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A Public Education Promise Toolkit

Principle 1: Prioritize Student-Centered Learning

Designing learning experiences that center students’ strengths, needs, interests, and aspirations, so every learner is prepared for real life in the real world.

Student-centered learning fulfills the first, and foundational, promise of public education: to nurture every learner’s potential by designing experiences that reflect real life in the real world.

When students have meaningful agency, when learning is coherent and competency-driven, when belonging and identity are honored, and when community partnerships connect learning to purpose, they grow into confident, curious, future-ready adults.

This work also requires parallel supports for educators, ensuring they have the clarity, tools, and well-being necessary to bring these practices to life every day. Together, these insights point toward a system where every learner is known deeply, challenged appropriately, and supported to thrive. One where student-centered learning becomes the norm, not the exception, across our schools and communities.

This Toolkit will Help District Leaders:

• Understand what student-centered learning looks like in practice,
• Build systems that elevate student voice and agency, and
• Access ready-to-use tools educators can implement tomorrow.

Core Understandings:

1. Students thrive when they have agency and meaningful roles in shaping their learning journeys.
2. Life skills and academic skills develop together, reinforcing each other along the way.
3. Belonging, safety, and identity matter. Students learn best when they feel seen, valued, and known deeply.
4. Learning extends beyond classrooms through community partnerships, service learning, career-based experiences, and extracurriculars.
5. Co-creation is essential. Students, teachers, families, and community partners collaborate to design relevant learning and pathways toward mastery.

Key Insights from Workgroup Participants:

1. Student Agency Must Be Designed into Systems
2. Portrait of a Graduate (or Learner) Brings Coherence
3. Creating a Sense of Belonging in Districts, Schools, and Classrooms is Essential
4. Community Partnerships Expand Learning Within and Beyond School
5. Student-Centered Learning Requires Parallel Supports for Adults

Read the Full Executive Summary

Toolkit Resources:

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  Self-Assessment

  Prioritize Student-Centered Learning

  Use this assessment to support reflection and leadership-level conversations around student-centered learning and student agency.

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  Case Study & Companion Guide

  Troy City Schools (Ohio)

  See how one district set the stage for developing shared practices that make student-centered learning visible in every classroom.

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  Student Agency Tools

  Examples from Sunnyside Unified School District (Ariz.)

  Examples from a district that is prioritizing student agency & student-centered learning. Include a companion guide facilitation tool.

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  Portrait of a Graduate Examples

  Building the Foundation

  Examples of how a strong Portrait of a Graduate can set the foundation for prioritizing student-centered learning district-wide. Includes a companion guide facilitation tool.

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  Support for Educators

  Parallel Supports for Adults

  When educators experience autonomy, trust, and purpose in their own professional learning, they are far better positioned to design learning environments that center students.