I first witnessed the power of project-based learning when I was part of a training team for a management tool that was being implemented into a project-based learning school in the inner-city of Milwaukee, WI. The interest these students had in their education was extraordinary, as well as how engaged and resourceful they had become in creating a project around something they had an interest in.

The project-based learning management tool is called Project Foundry.

It’s a web-based tool for the classroom that builds on the strengths of project-based learning. The tool dramatically reduces overhead for teachers, proactively engages students, and easily aggregates school customized assessments.

Project Foundry captures the process, proof, performance and outcomes of a project to ensure these insightful experiences promote student growth and adhere to educational benchmarks.

Currently used by 30 schools in 10 states (including the “Coolest School in America” named by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Project Foundry has become the tool of choice to implement project-based learning in schools.

You should check out their website at http://www.projectfoundry.org

Most of the time when people ask what is the most important thing I teach, my answer is that I teach students to think… think for themselves, think critically, but most of all just think. NCLB is a misguided effort to improve a system that needs a revolution, not some tweaking here and there. NCLB cultivates complacency in the area of pushing our average and top students farther, but focusing all attention on the students struggling. There needs to be a balance of attention focused on all levels of learners, not just the bottom and not just the top. NCLB does not encourage this balance. My school certainly knows what happens when 13 special education students fail to read at grade level. But, if NCLB is not the answer, what is?