reDesign

11/17/2025

What if intelligence isn’t something we teach, but something we ignite?

We came across a recent viral post quoting an MIT professor, saying:

“We were wrong—intelligence doesn’t come from memory, it comes from imagination.”

We might say it differently — but we agree on the essence.

Real learning isn’t about perfect logic or memorized answers.

It’s about curiosity, experimentation, and the courage to imagine new possibilities.

In competency-based learning, imagination isn’t a distraction from rigor — it’s what makes rigor meaningful.

When learners design, create, and reflect, they’re practicing the very habits that define intelligence: adaptability, problem-solving, and perspective-taking.

→ How are you designing spaces where imagination leads to insight?

11/07/2025

The fastest path to student agency? Let them watch you think—then hand them the tools.

The reDesign team is using think-alouds to demystify expert moves—how we analyze a text, plan an investigation, iterate on a draft. To make planning easier, we built a Think-Aloud Co-Writer that helps you script tight modeling + student prompts in minutes.

If this resonates, the Learning Experience Design Pathway inside CBE Catalyst walks through where think-alouds live in a lesson, how to scaffold student talk, and how to fold reflection into the workflow.

For a limited time, you can explore it FREE for 7 days.

You’ll get full access to the Learning Experience Design Pathway—one of many inside Catalyst—where you’ll learn to:

🔹 Design learning experiences connected to clear competencies
🔹 Model and scaffold metacognitive thinking
🔹 Embed reflection and self-regulation into daily routines

If you’ve ever wished professional learning felt more like real learning—interactive, human, and growth-oriented—this is your chance to experience it.

Start your free trial and see what competency-based professional learning feels like in action 👉 https://learn.redesignu.org/courses/trial-sneak-peak-lx-design

Try the Think-Aloud Co-Writer 👉 https://bit.ly/thinkaloud-cowriter

11/03/2025

A performance assessment reveals what a learner can do—and how they learn to do it.

In competency-based classrooms, performance assessments are more than end-of-unit projects—they’re the backbone of measuring meaningful learning.

This Wednesday, join us for Performance Assessment that Powers Competency-Based Learning, a free CBE Catalyst webinar where you'll learn how to:

➜ Identify the hallmarks of competency-based performance assessments
➜ Create performance assessments that are of, for, and as learning
➜ Use clear criteria and tools for consistency

📅 Wed, Nov 5 | 4:00 PM ET (US) / 1:00 PM PT (US)
🔗 Link to register 👉https://www.redesignu.org/cbe-catalyst-shift-series/

10/23/2025

A year of professional learning for $96.

No, really.

After a year of learning alongside schools and systems, we’ve reimagined how educators can access CBE Catalyst—our roadmap for turning competency-based learning from vision to daily practice.

The result? A new membership model that makes CBE Catalyst accessible at every level—from individual educators to full districts.

The new Essentials Membership gives teachers, coaches, and leaders the same high-quality tools, templates, and AI design partners our network uses every day—for $96 a year (~$8/month).

No cohorts. No deadlines. No busy work.

Just time-saving resources, guided pathways, and a community that’s reimagining what learning can look like.

And for those leading bigger change, Catalyst still grows with you:

⚡ Leader Sprint — a 90-day roadmap + coaching to bring one high-leverage idea to life.
🚀 Accelerators — for schools and districts aligning vision and practice across teams.

Explore memberships and learn about the free 7 day trial 👉 https://www.redesignu.org/cbe-catalyst/

10/15/2025

How do we prepare young people for futures that don’t yet exist?

In her new book Leading Future-Focused Schools, Shira Woolf Cohen argues that readiness isn’t something to add on top of academics — it’s something to design for within every learning experience. She calls on schools to embed real-world competencies like problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration into daily practice.

It’s inspiring to see the Future9 Competencies highlighted in the book as an example of how schools can make that shift—linking what students learn today to the opportunities waiting beyond the classroom.

📘 Leading Future-Focused Schools by Shira Woolf Cohen
https://www.innovageous.com/post/inside-leading-future-focused-schools-resources-stories-inspiration

🔗 Explore the Future9 Competencies featured in the book, our free + open source competency framework
https://www.redesignu.org/future9/

10/14/2025

We’re looking forward to joining the MTC Forum in New Orleans, where our Executive Director, Antonia Rudenstine, will be part of an important conversation on what it really takes to grow a competency-oriented teaching faculty.

Together with Paulina Murton from the Great Schools Partnership, the session will explore how schools can move beyond systems change to the mindset, routines, and practices that make competency-based learning sustainable.

