Ted Dintersmith Launches Online Platform to Empower Educators to Transcend the Moment and Prepare Students for Life

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today filmmaker, author and philanthropist Ted Dintersmith launched What School Could Be, a new teacher- and student-centric platform created to support a student-led learning model. The launch, inspired by the unprecedented challenges schools are facing, aims to celebrate teachers and encourage a more modern, project-based approach to education as we know it.

"What School Could Be draws on best practices in the field, capturing them with vibrant video-based resources,' said Ted Dintersmith. "We trust teachers to lead the way. We believe in small confidence-building steps and offer this support in ways that make it easy to start, and lead to big transformational change."

The platform and resources are an extension of Dintersmith's 2018 acclaimed book of the same name which documents the author's nationwide trip to meet and hear from educators doing extraordinary things in ordinary settings. Housed online, What School Could Be serves as a change-model that aims to help school communities coalesce around bold, audacious learning while placing a spotlight on teacher-led and tested innovations. Designed for educators at every level, the platform features entry points and onramps that allow teachers to take small steps to incorporate their peers' innovations in their own classrooms.

"The What School Could Be platform is, hands down, the best resource I've seen for educators, parents, and community members who want to reimagine their schools," noted Tony Wagner, author and education expert.

The site's Innovation Playlist, a series of videos organized by focus areas called tracks, includes a series of short documentaries that spotlight teacher case studies; a comprehensive instructional guide by teachers to elevate student learning outcomes; and a new documentary, of the same name, that highlights how Hawaii schools are working to transform learning for their students. 

The content and guidance in the Innovation Playlist aim to achieve the following:

• Mobilize communities to build support and enthusiasm among colleagues and districts around innovations that help students succeed. 
• Promote student-driven learning.
• Address real world challenges teachers are facing as they navigate the pandemic and remote learning.
• Adopt authentic, personalized assessments that give students agency in their learning, goals and outcomes.
• Build a strong sense of community in classrooms and schools through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

To learn more about What School Could Be and to see the Innovation Playlist film log on to www.WhatSchoolCouldBe.org

Media Contact:
Deb Asrate
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SOURCE Ted Dintersmith