Friends
of the NSRF National Center
The PBL Academy provides project based learning instruction, structure, and on-going support for K-12 educators. The goal of the PBL Academy is to help teachers improve student achievement through rigorous, authentic projects that address academic standards as well as the development of 21st century skills. Watch this jaw-dropping animation/presentation by Ken Robinson that argues for a change in the current educational paradigm, and sheds light on the importance of the PBL Academy's goals.
Questions? Check out their FAQ page or contact the PBL Academy here.
Featured in the May 2011 Connections Newsletter
EdSteps is a grassroots effort to create a resource for teaching and assessment. Rather than a pre-set rubric, EdSteps uses authentic student work as the starting point. Its centerpiece will be a large, free online library of student work samples in five key skill areas. For each skill area, student work will be presented in a continuum -- a gradual progression -- from emerging to accomplished. This will create a tool to assess student performance and growth in skills that are traditionally difficult and costly to assess in schools, and demonstrate to educators concrete examples of what is possible for students of all ability levels.
Visual artists work in all kinds of media. Community artist Joe LaMantia uses many media in his work, too, but his primary medium is by far people. "My artistic vision is about the process,"says LaMantia, who has been leading collaborative, community-based public art projects since 1993. Over the last two decades he has worked on more than 100 school-based projects, primarily in Indiana. LaMantia's method is holistic and all-inclusive. Unlike artists who may come to a project with preconceived designs to be executed, LaMantia starts by meeting with students, parents, and school personnel to gather ideas and inspiration. When he's collected a range of ideas, he designs the project with the aid of a core group representing the school community. "The end result is a creative process that empowers each individual with a sense of being part of the work of art," he says.
To learn more about Joe LaMantia and his work, visitwww.lamantiastudio.com or contact LaMantia at joe@lamantiastudio.com or (812) 320-9138