With the 2025 MTC Forum in New Orleans swiftly approaching, we are excited to share some of the great sessions planned for this year’s event! Interested in what is necessary for the shift to competency-based teaching and learning? Here’s one you won’t want to miss:

Session Name - Capacity Building: Growing a Competency-Oriented Teaching Faculty

Panelists - Antonia Rudenstine (Executive Director, reDesign), Paulina Murton (Executive Director, Great Schools Partnership)
Facilitator - Jason Cummings (MTC, Director of Member Engagement)

Description - Shifting to competency-based teaching and learning requires more than new systems and tools—it demands new ways of thinking, planning, and practicing in the classroom. Through candid discussion and real-world examples, school leaders and professional learning practitioners will tackle some of the most pressing questions facing faculty: How do you respond to the fallacy that competency-based approaches are less rigorous than traditional models? How do you help teachers design workflows that are manageable and sustainable? Gain insights and practical strategies for supporting faculty as they empower students with greater voice, choice, and agency.

reDesign helps schools and districts design and adopt future-ready competency-based education models. Great Schools Partnership is a nonprofit school-support organization working to redesign public education and improve learning for all students.

We hope to see you for the MTC Forum and the FullScale Symposium in New Orleans! Learn more here: https://mastery.org/what-we-do/2025-mtc-forum/

10/06/2025

Grades alone rarely capture the full story of learning. They can fuel anxiety, dampen creativity, and shift motivation toward avoiding failure.

Rubrics—when used well—change that. They don’t just measure; they guide. They give students clarity about where they are, where they’re headed, and how to grow.

Take a look at 6 ways educators are using rubrics as tools for learning that lasts.

Our team created a downloadable reference for you to keep these strategies close at hand: 6 Ways to Use Rubrics for Learning That Lasts 👉https://www.redesignu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/6-ways-to-use-rubrics-for-learning.pdf

09/26/2025

Teaching is full of daily challenges. But what if the same 5 moves could help students engage more deeply, own their learning, and grow faster—without adding to your plate?

That’s what we’ll explore in our next free CBE Catalyst webinar:

5 Proven Practices to Boost Competency, Agency & Engagement in Every Classroom
📅 Wednesday, October 1 • 4:00 PM ET (US) / 1:00 PM PT (US)
In under an hour, you’ll discover:

✔️ Practical strategies you can use tomorrow
✔️ Tools to accelerate academic growth
✔️ Ways to build future-ready skills within your existing curriculum

👉 Register now! https://bit.ly/cbe-catalyst-free-webinar-series

09/22/2025

At South Bronx United, soccer is the hook. But the real goal? Helping young people build the skills to thrive in college and beyond.

Their track record speaks volumes—94% of SBU students matriculate to college in a community where 14.3% of adults in the hold a Bachelor’s degree.

SBU knows that great soccer skills alone won’t get students there. Academic prep and transferable skills matter just as much.

That’s why, together with SBU, we piloted with a new kind of project design—fast, rigorous, and meaningful:

🔹 Anchor to the Future9 Competency Framework
🔹 Blend human insight + AI tools
🔹 Prototyping projects that stick

The result? Fair Play: Soccer’s Ethical Gameplan—a 7th-grade prototype unit exploring ethics in sports. The edges are unfinished on purpose: with Inkwire + an LLM, we rapidly built the skeleton of a real-world, skills-focused unit in record time.

It’s a proof of concept for how after-school programs can pair human judgment and AI support to create engaging, skills-focused learning experiences that last.

Curious? Check out the prototype guide here 👉 https://inkwire.co/designs/15811?design_onepager_id=16831&design_plan_id=15944

09/02/2025

17 years of data tells a difficult story: children’s health is moving in the wrong direction.
Since 2007, U.S. children have experienced a significant decline across more than 170 health indicators—including a 15–20% increase in mental health struggles like anxiety and depression.

Researchers from UCLA Health and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are calling for a bold shift: move beyond academics to fully support the whole child.

That shift aligns with what many educators already know to be true:

Competencies like “Sustain Well-Being” aren’t extra. They’re essential.

Supporting young people means designing learning that nurtures not just intellect—but identity, emotion, and resilience.

🧠 Link to the full research summary: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/new-research-reveals-alarming-decline-us-childrens-health

08/26/2025

The adolescent brain isn’t just ready for big ideas—it’s wired for them.

New research from USC’s Center for Affective Neuroscience finds that teens who regularly engage in transcendent thinking—reflection on abstract, ethical, or personally meaningful ideas—develop stronger brain networks tied to identity, motivation, and emotional resilience.

Even more compelling?

When students made sense of complex issues like community violence through deeper context (rather than individual blame), it actually buffered their stress response and reduced neurological markers of pain.

This has big implications for learning design.

It’s not just about what students know—it’s about how they think, reflect, and grow.

Dig into the research: https://kappanonline.org/the-power-of-the-adolescent-brain-and-mind/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

08/21/2025

Young people aren’t asking for less rigor—they’re asking for more meaning.

What skills really matter to today’s youth and how well is school preparing them?

🎥 Go behind-the-scenes to hear what 16–24-year-olds wish school had taught them. Their answers are powerful, honest, and clear: they want connection, relevance, and purpose.

This is a peek into our *NEW* 2025 Youth Survey exploring how learning stacks up against life, college, and work.

📊 Explore the full findings: https://bit.ly/youthvoices2025