Brazil spends more money, and a higher percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), on education than other Latin American countries. However, many of the outcomes of the country's education system are worse than its peer countries. We call this mismatch Brazil's Education Paradox. One of the primary reasons for Brazil's Education Paradox is…

The conventional model of schooling is outdated and overdue for replacement. As learners make their way through high school, survey results show that close to 66% end up disengaged. Those who successfully navigate the system gain a narrow set of academic skills that may or may not align with their individual needs, interests, and strengths. And as…

Efforts to invest in students' networks--either to bolster support or expand professional opportunities--should start with a deep understanding of and appreciation for the networks of which they are already members. Recognizing and respecting students' inherent resources and cultural wealth is what this report refers to as an asset-based approach.…

Shared governance--the processes through which faculty, the administration, and even students and staff participate in creating the policies and charting a direction for an institution--is a major tenet of higher education. How to get cooperation and agreement to move an institution forward is one of the trickiest parts of the leader's job. Yet…

Practically overnight, the spread of COVID-19 caused a sudden shutdown of classroom-based instruction--the centuries-old emblem of formal education. Fortunately, the capabilities of the technological era--in which broadband connectivity, mobile communication, and video conferencing are increasingly common--meant that for the first time in world…

Alumni networks are part of the bill of goods that colleges and universities sell to students. But according to a Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey, only 9% of college graduates reported that their alumni network was helpful or very helpful in the job market. That startling statistic says a lot about how poorly most institutions actually perform when it…

Almost every organization faces an improvement imperative: businesses must grow their profits and market penetration, hospitals strive for better patient outcomes, and nonprofits look to increase their impact. K-12 school systems are no exception. Every principal and superintendent accepts their role knowing that they will be expected to make…

This year, K-12 schools, colleges, and universities have doubled down on their endeavors to support students through a global health crisis, economic uncertainty, severe weather, and political turmoil. Despite these efforts, research shows that support services still fall short of meeting many students' needs. As schools develop strategies for…

Among the lessons to take away from COVID-19 in the K-12 sector, one is this: we can never again say that schools haven't changed in a hundred years. After a year in which all schools upended the status quo to support students' learning and wellbeing during a pandemic, the most vocal critics of outdated school systems must acknowledge that even…

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced school buildings to close, online learning became a lifeline for K-12 education. It let schools carry on in "the cloud" when they could not meet in person. But online learning's potential benefits for K-12 go well beyond providing stop-gap solutions during school closures. It offers an opportunity to…

As they adopt and adapt emerging approaches, K-12 leaders have a tremendous opportunity to activate the latent social capital within families to improve students' experiences and outcomes. Whether they succeed depends on where and how schools activate family networks, and for what purposes. This paper details five emerging opportunities for…

Over the last two decades, online learning adoption happened gradually in K-12 schools, mostly among innovators and early adopters. Then in 2020, the onset of COVID-19 ignited widespread adoption of emergency online learning, practically overnight. Online learning moved swiftly from the periphery to the core of K-12 education since it offered the…

These are unprecedented times for K-12 schools. With a global pandemic, an economic recession, calls for racial justice, natural disasters, divisive politics, and the already demanding work of educating students on their plates, school system leaders face a set of crises unlike anything most have ever experienced. To help leaders through these…

This document provides the methods and findings of a national survey of teachers and administrators conducted in the fall of 2020 by the Clayton Christensen Institute in partnership with Bay View Analytics. Information for this report comes from national surveys of US K-12 teachers and school and district administrators. Data from the surveys was…

The idea of student-centered learning is not new; teachers have long sought to design personalized, competency-based environments that are tailored to individuals and that empower students to drive their own learning. What is new is the emergence of an online learning ecosystem and, with it, the technical possibility of equipping all students with…