Our Actionable Routes to Deeper Learning

How do we bring about deeper learning for all students in a system that is highly site autonomous and in a political environment that values high test scores?

For the past three years, that is the challenge Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado has tackled. Serving 85,000 students in 155 schools over much of the western portion of the Denver metro area, the district serves a diverse mixture of communities ranging from affluent suburbs to middle-class neighborhoods to urban areas to more remote mountain towns.

Our schools also are diverse in their instructional philosophies. Within the district’s neighborhood, charter and “option” school portfolio, approaches cover the gamut from more traditional models (Core Knowledge and classical academies) to constructivist models (International Baccalaureate, expeditionary learning) to specialized schools (STEM, career and technical education, and arts integration).