At Digital Promise, we believe students learn best when they are empowered with agency, purpose, curiosity, and connection: the core of Powerful Learning. That belief drove the Kansas City Public Schools’ (KCPS) Student Tech Team codesign project, where the district built a new pathway for students to lead, create, and shape technology-rich learning in their schools.
Kansas City Public Schools’ Student Tech Teams are troubleshooting technology in their schools, managing devices, and building technology support for students and staff. At the same time, these students are driving learning. Students are solving real problems, collaborating with peers and educators, and building skills that extend far beyond the classroom.
This work reflects a broader shift in education: moving from passive technology use to active, student-driven creation and leadership. Through Student Tech Teams, students experience:
Systematically, education has measured learning by time spent in a seat and standardized assessment performance. But readiness beyond the classroom requires more. Student Tech Teams are grounded in a different vision: one where students demonstrate what they know through action. By engaging in hands-on technical learning, students build skills and experiences that can grow with them over time while mastering necessary standardized requirements.
In KCPS, middle school students are offered an early entry point into career exploration that can evolve into industry-recognized credentials and future pathways in high school and beyond.
Launched in November 2025, this codesign project brings together Digital Promise staff, KCPS Digital Learning Coaches, and Student Tech Team Sponsors in a collaborative effort to shape the future of student learning.
To bring this vision to life, the team codesigned a set of tools that recognize and validate foundational technology student learning, including an International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and Missouri Learning Standards aligned end-of-course assessment, a certificate of completion, and four digital ‘stamps’ graphics, built to recognize successful completion of the hands-on learning elements in the previously written KCPS curriculum.
These components connect directly to KCPS’s existing Student Tech Team curriculum, which includes:
To bring this work to life, KCPS piloted a new assessment with 14 Student Tech Team members who completed the Student Tech Team course at Northeast Middle School and Lincoln College Preparatory Academy Middle School during the spring 2026 semester, and the early results are compelling.
With a strong pass rate across both schools, students shared that the assessment felt meaningful and appropriately challenging. More importantly, they saw its value: recognizing it as a way to validate their skills, build confidence, and demonstrate their ability to support peers and teachers in real-world scenarios.
This work is about more than technology: it’s about reimagining what learning can look like.
“When students learn technology together, they gain more than skills, they build confidence, problem‑solving, and a shared purpose.” – Sasha Hightower-Herron, Lead Digital Learning Coach, KCPS
By formalizing the Student Tech Team experience into more structured, yet flexible, learning opportunities, students will be able to:
Most importantly, students will continue to move beyond being technology users to becoming leaders and innovators in a digital world.
Learn more about the benefits of a Student Tech Team. Explore the ISTE Standards for Students and Missouri Learning Standards – Computer Science K-12.
