Digital Promise Resource Repository
Explore to discover reports and publications on the range of topics we work on - from learning analytics to maker education.
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Recent Submissions
Empowering High School Communities to Evaluate Their Programs Through Alumni Surveys
(Digital Promise, 2023-10) Shelton Daal, MPP; Emi Iwatani, PhD; Tiffany Leones, MEd
This presentation explores how iterative co-design was used as a culturally responsive methodology to design alumni surveys for equity-focused high schools. Digital Promise, as the evaluation partner, collaboratively built diverse design teams incorporating teachers, administrators, community partners, alumni, parents, and students from school communities. The teams actively engaged in the survey design process, continuously considering how alumni perspectives could enhance equity within the programs. Crucially, Digital Promise emphasized that the school communities retained control throughout the project, allowing them to generate goals and questions, finalize the question set, determine the survey sample, review results, ideate next steps, and provide input at every stage. Digital Promise aims to leverage these experiences for continued work with schools, placing a renewed emphasis on equity, scalability, healing, and sustainability.
Socratic Circles: Building Tools for Racial Equity Classroom and Community Discourse
(Digital Promise, 2023-11) Alexandra Merritt Johnson; Kristian Lenderman
This report details how Reynoldsburg City Schools utilized the Inclusive Innovation model to introduce an innovative Open Educational Resource, Socratic Circles, designed to assist teachers in guiding discussions on racial and social justice in the classroom. These OER will be accessible to educators who are inspired by this work and interested in incorporating Socratic Circles into their classrooms. This report also offers insights from members of Reynoldsburg City Schools’ Inclusive Innovation Core Team on how they applied the Core Tenets of Inclusive Innovation throughout their process.
Evaluation of World History Project
(Digital Promise, 2023-12) Emi Iwatani, PhD; Angela Hardy, MA; Barbara Means, PhD; Shelton Daal, MPP; Xin Wei, PhD
This evaluation assesses the impact of World History Project, a freely accessible online high school world history curriculum developed by OER Project in collaboration with educators and historians. The study, conducted during the 2022-23 school year, focused on 9th or 10th-grade on-level or honors world history classes in public schools across the United States. Key evaluation questions included the curriculum's effect on historical thinking skills, its usability, and its impact on student engagement. Results indicate statistically significant positive effects on learning opportunities for the historical thinking skill of continuity and change over time. However, challenges in usability and student engagement were identified, with recommendations for curriculum designers, practitioners, and future research. The findings underscore the curriculum's potential impact and the importance of ongoing refinement to empower teachers and enhance students' understanding of world history.
Civic imagination’s role in K-8 computing education in Kentucky Appalachia
(Digital Promise, 2023-10) Emi Iwatani
In this invited presentation, Dr. Emi Iwatani shares ways in which a 6-year research practice partnership to promote computing education in Eastern Kentucky has been guided by core principles of civic imagination. The project has not just trained K-8 teachers in computational thinking lessons, but importantly has (1) helped teachers imagine a viable future for their region and their students, (2) supported building of roles and skills for educators that allow them to participate in that future, and (3) provided educators with a sense of agency or permission to help shape that future.
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Opportunity to Bridge District Equity Gaps by Fostering Collaborations with BIPOC Solution Providers
(Digital Promise, 2023-10) Alexandra Merritt Johnson, Ph.D.; Sherenna Bates; Kimberly Smith
Despite extensive educational reform efforts, social position and identity continue to affect the academic success of historically and systematically excluded students in the United States. To address this, it is imperative to involve BIPOC communities in the creation and selection of education solutions aimed at reducing this inequity. Although BIPOC solution providers possess the expertise and innovative solutions required to meet HSE students’ needs, they often encounter barriers that limit their access to districts and education markets. To bridge this gap, Digital Promise’s Center for Inclusive Innovation has introduced two innovative approaches: Learning Salons and Solution Showcases. Learning Salons facilitate collaboration and engagement between BIPOC solution providers and district leaders, addressing specific challenges faced by HSE students. Solution Showcases offer an event where district leaders can explore teaching and learning solutions designed by BIPOC providers. This report focuses on the experiences and perspectives of BIPOC solution providers and district leaders navigating the education landscape and highlights their insights from Learning Salons and Solution Showcases. It also highlights factors to consider in overcoming barriers to partnerships between districts and BIPOC solution providers.