I AM A:

TEACHER
SCHOOL LEADER
SYSTEM LEADER
+1 (619) 768-2752

Resources

search

High Tech High Graduate School of Education
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
Get Started
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
Get Started

SEARCH

Featured

A group of young people stand around a table, focused on a sewing project. Scissors and sewing materials are spread out as they work together, learning new techniques during this creative lesson with fabric and thread.

A Project is a Type of Unit, Not a Lesson

There are two different questions I often hear from visitors to High Tech High that are both based on the same misconception about project-based learning.  The first is, “How much time should we be spending on PBL per week?” And the second is, “Is it still OK to give lectures?” The answer to both of these questions lies in the understanding that a project isn’t a specific kind of lesson, but rather a specific kind of unit.
Alec Patton
A Project is a Type of Unit, Not a Lesson

Latest

An adult and a child sit at a table in a classroom, with the child looking at a paper. Colorful charts and papers focused on Learning Targets are visible on the walls behind them, creating a powerful environment for education.
What’s a Learning Target, and Why are They So Powerful?
A learning target is an “I can” statement written in student-friendly language (for example, “I can graph linear equations.”
Ron Berger
A person with curly hair, wearing a white t-shirt, focuses on working with wooden pieces outdoors on a sunny day—showcasing tangible results. Tables, trees, and blurred people are visible in the background.
Reading List: Stories of Improvement with Tangible Results
This collection is called “stories of improvement with tangible results” and we’ve split these stories up by category—chronic absenteeism, on-track rates, and college access—to make it easy for you to find the story you need!
Unboxed Staff
A group of people sit and stand in a room, many with hands raised. The image has a yellowish, vintage tone, suggesting it is from a previous decade—a likely scene from an alternative high school meeting or group school discussion.
The Group School: An Alternative Working Class High School (originally published in 1981)
In 1971 I started working at The Group School (TGS), an alternative high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My connection to TGS started shortly after I ran afoul of the administration at the high school where I had been teaching, for sponsoring an event that included speakers from women’s liberation and gay liberation, and for publicly calling for a school walk-out to protest the escalating war in Vietnam.
Adria Steinberg, D. Monty Neill
An adult and a child sit at a table in a classroom, with the child looking at a paper. Colorful charts and papers focused on Learning Targets are visible on the walls behind them, creating a powerful environment for education.
What’s a Learning Target, and Why are They So Powerful?
A learning target is an “I can” statement written in student-friendly language (for example, “I can graph linear equations.”
Ron Berger
A person with curly hair, wearing a white t-shirt, focuses on working with wooden pieces outdoors on a sunny day—showcasing tangible results. Tables, trees, and blurred people are visible in the background.
Reading List: Stories of Improvement with Tangible Results
This collection is called “stories of improvement with tangible results” and we’ve split these stories up by category—chronic absenteeism, on-track rates, and college access—to make it easy for you to find the story you need!
Unboxed Staff
A group of people sit and stand in a room, many with hands raised. The image has a yellowish, vintage tone, suggesting it is from a previous decade—a likely scene from an alternative high school meeting or group school discussion.
The Group School: An Alternative Working Class High School (originally published in 1981)
In 1971 I started working at The Group School (TGS), an alternative high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My connection to TGS started shortly after I ran afoul of the administration at the high school where I had been teaching, for sponsoring an event that included speakers from women’s liberation and gay liberation, and for publicly calling for a school walk-out to protest the escalating war in Vietnam.
Adria Steinberg, D. Monty Neill
A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.
More Than Decoration
This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff

Improvement

See all improvement content

Two students sit at a table with laptops, focusing on their work. One, in a green jacket, holds a pen; the other looks thoughtful. Papers and notebooks are scattered across the table, reflecting active student involvement in learning.
Integrating Students into the Process of Seeing What Can Be Improved Schoolwide
Insect Diagrams offer opportunities for students, educators, and leaders to learn from one another.
Brent Spirnak
A woman labeled COACH and a man labeled TEACHER sit together at a table in a classroom with blue chairs. The coach is speaking while the teacher reviews papers, possibly discussing a Student Work Protocol.
Looking at Student Work Protocol
A 40-minute protocol for looking at student work and preparing for the next day’s math lesson.
Nate LeBoffe

Deeper Learning & PBL

See all deeper learning & PBL content

An adult and a child sit at a table in a classroom, with the child looking at a paper. Colorful charts and papers focused on Learning Targets are visible on the walls behind them, creating a powerful environment for education.
What’s a Learning Target, and Why are They So Powerful?
A learning target is an “I can” statement written in student-friendly language (for example, “I can graph linear equations.”
Ron Berger
A person uses carving tools to engrave a design onto a small block, with a pencil, paper showing a sketch, and a laptop on the wooden table—blending creative soul with organized system in their workspace.
System & Soul
Deeper learning and continuous improvement are answers to different halves of the same question. The future of schooling, and the future of our communities, depends on our willingness to reintegrate things we have allowed to drift apart
Jim May

