Elizabeth Forward School District

Engaging students in the maker movement on a district-wide scale: From elementary to high school, Elizabeth Forward School District enables students to apply skills to make connections with their learning in other fields. This is evident in the Dream Factory and Mobile Fab Lab initiatives, both of which allow students to turn ideas and concepts into reality through the incorporation of new technologies with traditional woodshop machinery. Elizabeth Forward School District also supports an all girls maker class, noting the importance of providing more access points for girls to these programs.

Offering alternatives to traditional grades: The Kindergarten Badging program allows students to earn up to 65 skill-specific badges when they’ve mastered a skill, which helps clarify what a student has actually learned. Doing away with grades, check marks, and numbers, the system encourages investment and allows the kids to understand that if they learned it, they earned it. The program also includes an app that allows parents and guardians to track progress and share in the celebration as students progress.

Introducing an inclusive Learning Management System: Elizabeth Forward School District is using the NWEA MAP Assessment three times a year and uploading the data to several different adaptive technology to meet the needs of all students. If students need to work on content below, at grade level, or above grade level, they can, as all schools in the district have integrated personalized learning time into the regular schedule. The new instructional model defines the modern learning and effective personalized learning strategies to give students voice and choice.

Transforming learning spaces, library media centers, and classrooms: The district transformed many of its previously underutilized school spaces into colorful, dynamic spaces that foster collaboration and exploration among students during and outside of class hours, inspired by the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center and other community partners.