Reflecting its longtime mission of improving the life options of children of color and poverty, the Stupski Foundation has embarked on a new strategy in 2011. Our goal is a public education system that meets the demands, realities and needs of today’s young people while engaging them actively in their own learning. Young men and women must graduate from high school prepared with the skills to be successful in college and in the knowledge economy. But today, too many students—especially youth of color and poverty—are tuning out or dropping out, disconnected from learning and missing the promise of public education.

Our strategy is transformation from the ground up. We see students and teachers leading a learning revolution that reinvents American education. The most underutilized yet fundamental resource in our schools—the students—need the skills, beliefs, and support to drive their own learning and reach their full potential. Thus empowered, youth can achieve higher levels of learning, student achievement and life success. Young people of color and poverty will be in the vanguard of this learning revolution, with pioneering educators as their essential allies. Tech-friendly learning environments will help youth grow their skills from the basics to deeper skills like collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking.

Beginning in September 2011, the Foundation is partnering with Learning Labs aligned with this strategy, which are based in public high schools across the country. We will be working with students, teachers and administrators at these sites to co-create, test and refine tools and practices that spark increased student empowerment and achievement. Design teams of students, teachers, administrators and policymakers at the Labs—already pioneering this approach—will identify the specific tools and practices that inspire and enable youth to drive and own their learning and achieve at higher levels.

Over the next three years, the Learning Labs will be engaged in a rigorous process of structured continuous improvement, exploring and testing different strategies for advancing these goals. The Labs will be linked in a Network that will enable them to share their learning, challenges and breakthroughs with their peers. From this body of work will emerge a diverse set of tools and practices and an evidence base that can be shared and spread in person and online. By connecting pioneering students, teachers and administrators in a vibrant and growing national Network, we’ll demonstrate the power of the student-centered approach to practitioners and policymakers, and ultimately achieve national impact and scale.

The Stupski Foundation has four key roles in the learning revolution:

• We’ll ignite and motivate change by giving courage and support to student and educator pioneers;
• We’ll accelerate and spread change by providing tools and technology and sharing what we learn with practitioners and policymakers;
• We’ll continue to learn and innovate with the Network by developing new tools and practices, and identifying what works; and
• We’ll connect and empower isolated practitioners so they can share challenges and celebrate successes.