Rethinking Readiness: Deeper Learning for College, Work, and Life

Rethinking Readiness offers a new set of competencies to replace the narrow learning goals of No Child Left Behind and, in chapters written by some of the nation’s most well-respected education scholars, explores their implications for schools.

Today’s students must cultivate the full range of intellectual, interpersonal, and intrapersonal capacities that have been grouped together under the banner of “deeper learning.” Rethinking Readiness focuses on how educators and policy makers should move forward to provide the educational experiences that students need to become truly well prepared for college, careers, and civic life, including changes in curriculum, teacher evaluation, and student assessment.

As state leaders chart a new course for K–12 education in the Every Student Succeeds Act era, Rethinking Readiness offers a succinct and compelling vision for a new agenda for school reform so future generations can prosper in a rapidly changing world.
 

Rafael Heller, PhD, is the managing editor of Kappan magazine. He was previously the principal policy analyst at Jobs for the Future, where he led efforts to synthesize new ideas and research in secondary education and explore their implications for policy and practice. Prior to joining JFF in 2014, Dr. Heller was an independent consultant for many years, serving as a writer, editor, and strategic counsel to numerous education advocacy groups, foundations, associations, and other organizations. He has worked as a senior policy associate at the Alliance for Excellent Education, directing a range of projects focused on improving literacy instruction in the nation’s middle and high schools, and he has been an editor at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Earlier in his career, he spent several years teaching writing, rhetoric, and English, including a stint as professor and English department chair at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.

Adria Steinberg, EdM, brings decades of experience leading and writing about program and policy development efforts to improve the educational options and prospects of young people who have traditionally been underserved by our educational and workforce systems. As senior adviser to the Students at the Center initiative at Jobs for the Future, she helps to guide policy, strategy, and framework development and to translate research into action-oriented tools. She also has coauthored and served as developmental editor of numerous papers produced or commissioned by JFF on student-centered approaches to learning and on the educational reforms necessary to achieve deeper learning. As senior adviser to JFF’s Back on Track initiative, she helps to guide strategy development in creating and scaling up high-quality pathways to family-supporting careers and postsecondary credentials for off-track and disconnected youth.

Rebecca E. Wolfe, PhD, is a senior director at Jobs for the Future, where she oversees the Students at the Center initiative. Students at the Center is at the forefront of national efforts to leverage knowledge and research on student-centered approaches that lead to deeper learning in order to effect meaningful change at scale—especially for our most vulnerable youth. Dr. Wolfe has authored or coauthored numerous publications on topics related to student-centered and deeper learning. Recent selections include Effective Schools for Deeper Learning: An Exploratory Study and Anytime, Anywhere: Student-Centered Learning for Schools and Teachers. Prior to joining JFF, Dr. Wolfe was the education director at the Fairfield County Community Foundation, a middle school site coordinator for GEAR UP, and an educator in several college readiness efforts for low-income youth.