Deeper Learning sounds great. What is it?

A recent study from the American Institutes of Research (AIR) described excellent outcomes for schools engaged in Deeper Learning, but many in education are unclear what Deeper Learning is, writes Alexandria Neason in The Hechinger Report. Ron Berger of Expeditionary Learning -- a network of 165 schools that use Deeper Learning across 33 states -- explains it as a focus on in-depth academic knowledge and skills combined with the belief that students must also master communication skills, learn to collaborate effectively, and own, manage, and justify their own learning. It tends to embrace the goals of the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, and uses teaching strategies long considered good practice: project-based learning, long-term cumulative assessments, advisory classes, and block scheduling. What's new is an explicit combination of deep content knowledge and problem solving with softer skills like the ability to collaborate and learning how to learn. It is characterized by a systemic, school-wide undertaking. Jennifer O'Day of AIR says schools across the country already use these practices, but often in isolation. Project-based learning might be used in one really strong English classroom, for example, but nowhere else within a school. The study, O'Day says, is reassurance to teachers already doing this work and an invitation for more to join the club. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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