Harvard Graduate School of Education and Expeditionary Learning Launch Largest Online Library of Exemplary K-12 Student Work

Cambridge, Mass.— Today, Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and Expeditionary Learning (EL), a leading pre-K to 12 education non-profit, unveiled the Center for Student Work, the largest online resource of exemplary student projects. On May 18, education leaders from HGSE and EL will gather on campus in Cambridge to explore the role of student work in shaping the future of education reform, embodied by the new Center for Student Work resource (media may apply for credentials to attend by contacting Temin and Company at [email protected]).

A collaborative project between faculty at HGSE and EL, the Center for Student Work aims to raise the bar on student achievement by helping teachers improve teaching and learning. Teachers can use the free resource – which includes videos, writing samples, and other tools – as a foundation to create their own projects, raise questions, provoke thinking, and inspire excellence in their classrooms.

“I worry that most discussion of standards falls far short of the rigorous analysis and debate that they invite – and require,” said Steve Seidel, Bauman and Bryant Chair in Arts in Education and Director of HGSE’s Arts in Education Program. “We need a deeper, richer dialogue about state standards, particularly what they look like in actual student work.”

Ron Berger, Chief Academic Officer at EL, said, “Students need to know what they are aiming for, and what it looks like when they get there. By giving teachers and their students a vision of what is possible, the Center for Student Work can help raise the bar in American education.”

The Center for Student Work features searchable student work, spanning English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Visual Arts, Health and Wellness, Performing Arts, Social Studies, and World Language.

The Springfield Renaissance School in Springfield, Massachusetts, is an example of a remarkable urban district school that has made exemplary student work the cornerstone of teaching and learning. In addition to creating high quality work, 100% of Springfield students are accepted to college every year and consistently lead the district in state assessments. Learn about a transformational water quality project by Springfield students that is spotlighted in the Center for Student Work here.

In conjunction with launching the Center, HGSE and EL are convening leading educators at the university to discuss the issue of what educational standards actually look like when embodied in exemplary student work. The group will include leaders from HGSE and other schools of education, as well as school leaders, teachers and policymakers.

The discussion will build on the work of the Illuminating Standards Project, a multi-year study that Seidel and Berger have been conducting in collaboration with HGSE students. The project aims to address what standards look like when met with integrity, depth, and imagination; and how deeper, richer dialogues about state standards can occur, particularly what they mean and look like in actual student work.

“We decided several years ago to study rich examples of complex student projects – often arts-infused, aesthetically rich, interdisciplinary, community-connected, long-term studies of important ideas, concepts, and skill sets – to see if they could help us ‘illuminate’ specific standards – making those standards “visible.” We thought if we could actually show what standards look like, there could be different kinds of conversations about them among teachers, with students, and in schools of education,” Seidel said.

Berger added: “Picture the difference between reading a description of proficient play in soccer, and watching an Olympic soccer game. Unfortunately, when young students engage in academic work – creating a scientific report, persuasive essay, geometric proof, or architectural design – they typically have no idea of what excellence actually looks like. They have no inspiration, no provocation, and no vision. We want to help teachers give their students the vision and skills to do excellent work.”

For more information about Monday’s meeting at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Center for Student Work, or Expeditionary Learning, please contact Davia Temin, Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About Expeditionary Learning
Expeditionary Learning is a leading K-12 education non-profit that is meeting the national challenge to raise student achievement. Our portfolio of instructional materials and coaching services draws on 20+ years of success in more than 160 EL schools, serving 4,000 teachers and 53,000 students in 31 states and Washington D.C. In addition, our open-source English Language Arts curriculum has been downloaded more than 3.2 million times. Based on founding principles of meaningful work, character and respect for teachers, EL’s offerings transform teaching and learning to promote habits of scholarship and character that lead to high student achievement, regardless of student background. In addition to success on standardized tests, EL students demonstrate critical thinking, intellectual courage and emotional resilience and possess the passion and the capacity to contribute to a better world. For more information, visit www.elschools.org.

Featured

  • Elevating Campus Maintenance: How Power Wash Drones are Transforming Educational Facilities

    As today’s campuses grow larger and more architecturally complex, keeping exteriors clean, safe, and inviting has never been tougher. Facilities leaders are under constant pressure to stretch budgets, meet safety standards, and support sustainability goals—all while tackling the stubborn challenge of exterior cleaning.

  • Tennessee State University Gains Approval for New Engineering Facility

    Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn., recently announced that it has received approval from the Tennessee State Building Commission to build a new engineering building on campus, according to a university news release. The 70,000-square-foot, $50-million facility will play home to the university’s engineering programs and the Applied & Industrial Technology program.

  • Key Considerations for Office-to-Higher-Education Facility Conversions

    Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, office-to-alternative-use conversions have become a recurring subject of urban development discourse. Office utilization rates across major U.S. cities remain below 50%, with vacancy rates exceeding 27% in San Francisco and 16% in New York. Higher education facilities present programmatic and spatial use cases that align readily with the typical characteristics of commercial office buildings.

  • KI Wall Demonstrates New Solutions at NeoCon 2025

    KI Wall attended NeoCon 2025 in Chicago, Ill., last month to showcase its new architectural wall systems and collaborations, according to a news release. Its customizable, design-forward wall solutions are intended to support creativity in work, education, and healthcare environments.

Digital Edition