Deeper Learning 2026

What does it mean to be a deeper learning teacher—and how can we support each other in that journey? Participants will use our Deeper Learning Teaching & Classroom Framework—anchored in the domains of Conditions, Connection, and Pedagogy, along with the Growth Arcs (Sprouting → Rooted → Thriving)—to practice giving and receiving feedback that deepens practice rather than merely checking boxes.
Participants will analyze what deeper learning looks like across contexts and practice structured protocols for feedback. Whether newer to deeper learning or more advanced, participants will have differentiated entry points to explore and calibrate.
Takeaways include:
A set of feedback stems aligned to the framework.
An adaptable observation lens using Growth Arcs.
A feedback protocol to apply in their own school.

Our Framework draws on research and practitioners including Hammond, Immordino-Yang, Bransford, Hewlett Foundation, Ritchart, Berger, McTigue/Wiggins.

This is for leaders who want to design adult learning experiences that are authentic and rigorous. Just as we strive to design student learning that is engaging and purposeful, we must approach adult learning with the same intentionality - ensuring it is active, relevant, and connected to real-world practice. Professional learning shouldn’t be a one-time event. It should be a strategic process that fosters growth. In this workshop, leaders will explore how to meet the diverse needs of adults in their organizations. Through the study of an exemplar, participants will design a cohesive arc of learning that drives long-term impact. Leaders will then zoom in to a single day of adult learning grounded in cognitive neuroscience. With planning time, peer collaboration, reflection, and practical tools, participants will leave with a plan for structuring adult learning experiences that move beyond the one-and-done model and fosters deep, sustained growth.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

Our workshop gives a window into an innovative tri-party collaboration between a school district, university and nonprofit designed to address gaps in access for kids to game-changing opportunities to learn, love and consider futures in STEM fields. The program, called Beyond Possible, is an afterschool community-based dual enrollment program for high school students designed to develop STEM and durable skills and position young people to enter in-demand careers leading to economic mobility.

In this session, participants will walk through the development journey of this partnership, examine data sets to pinpoint crucial issues of equity, engage in community asset mapping to identify strong values-driven collaborations and gain perspective from lessons learned by the partners as they built and adjusted the innovative partnership.  Through the process, participants will have the opportunity to engage with others, apply the thinking protocols to their own challenges and bring curiosity and planning focus to dilemmas of equity in their own contexts.

What does it take for every student to feel they truly matter? In this interactive session, inspired by the Odyssey Leadership Academy model, participants will engage in hands-on activities, reflective dialogue, and collaborative design to explore how belonging drives deeper learning. Together we’ll practice strategies for centering student voice, amplifying agency, and embedding equity into everyday learning. Through playful community-building and guided reflection, participants will experience the practices that foster mattering—connection, visibility, and care. By the end, you’ll leave with practical tools to cultivate classrooms and schools where belonging is not a byproduct, but the foundation of flourishing.

This session is for teachers, school leaders, and district teams seeking concrete, equity-centered strategies to create joyful, inclusive ecosystems of learning where every student is seen, valued, and essential.

Moving beyond the rhetoric of "student-centered learning," this interactive workshop provides participants with concrete strategies and frameworks for building sustainable teacher leadership systems that genuinely transform classroom instruction. Through a combination of collaborative reflection, authentic teacher testimonials, School District of South Milwaukee Principal led practical planning sessions, and expert consultation from Brian Delgado of Blue Dot Education, attendees will leave with actionable steps to create learning environments where students consistently engage in problem-solving, collaboration, and communication while mastering both academic and social-emotional learning competencies.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

Learning environments are often designed without the voices of our most important stakeholders: the people we are meant to serve. Imagine instead working together with families to identify needs, co-create solutions, and celebrate growth. If you’re a school leader seeking to foster these genuine connections, join us to experience community rap sessions, a culturally responsive practice that creates space for every voice to be heard. This session begins engaging educators as learners in an immersive experience, then shifts to the structures and planning needed to implement community rap sessions in your own school. Together, we will examine how these practices can become a routine way to engage families and community members meaningfully. As a Deeper Learning by Doing® experience, leave with concrete tools and strategies, personal action steps, contacts for follow-up coaching, and greater confidence to authentically partner with families and communities.

What do students tell us about creating schools with cultures of belonging and respect? How can we use their insights to reduce bullying? In this experiential workshop, we'll explore YouthTruth's Anti-Bullying Report, which reveals a consistent pattern across schools: when students feel a sense of belonging and see adults modeling respect across differences, bullying decreases significantly. Together, we'll examine data from over 200,000 students nationwide to understand how school culture directly impacts student safety. We'll utilize tested improvement science tools to transform these insights into actionable change within schools and systems. Participants will leave with a deep understanding of national anti-bullying trends, practical tools for culture change, and concrete strategies for engaging students as partners in creating safer, more inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

The Power of Play for Pupils is a workshop where we discuss, play games, and learn about the importance of how the developing mind reacts to play in classrooms. Together, we will learn why play it’s important to adolescent development and why play is important in school. This workshop is intended for all teachers, school leaders, and empowered students who are open to sharing with a group.

What if school systems were engines of continuous research and design, learning alongside students and educators to create equitable futures? In this hands-on session, Dr. Devin Vodicka and Dr. Katie Martin—co-founders and co-CEOs of Learner-Centered Collaborative—will invite participants to explore what an embedded R&D strategy looks like at scale. Through interactive dialogue, case studies of learner-centered innovations, and collaborative design activities, participants will identify conditions that allow change to spread: shared vision, leadership, and a culture grounded in learner voice. Together, we’ll surface bright spots, co-create strategies for scaling innovation, and leave with renewed joy and practical tools to drive sustainable, equitable change.

This session is for school and district leaders who want to build culture with intention through well-designed rituals and experiences for staff and their teams. Building culture is a continuous process of sending signals that build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose. Drawing on the work of Daniel Coyle (author of The Culture Code), this session will explore multiple methods for growing a culture committed to bringing out the best in everyone. Participants will learn through storytelling and prototyping their own rituals or cultural moments.

In this Workshop, educators become listeners, then learners, then makers. Drawing on a student-produced album as a primary text and hip hop’s own pedagogical traditions—sampling, the cipher, call and response, and storytelling as testimony—participants design lesson-ready structures for inviting their own students into authentic, safe, and culturally grounded conversations about mental health and wellbeing.  Hip hop has always been a technology for processing pain, building community, and speaking difficult truths out loud. This workshop asks: what if we let students show us how it’s done? No prior music production experience is needed. The only prerequisite is a willingness to listen.


* Tune In Speak Out is a student-produced album released through Another Level Records, the student-run label at the High School for Recording Arts (HSRA) in St. Paul, MN. Written, recorded, and produced by young people, the album documents the mental health realities facing their generation with candor, artistry, and care. It is not a curriculum about young people—it is a curriculum by them.