What if there was a way to make math education more inclusive, engaging, and responsive to students’ needs? The Illinois Math Badging Initiative is about improving math outcomes while engaging and empowering students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of contexts. Check out our lessons learned in our first two years.
Shifting the Narrative Student Voice Accomplishments
In February I wrote about the “Shifting Chicago Narratives” student voice project taking place in Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) competency-based education (CBE) schools. It was an 11-week after-school project that engaged students through multi-media platforms to tell their stories and shift the narrative from a focus on all that students lost through the pandemic to what they gained. The project concluded last week with a screening event at the Gene Siskel Film Center where student-produced videos were shared with an audience for the first time.
The videos are now available for public viewing, and they’re worth watching. Student teams from Curie High School, Hyde Park Academy, Juarez Community Academy, and Phoenix STEM Military Academy each produced a piece that tells the stories of their experiences during COVID-19. In the Curie video, we get to see how a student initiated the creation of an award-winning robotics club and how the process helped both students and teachers persevere. A Hyde Park student highlights how her mentor’s support helped her heal from devastating trauma, and it shows the resilience students can demonstrate in the face of challenges. At Juarez, we hear several students describe with incredible insight and honesty how the past years have affected them and how they are getting through it by showing up for each other. Phoenix STEM Military produced an impressive artistic combination of footage and interviews to describe student life before the pandemic and how the experience changed what they value.
Phoenix STEM Military Academy
Curie Metropolitan High School
Hyde Park Academy
Juarez Community Academy
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Community-Driven Learning: A Statewide Work-Based Learning Initiative
Designing and implementing high-quality work-based learning experiences is challenging, and communities often struggle to find support. The Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network provides a model for peer collaboration by fostering a supportive environment for sharing resources and insights.
Illinois Math Badging Initiative: A Journey Toward Inclusive Education
What if there was a way to make math education more inclusive, engaging, and responsive to students’ needs? The Illinois Math Badging Initiative is about improving math outcomes while engaging and empowering students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of contexts. Check out our lessons learned in our first two years.
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