Innovative Schools

Project Based Learning -

New Program!

Innovative Schools has partnered with the Buck Institute for Education to provide schools with professional development around Project – Based Learning, an innovative way of teaching our students 21^st Century Skills. 

What is Project Based Learning (PBL)?

In PBL, students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem or challenge.  Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice 21^st Century Skills, such as collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.

Project Based Learning is a paradigm shift from traditional teaching methods to methods that are innovative, authentic, and relevant to students’ real-world experiences, igniting in them a passion for engaging in the in-depth inquiry process required to solve complex problems. The goal of PBL is to graduate students who have mastered the core curriculum, and who possesses a repertoire of 21^st century skills, making them ready for college and beyond.

Rigorous and in-depth Project Based Learning is:

• Organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge
• Creates a need to know essential content and skills
• Requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new
• Requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication
• Allows for student voice and choice
• Incorporates feedback and revision
• Results in a publicly presented product or performance

Why use Project Based Learning?

• Students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts and standards at the heart of a project.
• Projects build vital workplace skills and lifelong habits of learning.
• Projects can allow students to address community issues, explore careers, interact with adult mentors, use technology, and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom.
• PBL can motivate hard to reach students who have not been able to make an authentic connection to their learning.

How does Project Based Learning align with the Common Core Standards?

• The Common Core Standards are infused with language that closely parallels the language of PBL in the sense that there is a heightened emphasis on the acquisition of both necessary content and the 21^st century skills of communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. Through a project based learning method, students are provided the opportunity to gain a deeper sense of not only understanding of the necessary content standards, but also an opportunity to see how their learning has a direct correlation to their immediate community. Students must become savvy in the art of professional communication, collaborating with their classmates and being involved with community members.
• The Common Core Standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. In Project Based Learning, students are provided learning experiences both within and beyond the classroom, promoting community connections and acquisition of skills that will propel them into future successes.
• The Common Core Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them succeed. Educating students through a project approach allows students to gain a deeper understanding of content through real world application and through the lens of a specific role. Role criteria and performance guidelines are clearly set and aligned to the expectations in the standards.

How does Project Based Learning provide teachers a multi-layered look at students’ acquisition of content knowledge?

Traditional best practices are still a viable source of collecting assessment data on our students. However, in PBL there is a balance of assessments including, traditional, formative, 21^st century skills, team/group, peer and self. Students are assessed not only on their abilities to  accurately demonstrate knowledge of significant grade level content, but also on their ability to work collaboratively with others, work within defined roles, and accurately assess themselves and others in terms of project specific criteria. Students begin to see themselves as thinkers, learners, leaders, innovators and problem solvers.

Workshops

Project Based Learning 101 workshops are designed to provide content and tools to develop PBL learning units.  They include embedded time for teachers and teams of teachers to develop PBL units, and provide the common content, vocabulary, and pedagogy required for the implementation phase of professional development.

In addition to the 101 workshops, this training includes 20 days of on the ground coaching to support implementation of PBL in the classroom.  Customized from these services: 

• Meet with teams of teachers in Professional Learning Communities – by grade level and/or content area depending on the instructional focus of the school
• Work with teachers to apply content from PD training days to the context of their classroom through planning and reviewing units and lessons and problem-solving implementation
• Review and reteach pedagogy presented during the training days, as needed
• Review in teams or one on one data to plan for instruction so that student needs are met
• Facilitate a lesson study approach to teacher learning
• Facilitate a book study approach to teacher learning
• Conduct learning walks for teachers to learn from colleagues
• Meet with teachers one-on-one to apply content from PD training days to the context of their classroom through planning units and lessons and problem-solving implementation

On-line coaching and ongoing monitoring an implementation support help sustain this professional development.