ABOUT US
The Deeper Learning Institute is a system-wide effort to transform our school into more human and humane places for the people who work and learn within them.
We support school districts and educator leaders on their journey to transform from industrial-era systems to modern learning organizations. While there are many examples of individual classrooms and schools where students experience learning in more rigorous and meaningful ways, there are few systems that support the spread of this kind of schooling. We are deeply committed to working at every level of the system, to build a movement, and transform how we think about education and what makes a good school. We owe it to our children to provide a relevant education within an equitable, caring school system for this rapidly changing world.
OUR MISSION
Creating deeper learning experiences for all students & adults
The kind of sustainable change our district leaders and teachers are seeking requires community, fellowship, conversation and thought partnership. Working together, we can transform our schools into vibrant equitable learning communities where the curiosity and potential of all students is valued and celebrated.
There are four approaches that we believe are fundamental levers to reimagine our schools and transform our systems:
Coherence & Emergence
How can we build momentum for change in a way that enables shared direction but doesn’t impose standardization? We suggest that coherence and emergence are a powerful set of complementary forces that can help organizations create shared purpose while also enabling significant innovation.
Equity
Equity is a transformational force, front loading a set of values, beliefs, discourses, actions, redesigned systems, and pedagogies. We need to redesign in ways that incorporate diverse voices and remake systems in ways that are equitable for all.
Symmetry
Adults need to experience the same kind of learning experiences we want them to create for students. By modeling what we seek in all of our actions, we can build organizations that symmetrically embody our values from top to bottom.
Co-design
Leaders today must build a wide coalition for change that involves community wide co-creation of both the vision for change and how it will be actualized. Co-designed schools and systems are more equitable and also more sustainable, because they give everyone ownership in the organization’s success.
In 2013, Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine began a six-year study of study nontraditional, innovative high schools across the US. However, what they discovered was that though there were many great teachers and some great schools, there were very few, if any, districts or larger systems that were supporting wall-to-wall deeper learning. Moreover, many of those inspiring teachers and break the mold schools were actually working against the grain, contravening what was being asked of them by their districts. Their research is chronicled in their book In Search of Deeper Learning, and inspired Jal to explore the question of how we can transform entire districts towards equitable deeper learning. And so, in 2018, the Deeper Learning Dozen was born – a community of practice of 12 districts in the United States and Canada that were committed to equitable, powerful, learning for all students and adults. These districts are a living system-level laboratory of possibilities – they show what can happen when whole districts commit to transforming themselves from industrial era school systems to modern learning organizations.
OUR STORY
Over time, we have grown organically – as people in our community have moved to new districts and states, they have brought those new sites into our work. We began by supporting district leaders and have gradually expanded our work both up and down to include work with school leaders as well as states. We have created a podcast, Free Range Humans, where we share what we are learning and invite many of those who are in our community–from students to superintendents–to share in their own voices what they have been learning. Next year we will be publishing a book, The Systems Transformation Playbook, that captures some of what we have learned thus far. We have also started to offer open access events for those who are not yet part of the DLD, including our first inaugural Deeper Learning Ed Camp this past summer.
Our goal in the longer run is to move from a community to a movement, inviting everyone who shares our vision of a purposeful, liberating, joyous schools systems to join us and one another in building the schools of tomorrow.
OUR TEAM
Jal Mehta
Co-Founder & Faculty Director
Jal is the Gregory R. Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work focuses on how to remake industrial-era school systems into modern learning organizations that create passion and purpose for both students and adults.
Libby Woodfin
Director of Publications and Research
Libby spent the first twelve years of her career as a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher and high school counselor. After shifting into the nonprofit sector, Libby spent sixteen years building and leading the publishing division at EL Education.
Alisa Berger
Executive Director
Alisa has over 25 years of experience as an educator, principal, and school leadership coach. She works with schools, districts and networks to support deeper and more engaging instruction for all students.
Laura Hecht Colletta
Director of Strategy and Operations
Laura draws on her experience with school counseling and youth development to support schools and districts in preparing all students for success.
Rod Allen
Senior Advisor
Rod is recently retired Superintendent for the Prince George School District and the Cowichan Valley School District and formerly the Assistant Deputy Minister / Chief Superintendent with the BC Ministry of Education.
Dennian Grant
Director of Global Network Strategy
Deniann believes that when people are given the right conditions to learn, think, and grow, they are capable of extraordinary things. That belief has driven her work across every level of the education system, from the classroom to the state level.
Jason Glass
District Advisor
Jason is the Associate Vice President of Teaching and Learning at Western Michigan University. Most recently, he was the commissioner and chief learner at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) since September 2020.
Maddie Kinker
Operations Associate
Maddie Kinker is currently a school counselor at Wilson Middle School in Natick, MA. She received her post-masters Certificate of Advanced Studies in the Prevention Science and Practice School Counseling Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Kimberly Wynne
Kim leads DLI’s Connecticut Leading Transformation Initiative, a cohort of leaders from 20 districts across the state working to actualize their Portraits of a Graduate.
OUR CO-FOUNDER
John Watkins co-founded and co-developed the Institute in its first five years. His warmth and relationships helped build a community of practice grounded in the values he championed.