A team of 40 school educators and district support staff recently traveled to California for a site visit of five schools that have successfully combined core academics with career-based knowledge and skills in collaborative and research-intensive learning environments known as Linked Learning. Continue reading
Category Archives: Linked Learning
U.S. Dept. of Education checks out HISD’s Linked Learning
Nadya Chinoy Dabby visited Eastwood Academy on Oct. 22, 2014.
U.S. Department of Education Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement, Nadya Chinoy Dabby, toured Eastwood Academy and visited several HISD Apollo 20 campuses Wednesday. She visited the campuses to see the progress that has been made through the federal Race to The Top grant that HISD was awarded 10 months ago.
The $30 million grant is helping to fund the district’s new Linked Learning approach that places real-life career experiences in the classroom. The initiative launched this school year beginning with 40 schools. Continue reading
Linked Learning kicks off at Westside HS
Freshmen at Westside High School entered the auditorium to cheers of encouragement from their peers at the school’s recent kickoff for Linked Learning, a district initiative that places real-life career experience in the classroom. The event allows students who expressed an interest in digital media and design to learn more about Linked Learning and their ninth-grade project.
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“They’ll get the opportunity to learn about things they’re passionate about,” said Adam Stephens, assistant superintendent of Linked Learning. Continue reading
Linked Learning connects students’ present to future higher education and careers
This is the ninth in a series of stories counting down to the start of school, spotlighting what is new in HISD in the coming year.
So promising is HISD’s new Linked Learning approach, launching this school year, that the federal government gave one of its coveted Race to the Top grants worth $30 million to get it started over the next five years.
The Linked Learning approach — not a program, not an initiative — blends college and career readiness into one unified path from kindergarten through 12th grade. This year, eight HISD high schools and their 32 feeder elementary and middle schools are piloting Linked Learning. The high schools are Chavez, Eastwood Academy, Furr, Lee, Milby, Reagan, Sterling, and Westside. Continue reading
Teachers refine and share culminating projects at Linked Learning summer institute
Teachers at eight HISD high schools are preparing their coursework for the upcoming year a bit differently than they have in the past. Campus teams from Chavez, Eastwood Academy, Furr, Lee, Milby, Reagan, Sterling, and Westside are refining plans to teach core subjects through project-based learning — a part of the district’s commitment to the Linked Learning approach. These campus teams shared their plans at the Linked Learning Summer Institute during June.
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Linked Learning crafts new pathways for college and career
Educators from eight HISD high schools — Chavez, Eastwood Academy, Furr, Lee, Milby, Reagan, Sterling, and Westside — are spending their summer designing industry-themed programs of study intended to make learning exciting, challenging and relevant to real-world experiences. The program, known as Linked Learning, will help students build a strong foundation that leads to fulfilling and successful college and career experiences.
“It’s amazing. It’s awesome,” said Linked Learning superintendent Adam Stephens.
Linked Learning pathways differ from Texas House Bill 5’s mandated pathways. Continue reading
New partnership shines spotlight on Linked Learning’s potential
When most people think about employment opportunities available at large grocery or clothing chains, they probably envision minimum-wage jobs such as cashiers, sackers, stockers, or parking lot attendants who collect abandoned shopping carts.
But a new partnership between HISD’s Career and Technical Education department, the University of Houston Downtown (UH-D), and various big-box stores is looking to change that misconception, and in the process, create a steady stream of high-school students poised for high-paying careers in retail management.
“This type of partnership does exactly what we want,” said Michael Webster, HISD’s assistant superintendent of career readiness. “It’s giving kids access to real-life situations. The idea is that within two to four years of graduation, they will be in a managerial role, and a typical manager at one of these stores makes $125- to $150,000 a year.”
HISD wins $30 million in federal Race to the Top funds to link students to careers, college from earliest age
The Houston Independent School District learned Tuesday that it has won nearly $30 million in federal Race to the Top funding, the only urban school system to be named a winner in this round of district competition.
The announcement was made at noon, Houston time, by Education Secretary Arne Duncan at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
“This funding is an acknowledgment of the work we’ve done, as a giant urban district, to personalize learning to each student – and a belief by the Department of Education in the work we intend to do,” said Superintendent Terry Grier.
HISD Makes Finals for Race to the Top Funding
The Houston Independent School District was named Tuesday as one of 31 finalists for $120 million in federal Race to the Top funds, from a field of more than 200 applicants.
Up to 10 winners are expected to be named by the end of 2013. Each winner could receive awards of $4 million to $30 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Because of its size and number of students it serves, HISD was eligible to apply for the maximum award. Continue reading