High schools students who don’t see the relevance of what they are learning tend to check out.
Education leaders in Providence, R.I., are trying to engage teenagers by offering them real-world experiences outside of school—and giving them digital badges and credit toward graduation for that work.
The district partnered with the nonprofit Providence After-School Alliance (PASA), to coordinate expanded learning opportunities for students beginning at one high school in 2011. Now, the collaborative program is branching out and will soon be available in four high schools serving 200 students.
(For more on the program, see Education Week‘s story earlier this year, R.I. Students Earning Badges, Gaining Credit Outside of School.)
On Monday, Dec. 16 from 2-3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, you can learn more about the program in a free webinar, “Beyond School: Earning Credit for Real-World Experiences.”. I will moderate the Education Week event. My guests will be Alex Molina, deputy director of PASA, and Patrick Duhon, director of expanded learning with the Providence school district and PASA. Our two guests will first make presentations, but we’ll save plenty of time for questions from the audience..
If you want to join us, please register here. Questions can be submitted in advance.