From the Latest Issue

A group of adults sits at tables in a classroom, working together on laptops. Some people are collaborating and pointing at screens, discussing strategic communication, while charts and notes on reducing absenteeism are posted on the wall behind them.
Starting Strong, Staying Strong: Reducing Chronic Absenteeism Through Strategic Communication
Our regional attendance network designed a sequenced communication cadence that rolls out in three waves: a “Start Strong” attendance campaign in the fall, followed by winter and spring campaigns. Early evidence suggests that such campaigns positively impact attendance not only during the campaign but continue to produce positive impacts for a short time afterwards.
Bill Eagle, Ashley Goetz
A man holding a microphone and notebook speaks to a seated audience, while another man in a blue vest stands nearby. Behind them, a colorful sign reads Deeper Learning—a system embraced by many attendees in matching blue shirts.
The Cypher, The Stoop, The System
Improvement isn’t just a method. It’s culture.
Jeff Boxill
A man in a suit speaks into a microphone on stage at the National Summit for Improvement, featured in Unboxed Issue 30, while another man sits and smiles. An attentive audience watches them, with a blue banner visible in the background.
Welcome To Unboxed Issue 30
In April, I had the great pleasure of moderating a “crossover” panel that spanned the Deeper Learning Conference and the National Summit on Improvement in Education. 
Alec Patton
A photo collage shows a child speaking into a megaphone in the top image, and in the bottom image, another child spreads batter on a tray—proof that things are always better together.
Better Together
Four fourth grade classes researched a community group, carried out fieldwork, and took school-wide action in that role.
Ingrid Puche, Milena Carmona
Cover of “Unboxed” Issue 30, Spring 2026, shows two people in welding helmets working with metal as sparks fly. The tagline reads, A Journal of Adult Learning in Schools, with featured articles listed at the bottom.

Issue 30: Spring 2026

This issue explores how deeper learning and continuous improvement come alive through the stories, reflections, and questions educators are wrestling with every day. From building belonging for immigrant and multilingual learners to amplifying student voice across schools including Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina, the articles highlight what becomes possible when schools center collaboration, inquiry, and authentic learning.
explore this issue

Math

See all math content

A woman labeled COACH and a man labeled TEACHER sit together at a table in a classroom with blue chairs. The coach is speaking while the teacher reviews papers, possibly discussing a Student Work Protocol.
Looking at Student Work Protocol
A 40-minute protocol for looking at student work and preparing for the next day’s math lesson.
Nate LeBoffe
A collage of six photos depicting people creating sea creature costumes and models, including a turtle and various fish, captures the mystery of the oceans, all displayed against a bright blue background.
Oceans of Mystery
Seventh graders used proportional reasoning and scale factors to build accurate, scaled papier-mâché models of their ocean species.
Caitlin Keane, Kathryn Pond

Literacy

See all literacy content

A woman in a light-colored blazer speaks into a microphone during the Mississippi Miracle event. She has braided hair tied back and is shown in profile against a purple and white background.
The Mississippi Miracle Demystified
In this live recording from the 2026 National Summit for Improvement in Education, Partners in School Innovation CEO Derek Mitchell interviews Tenette Smith and Elise Brown about their roles in Mississippi's extraordinary improvement in reading, and how they are bringing the lessons from that into their new work in Maryland.
Tenette Smith, Elise Brown, Derek Mitchell
A person with glasses and a shaved head is smiling at the camera, exuding warmth and approachability. The background is light and neutral, reminiscent of the calm simplicity found in thoughtfully designed process packaging or the inviting atmosphere of Bedtime in a Box.
How to Package a Process, with Bedtime in a Box
Sofía Tannenhaus talks to Jarrod Bolte, CEO of both Improving Education and Bedtime in a Box, a nonprofit that provides families with boxes containing everything you need for a positive bedtime routine. Each Box contains four age-appropriate books; bath wash, a towel, and bath toys; a toothbrush and toothpaste; pajamas; a stuffed animal; an alarm clock; a Teach My Learning Kit; and a kid-friendly routine log. Bedtime in a Box has delivered more than 50,000 Boxes so far, with 80% going to families experiencing poverty.
Jarrod Bolte, Sofía Tannenhaus

