This case describes an ongoing system reform effort to transform the learning experiences of young people in British Columbia through changes to curriculum and graduation requirements. Over the past decade, the province of British Columbia has undergone substantial reform to its central curriculum and assessment framework. Interlinked with this…

The Happiness Curriculum is made up of compulsory 45-minute daily lessons with the aim of developing mindfulness, critical thinking, reflection, and social-emotional skills among students in more than 1,000 government-run schools in Delhi, India. Three units--Exploring Happiness through Learning and Awareness; Experiencing Happiness in…

Iowa BIG is a system of high schools located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the United States which emerged from community rebuilding efforts following catastrophic flooding in the city. The aim of this case study is to highlight Iowa BIG's complexity by describing how it functions as a: (1) school system; (2) vision for student-centric learning; and…

This case study focuses on the journey and progress to date within the Irish education system to redevelop the national primary school curriculum. While the redevelopment process focuses on all aspects of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, a particular focus is placed on elements relating to whole-child development. Central to this is an…

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) endeavors to promote both challenging academic instruction and more holistic aims--namely, intercultural understanding and respect. Throughout its history, the IB system has managed at least three ongoing tensions, which stem from its multifaceted aims and which the system has evolved to manage.…

As technology advances to bring new immersive and imaginary worlds, how children are educated and how teachers are prepared must also advance to meet these new opportunities. Today, as the metaverse infrastructure is still under construction, researchers, educators, policymakers, and digital designers have a chance to lead the way rather than get…

This report examines how digital credentials and learning and employment records (LERs) are shaping the ways people access education and career opportunities around the world. In this report, the authors share key findings from their research on digital credentials and LERs and present three detailed case studies of initiatives to govern and…

This brief focuses on Colombia which, like most countries globally, closed its schools in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As throughout most of Latin America, Colombian schools remained closed for over a year, and they only began to gradually reopen in July 2021. The brief explores the pandemic's impact on student learning by analyzing…

Education is crucial for the cultivation of successful individuals, healthy communities, robust societies, strong economies, and a healing planet. Yet, while most available education measures show impressive improvement in access in low- and middle-income countries over recent decades, there remains a heartbreaking gap in educational outcomes…

The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasized the need to develop innovative solutions to unprecedented problems in health, education, and other sectors. The learning crisis in education is reaching catastrophic levels, the consequences of which are disproportionately felt in populations that are already marginalized. School closures, together with…

Today, the topic of education system transformation is front of mind for many leaders. Ministers of education around the world are seeking to build back better as they emerge from COVID-19-school closures to a new normal of living with a pandemic. In response, the authors have developed this shared vision of education system transformation. This…

The Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings has been investigating efforts to scale and sustain evidence-based initiatives leading to large-scale improvements in children's learning. CUE has been implementing a series of collaborative action research initiatives called Real-time Scaling Labs (RTSL), in partnership with local institutions…

The Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings has been investigating efforts to scale and sustain evidence-based initiatives leading to large-scale improvements in children's learning. CUE has been implementing a series of collaborative action research initiatives called Real-time Scaling Labs (RTSL), in partnership with local institutions…

Across the country, school district superintendents are transforming into community school leaders. Responsible for systems of learning that also include school nutrition, bussing, safety, finances, community engagement, and so much more, superintendents recognize that they need a different strategy to effectively address the learning needs of the…

The United Nations has set forth an ambitious vision for education systems around the globe: cultivating life-long learning from early childhood through an individual's civic and work life. Schools must support children and youth in basic learning--including crucial socio-emotional, literacy, and numeracy competencies--to contribute to sustainable…