The Importance of PBL in Equity

Everyone deserves the right to learn to think at high levels. Yes, students need lower-order skills to move to higher-order skills, but problem- and project-based learning provide students with the motivation to tackle the lower-order skills. PBL provides students with a "felt need" to learn skills. Additionally, PBL challenges that address issues of equity and the local community can be powerful in providing authenticity to connect students to the curriculum. Following are sample problems and challenges from MyQPortal that address issues of equity:

• Telling Our Story — celebrating the diversity among students in the classroom through a classroom quilt

• Mirrors, Windows, and Doors — assessing representation in books in the classroom library

• Justice for All — exploring segregation in schools today

Some resources for you:

• Blog post — Unwrapping Equity vs. Equality

• Blog post — IDE Corp.'s Seven Lenses of Equity

• Blog post — What Do Equity and Efficacy Have in Common in the Classroom?

• Blog post — The Equity Series: Why Representation Matters

Solutions:

• Online, Self-Paced Professional Learning Experience (PLE) on "The Equity Lens: Reflecting on Your Learning Environment" — enroll all educators in the school or district and use it to create a Culture of Professional Learning

• Virtual Learning Community (VLC) — and online, facilitated course on "Designing Equity-Driven Learning Environments"

• Remote workshops on all aspects of instructional equity