STEM

See all stem content

A man with glasses and a woman with long dark hair are smiling at the camera, shown from the shoulders up against a light, textured background, as they discuss innovative topics like Solar Energy on the Climify Podcast.
Solar for All Schools [guest episode from the Climify podcast]
This episode comes from the Climify podcast, which is hosted by Eric Benson, and produced by the Climate Designers Network. Benson interviews Tish Tablan, senior program director at Generation 180, about how going solar can benefit schools' budgets and provide opportunities for PBL, as well as helping us all thrive as we face an unprecedented climate crisis.
Eric Benson, Tish Tablan
A collage of photos highlights a vibrant cultural journey: kids in costumes, a group gathered at a castle, students drawing, and others presenting at a display board—all thoughtfully arranged on a white sheet against a brown background.
HTe Imagineering: A Cultural Journey
Fifth graders designed themed park lands based on cultural characteristics to inform their engineering and design choices.
Bailey Kleis, Jenny Merrill, Jeff Govoni

Arts

See all arts content

A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.
More Than Decoration
This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff
A person with short brown hair and glasses smiles slightly while looking at the camera, set against a soft gradient background—reflecting the spirit of the Honor A Life project.
A Project to Honor A Life: The Imagine Mural
Alec Patton talks to Patrick Yurick about how High Tech High Chula Vista came together to create a mural as a memorial to one of its students, Sean Fuchs. This episode is about a disturbing subject—we don't recommend listening with kids around.
Alec Patton, Patrick Yurick

Leadership

See all leadership content

Several people sit at tables in a classroom, working together on laptops. Three adults in the foreground share lessons learned, surrounded by notebooks and coffee cups, while more groups collaborate on school improvement projects in the background.
Lessons We Learned from Leading School Improvement Networks
What happens when you bring together two dozen schools—from rural K-12s to large urban high schools—with the shared goal of reducing chronic absenteeism?
Allyson Fritz, Casondra Gerlich, Malorie Kahl
A man with short hair and a goatee and a woman with curly hair, smiling, are shown side by side against a blurred, neutral background, embodying the spirit of Liberating Learning in education.
Liberating Learning One District At a Time
In this episode, Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger, CORE Districts' Chief of Improvement David Montes de Oca, and Dr. Stacey Caillier explore how educators are transforming systems using ideas from Liberate: Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning. Listen in for stories, strategies, and a vision for what’s possible when we dare to liberate learning — one district at a time.
Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger, David Montes de Oca, Stacey Caillier

Elementary School

See all elementary school content

A group of first graders wearing safety glasses gather around a table with plants and bottles, observing a science experiment as part of a classroom community project.
How We Co-Designed a Project on Community with First Graders
In this article, two educators from Avenues The World School in São Paulo share how a community-themed project gave their students genuine agency—with results that range from hosting science fairs to cooking breakfast for the school kitchen team.
Milena Carmona, Ingrid Puche
A collage of children working on creative projects in a classroom and library setting, including painting, crafting, and building objects—where the forces at play spark imagination and collaboration—all set against a vibrant yellow background.
Forces At Play!
Third graders at High Tech Elementary designed and built cardboard arcade games based on simple machines like levers, pulleys, and inclined planes
Samantha Lee, Jessica Amante, Jordan Fields, Sinyoung Choi

Middle School

See all middle school content

A man with short curly hair, a beard, and glasses smiles at the camera. He is wearing a black collared shirt and is set against a light, neutral background with a faint white border—introducing Bryon Demerson, an advocate for PBL in Math and active collaborator with PBLWorks.
Why PBLWorks’ Bryon Demerson Went from Test Prep to PBL in Math
Alec Patton talks to PBLWorks Lead National Faculty in Math Bryon Demerson about what led him to shift from being a highly successful "traditional" math teacher to embracing project-based learning.
Bryon Demerson, Alec Patton
A postcard showcases a night sky with constellations forming a snake, silhouetted trees below, and the enchanting words Había Una Vez... in the upper left corner, inviting you to a world where stories come alive under starlit skies.
Habia Una Vez
Students engaged in an interdisciplinary project exploring indigenous cultures, delving into the impacts of colonization and creating constellations inspired by storytelling traditions
Vanessa Medellin, Matt Chapman, Tracy French

High School

See all high school content

At a lively high school music festival, a band performs on stage; the singer smiles and points upward, a bassist stands behind, and a drummer plays. The stage backdrop has bold red letters spelling CHE CAFE.
How We Put On A High School Music Festival
We came up with the idea of planning and putting on a music festival. We looked at each other, paused, then simultaneously said, “Naaahhh.”
Oscar Carrion
A collage titled Light on Literacy features three images within a white frame: the top reveals a shadow puppet show, the middle captures a lively group gathered around a board game, and the bottom displays someone adjusting a magnifying glass. Vintage drawings gracefully adorn the frame edges.
Light on Literacy
Kinder buddies were the audience for the design and creation of literacy lanterns by 9th grade students at HTHCV
Ted Cuevas
Skip to content