Projects
On this page are my current projects, and things I’m working on.
Last updated: Dec 2025
Next Generation Scholars
I am working with the team at Next Generation Scholars to develop a durable skills curriculum for students in grades 6 to 10.
Their mission is to equip and empower first generation, under resourced students to succeed in college and beyond through socially conscious leadership development. The program emphasizes not only academic success, but also leadership, identity, community uplift, and social justice.
It has been a pleasure to collaborate with organizational leaders and educators as they codify their approach and think deeply about what young people need to know, understand, and be able to do to thrive in their local communities and in the future.
New line of inquiry
This project has expanded my thinking beyond individual skills validation to the role of the collective.
I am exploring questions such as:
- How do supportive communities create the conditions for skills to develop?
- What preconditions or accelerants help durable skills take root?
- How should these factors shape the design of skills based curricula?
Defined Learning
I am supporting the development of online, asynchronous learning for educators who use Project Based Learning to embed skills development and measurement directly into their curriculum.
The modules are designed to help teachers understand both the what and the why of durable skills, and how those skills show up in classroom practice.
Each module includes:
- A clear definition of the skill and its real world relevance
- A self assessment that helps educators evaluate how effectively they cultivate the skill across three domains: classroom environment, active facilitation, and student agency
- Practical learning and assessment activities that allow teachers to apply and measure skill development in their own classrooms
This work focuses on helping educators intentionally design for skills, not as an add on, but as a core part of how learning happens.
New line of inquiry
This work has expanded my thinking about digital literacy beyond specific tools or platforms.
I am exploring questions such as:
- How can digital literacy be defined in ways that outlast current technologies?
- What is the relationship between durable skills development and digital literacy?
- How do concepts like personalization and algorithms shape how students search, collaborate, and use digital tools?
- How can students be empowered to understand how algorithms influence their experiences while working on collaborative projects?
- Which of these understandings matter most, and for how long?
Edjacent
My colleague Donna Spangler and I are collaborating with Roberta Trachtman, Founder and CEO of Allenwood Company, LLC, to explore how microcredentials might be used to rapidly upskill both educators and students in the use of AI.
This work focuses on learning directly from teachers and students to understand emerging best practices in this new landscape. We are examining how existing strengths and shortcomings in teaching and learning should inform decisions about when and how to adopt new tools, as well as when it may be appropriate not to use them.
Project status: this project is emergent and evolving. Insights are actively taking shape as the work unfolds. Stay tuned.
Education Design Lab
I am winding down two related projects with Education Design Lab that have been deeply inspiring. More to come from both.
Skills Assessment Landscape Analysis
This project examines the current skills assessment and validation landscape across the employment lifecycle. The analysis is designed to:
- Provide a comprehensive view of assessment and validation approaches and tools in use today
- Surface how key stakeholders experience and navigate this landscape
- Identify opportunities and recommendations to improve assessment and validation practices
The primary audience for this work is employers, with a focus on how insights can be applied to improve hiring and advancement processes.
We are partnering with the visual design firm Hiro to produce a final deliverable that brings the findings to life in a compelling and accessible way. As part of the research, I also had the opportunity to interview my friend and colleague Chef Kip Poole from The Crop Foundation.
Credentials, Evidence, and Durable Skills
In a parallel effort, we are collaborating with Getting Smart to connect insights from their whitepaper Expanding Access, Value, and Experiences Through Credentials, particularly the Full LER ecosystem, with Education Design Lab’s Toward a Leveled Durable Skills Competency Framework.
This early stage work explores the question:
- Which qualities and quantities of evidence are most useful to employers and to AI tools that extract skills from credentials?
We are developing a preliminary framework for weighting experiences based on evidence students collect from both formal experiences, such as internships, and informal experiences, such as jobs, clubs, and community involvement.
Project status: this work is in an early exploratory phase. Initial findings will be shared as they are published. Stay tuned.