Giving Compass' Take:

· In a time when learning is becoming more personal and the definition of success is expanding for students, Tom Vander Ark discusses how schools can measure progress. 

· As learning and teaching evolves, donors may find opportunities to support education innovation.

· Here's more on measuring students' growth under ESSA. 

As more schools adopt learning goals beyond reading, writing and math, certain questions are vexing school leaders worldwide: How can we measure growth in creative thinking? How can we spot a “self-aware” team member? How can we measure whether our graduating high school seniors have the habits necessary to succeed at college and throughout adult life?

The good news is that leading grantmakers have defined new goals for students, including the XQ Learner Goals, the Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning outcomes, and MyWays from NGLC. Battelle for Kids also has a roadmap for schools to develop new graduate profiles.

Beyond the philanthropy sector, education leaders are also puzzling over how to encourage and monitor growth in important career and citizenship skills. For instance, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is proactively updating its approach to authorizing and monitoring charter schools. “We’re thinking through how we encourage and measure social-emotional learning, citizenship, and critical thinking”, said David Frank, the Executive Director of the NYSED Charter School Office (CS) in Albany.

Read the full article about measuring progress by Tom Vander Ark at Getting Smart.