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Sofía Tannenhaus talks to Julie Smith, co-founder of Community Design Partners, and Casey Chiofolo, an Assistant Principal at Respect Academy, an Alternative High School in Denver, about how Respect Academy dramatically improved first period attendance by talking to kids about what they wanted from school, and what was keeping them from getting there on time.

Alec talks to Amiee Winchester, director of continuous improvement at Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), and Zack Jaffe, a manager of continuous improvement at BCPS, about their improvement work on middle school and high school literacy, and particularly about the particular challenges and rewards of doing continuous improvement within a large urban school district.

Jeff Govoni kicks off this issue by writing about literal “making”—the power of construction projects in elementary school. Aneesa Jamal shares a strategy for helping students reconnect to their questioning abilities, Michelle Jaconette has suggestions for how to launch inquiry-rich lessons, “Dr Project” has ideas for helping students critique “models” and make high quality products, and Brad Blue offers advice on how students can curate their own work after a project. Robert Talbert and Sarah Strong both share ideas for making assessment meaningful and student-centered. And Elizabeth Brown, Paula Espinoza, and Amber McEnturff share stories and strategies that challenge us not just to help students “make the world differently.”

Students explored personal and inspirational forms of power through reflection, research, and creative storytelling.

Ron Berger talks to Alec about why learning targets put kids in charge of their own learning, and how to make sure they are a success in your class.