PBL Leadership Academy
High Tech High & California Department of Education PBL Leadership Academy
The PBL Leadership Academy is a year-long in-person and online teacher professional development program for diverse teams of California public educators to grow project-based learning within their schools, especially as a means to improve educational experiences for traditionally marginalized students.
Why Join?
Engage Students
Project-based learning grounds education in larger, purposeful endeavors—and students’ communities and lived experiences—to facilitate dynamic growth among students and educators.
Build Design Skills
Develop your creative capacities as you design, critique, and implement original solutions with your colleagues and students to address your school-communities’ authentic needs.
A Powerful Network
Join a dedicated community of educators committed to growing the practices that sustain deeper learning across California.
The 2023–2024 PBL Leadership Academy
In the PBL Leadership Academy, you will...
- Learn together at in-person Leadership Institutes at HTH:
- Fall Institute: October 19–20, 2023
- Spring Institute: April 25–26, 2024
- At the Leadership Institutes, plan for active, hands-on & minds-on work with adults and students, movement in and out of schools, and more.
- Learn continuously online with the whole cohort, while focusing on your interests and goals:
- Choose a focus for your online learning: PBL Curriculum Design & Facilitation or Leadership for PBL.
- HTH Mentors facilitate interactive online sessions to support you to design and implement original PBL leadership projects that address your community’s needs.
- Online sessions are held after school hours primarily on the first Wednesday of each month.
- Join online professional learning communities and events:
- Reconnect with all teams in the Winter Institute, held online after school hours on January 24 & 25, 2024.
- You will be invited to several additional workshops held online in the fall and spring, which will also be open to your colleagues and students.
- Earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) through the HTH Graduate School of Education.
Who Can Apply to the PBL Leadership Academy?
California public educators who serve learners in middle school, high school, or community colleges are encouraged to form teams and apply.
Who should be on our team?
The ideal team is composed of four highly collaborative educators working to grow as PBL designers, facilitators, and leaders.
Each team should include at least one classroom teacher-leader and at least one school or district administrator. From there, design your team around authentic goals for your school and community. Teams typically include educators focused on English, Math, Perkins Special Populations of students, and/or Career Technical Education.
The most important element to consider in designing your team is your structures for collaboration. In the past, successful teams have focused on many different things, but one thing they all have in common is an authentic way to regularly work together.
How Do I Apply to the PBL Leadership Academy?
Build a school, district, or county-based team of four educators who will lead this work. Then, complete the application.
The 2023–2024 PBL Leadership Academy runs from September 2023 to May 2024.
Participating teams commit to joining the fall and spring Leadership Institutes at HTH and all online sessions.
How much does the PBL Leadership Academy cost?
Participation costs $700 per participant ($2800 per team of four).
Participation is generously supported for California public school educators by the California Department of Education.