over twenty years ago to advance the field toward competency-based education and has evolved to become one of the leading organizations in education building demand for transformational change in K-12 systems, promoting best practices from across the globe, and tackling policy barriers. Continued Corporation support will enable Aurora to drive change at all levels of the system through four core strands of work: policy analysis, knowledge diffusion, action research on competency-based education, and convening. Aurora has directly supported forty-one states, 800 schools and organizations, 180 districts, and built a network of 25,000 education professionals; overall, this work has impacted more than 14,000,000 students. Aurora’s policy work has informed significant advances in federal and state policy toward competency-based systems.
Website
Project Title
For general support
Date
Jun. 03, 2021
Duration
24 months
Description
As a result of years of education innovation there has been a proliferation of new school models that prioritize elements that research tells us are essential to long-term growth: personalization, cultivation of student agency and intellectual curiosity, and real-world application of core skills. However, in a decentralized system, there is no way to mandate adoption of promising models. Instead, we must promote more holistic adoption by building demand and supporting policies that make this work easier to do. The Aurora Institute (Aurora) has been on the forefront of this work since 2003, helping to build the nascent field of personalized learning through policymaker education, practitioner networking, convenings, and the publication of seminal reports. Demand for Aurora’s work remains high, and program staff believe that Aurora is well-positioned to build upon past successes, maintaining its unique and vital role as field leader, capacity-builder, and trusted source.
Website
Project Title
For general support
Date
Mar. 07, 2019
Duration
24 months
Description
Demand for personalized, mastery-based learning experiences continues to grow, but sustainability at scale requires the active cultivation of enabling policy conditions and diffusion of strategies for implementation. The North American Council for Online Learning (iNACOL) has been on the forefront of this work since 2003, helping to build the nascent field of personalized learning through policymaker education, practitioner networking, convenings, and the publication of seminal reports. With current Corporation support, iNACOL has: provided information and assistance to more than 100 federal and state policymakers across forty-one states and Washington, D.C.; shared knowledge and built capacity among its 8,500-member network; produced the annual iNACOL Symposium for over 3,000 attendees; and published twenty-twp reports and issue briefs to advance the field. Program staff believe that iNACOL is well-positioned to build upon these successes, maintaining its unique and vital role as field leader, capacity-builder, and trusted source.
Website
Project Title
For general support
Date
Jun. 01, 2017
Duration
24 months
Description
Personalized, mastery-based learning experiences are necessary to ensure that students are successful in college and career. The North American Council for Online Learning (iNACOL) has been on the forefront of personalized learning since its inception in 2003, building the nascent field of K-12 personalized learning, developing policy, and networking practitioners. There is now high demand for personalized learning, in part due to iNACOL’s field-building efforts, but policymakers and practitioners need support so that the reality of personalized learning can fulfill the promise of improved student outcomes. With general support from the Corporation, iNACOL will grow organizational capacity and undertake the following activities: support policymakers to create personalized, competency-based learning environments; provide a knowledge-sharing hub and network for K-12 competency-based education; and create field-building and networking opportunities for policymakers and practitioners.
Website
Project Title
For the "National Summit on Competency-based Education 2017"
Date
Mar. 02, 2017
Duration
6 months
Description
North American Council for Online Learning’s (iNACOL) National Summit on Competency-based Education will bring together diverse leaders 1) to discuss tough issues emerging in education systems moving toward competency-based models, aligned to the Opportunity by Design principle, Mastery of Rigorous Standards, and 2) address key issues to help build knowledge and capacity in the field. The Summit will convene 100 leading innovators to move the field of competency-based education through the next generation of ideas and actionable outcomes, with a specific focus on equity and diversity. At the Summit, attendees will think through the following key issues: designing for equity; meeting students where they are; the systems and structures necessary for quality implementation; developing policy for the long-term; revising the definition of competency education; and identifying and discussing emerging issues. The Corporation’s support of the Summit will help iNACOL organize engaging discussions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the context of innovative, competency-based education.
Website
Project Title
For enabling innovative, next generation learning models and policy
Date
Jun. 04, 2015
Duration
24 months
Website
Project Title
For support of CompetencyWorks technical assistance convening
Date
Mar. 06, 2014
Duration
12 months
Website
Project Title
For continued support of policy work related to mastery-based learning progressions, next generation learning and the Common Core State Standards
Date
Jun. 12, 2014
Duration
12 months
Website
Project Title
For development of policy capacity to address the intersections between mastery-based progression, the Common Core, and next generation learning
Date
Jun. 06, 2013
Duration
12 months
Website
Project Title
For support of the CompetencyWorks project
Date
Dec. 05, 2013
Duration
6 months
Website
Project Title
For development of resources related to competency-and mastery-based learning progressions
Date
Dec. 13, 2012
Duration
6 months
Website
Project Title
For a national convening to advance competency based learning and establishment of a national framework of innovators and early adopters
Date
Dec. 02, 2010
Duration
8 months