[vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” equal_height=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1629307206073{padding-bottom: 200px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1629269157200{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1725040562612{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]From: Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 10:04 AM
Subject: USC Center EDGE Announces Awardees of the Education Solutions Exchange
USC Center EDGE Announces Awardees
of the Education Solutions Exchange
Transformative international challenge solicited scalable strategies
to help districts, schools, and students coping with the pandemic
LOS ANGELES – The USC Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education (Center EDGE),
Andrew Nikou Foundation, and IDEO announced 56 selections, as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative to crowdsource solutions from educators, parents, and students to help schools navigate the many challenges they face returning this fall. These solutions, which came from across the world, will be featured on the Education Solutions Exchange — a public repository of ongoing, high-quality, achievable, and scalable ideas that can be implemented for free in schools as early as fall 2021.
Amidst the pandemic, entire education ecosystems have been upended locally, regionally, and globally. Fundamental defects and structural issues have been exposed and exacerbated by
COVID-19, whether it be on teaching and learning, equity, or social-emotional fronts.
“From the digital divide to the massive learning losses due to the pandemic, the education system is being confronted with a host of challenges on a scale not seen in modern history,” said Alan Arkatov, founding director of Center EDGE.
“The Education Solutions Exchange is an exciting outgrowth of what we learned early in the pandemic — that creative, relevant, and relatively simple solutions can bring a quantifiable voice to those on the frontlines of education, and can have impact in timely, effective, and efficient ways.”
In response to the historic challenges facing students, Center EDGE and its partners formed The Education (Re)Open this spring, an online challenge to prioritize the voices of key stakeholders, and solicit ideas from students, teachers, parents, and leaders from the public, independent and parochial school sectors, along with experts from across the globe. The Education (Re)Open not only solicited new ideas, but the submission of ideas that were working in classrooms, schools, or homes that could be effectively scaled across broader education ecosystems.
Through these partnerships and IDEO’s human centered design platform for The Education (Re)Open, the need for what started as a unique crowdsourcing opportunity for time-sensitive solutions has created a demand for a new type of education clearinghouse — the Education Solutions Exchange — that can provide high quality and implementable recommendations in simple and accessible ways.
The Education (Re)Open received hundreds of submissions from 42 states in the U.S. and 34 countries. After a vigorous two-month submission, vetting, coaching, refinement and judging process (more information can be found here), 56 solutions were identified to be part of the Education Solutions Exchange. Innovators whose solutions are featured on the site each received $1,000 for their participation and dedication to strengthening school communities.
Winning entries, chosen in part for their simplicity and ability to immediately impact students’ needs, include:
- Mental Health Check In: A simple, low-cost, easily implementable system for students
to communicate their emotional wellbeing and give teachers insight into how the class is
feeling overall, and in particular to students who may need extra support.
- The 3 M’s: Media, Middle School, Mindfulness: A curriculum that teaches students to
become more discerning with information seen on the internet, and to determine if it’s
coming from a trustworthy source, which is especially critical in light of the disinformation
surrounding the pandemic and vaccines.
- Core Values in the Community: A program designed to reward students who
demonstrate the values of Gratitude, Responsibility, Integrity, and Tenacity, and are given
“GRITcoin” that can later be spent on things like raffles and pop-up shops at their
schools. The program recognizes that students are anxious about returning to school,
and yet they can be inspired to turn those feelings into something positive.
- A Trusted Space: a free, cutting-edge, research-based film and curriculum for
educators on how to help mitigate the effects of the grief, trauma, anxiety, and other
emotional stressors that so many students are facing.
“The L.A. County Office of Education and the Greater L.A. Education Foundation are excited
about crowdsourcing innovative solutions from those that know education best — our educators,
parents, and students,” said Dr. Debra Duardo, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools.
“We’re looking forward to working with our 80 superintendents and other district leaders
throughout the country to give a real voice to our stakeholders, by curating and implementing
selections from the Solutions Exchange that can improve teaching and learning outcomes.”
Lead funding and strategic support was provided by the Andrew Nikou Foundation with
additional support provided by Great Public Schools Now, Joseph Drown Foundation, The
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Annenberg Learner, the Johnny Carson Foundation,
Shmoop, Eva Stern, the Khayami Foundation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
To see all 56 selected solutions and learn more about the mission and future of this project, visit
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About USC Rossier School of Education Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education
(Center EDGE)
Center EDGE fuels interdisciplinary collaboration to bring high quality, sustainable innovation to
scale in the crucial area of educational engagement—the activities and techniques used to
pique and grow student interests and motivation to learn both within and beyond the traditional
school day.
About Andrew Nikou Foundation
Driven by core values of connection, collaboration, and scale, the Andrew Nikou Foundation
serves as a resource for big ideas that can improve the lives of people who are disconnected,
oppressed, and left-behind. A network of partnerships with diverse experts inform ANF’s
approach to social inclusion, education innovation and financial inclusion.
About IDEO
IDEO is a global design firm creating positive impact through design. We are a community of
designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, teachers, and researchers. Early leaders of
human-centered design, we design for people first, always adapting to complex challenges. We
build to learn, and learn as we build—through inspiration, ideation, and implementation.
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To learn more about Let’s Speak Up and our award-winning educational programs and training, click here.
Refer to links below to learn more about the award process, participants, and solutions:
The Award announcement, process, people, and criteria
About the sponsors:
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About Andrew Nikou Foundation About – Andrew Nikou Foundation
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