Public college districts throughout the nation are dealing with declining enrollment and shrinking budgets. This actuality is forcing district leaders to make troublesome selections about learn how to use restricted funds. It’s extra necessary than ever for these leaders to realize a strong understanding of what works.
When district leaders prioritize research-backed approaches of their faculties, they will direct their essential funds towards improvements that may enhance pupil outcomes. International studying alternatives allow them to see how different international locations method instructing and studying.
“You study extra about your personal system and ask higher questions by inspecting different programs which might be fully completely different,” mentioned Dr. Laura Jacob, superintendent of the California Space Faculty District in Coal Middle, Pennsylvania, and a member of the Digital Promise League of Revolutionary Colleges.
In 2024 and 2025, Jacob was amongst greater than 60 schooling leaders who took benefit of worldwide studying alternatives with Digital Promise, specializing in two well timed subjects: whole-child growth and the way forward for technology-enabled studying.
Held in Helsinki, Finland, in 2024, and Montevideo, Uruguay, in 2025, these worldwide research excursions are a part of a collaborative studying program. All through the 12- to 18-month engagement in an implementation cohort, schooling leaders acquire perspective on how different international locations handle key challenges. Additionally they discover ways to translate these insights into actionable methods for their very own districts, drawing from each other’s native contexts in addition to from the programs they expertise firsthand by way of the research excursions.
“The concepts that you simply get from these completely different international locations simply aid you accomplish that a lot better [locally],” famous Jacob.
One such concept got here from Helsinki, the place Jacob and her workforce realized in regards to the “Fox E-book,” a citywide environmental curriculum that teaches elementary college students about sustainability and learn how to resolve issues. The characters are based mostly on animals in Finland that the kids are acquainted with, like arctic foxes, moles and herring.
“It resonated with me a lot,” mentioned Jacob, particularly coming from an animal-loving, rural college neighborhood.
“So we created ‘The Goat E-book.’ It stands for Rising Our Consciousness Collectively,” she defined. Every story follows the Finnish Fox E-book examples, however the characters are native Pennsylvania animals, together with a goat like they’ve on campus. Jacob labored with grade-level groups and used AI instruments to develop the cartoon characters, construct the narratives and align to state requirements.
These classroom studying alternatives, coupled with cultural experiences that may solely come from being immersed in a world tradition, give district leaders a brand new perspective — one which they take again to their districts to handle real-world challenges and create sensible options.
Bringing a Finnish Entire-Little one Strategy to Connecticut
How can districts present educational in addition to social, emotional and bodily help when working with college students from vastly completely different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds?
This query drove Sandra Faioes, deputy superintendent for Norwalk Public Colleges, to hitch the Digital Promise Entire-Little one Improvement Implementation Cohort (Entire Little one IC). At Norwalk Public Colleges in Connecticut, the neighborhood is various and rising. They’re welcoming an rising variety of multilingual learners from world wide, whereas additionally supporting extra college students qualifying without spending a dime and reduced-price lunch.
Recognizing {that a} whole-child method was key to making sure each youngster in her district was well-supported and able to study and thrive, Faioes regarded overseas. Helsinki, Finland, is well-known for its complete method to schooling. Visiting these faculties supplied a possibility to study from an exemplary whole-child-centered academic mannequin with different like-minded friends.
“Everyone that is [in the Whole Child IC] has both tried one thing out, is within the course of of really constructing or enhancing these initiatives, or is looking for to study what different individuals are doing. It was nice to be with people who find themselves all striving towards the same purpose,” she mentioned.
Throughout the journey, Faioes was struck by how Finland constructed a tradition that prioritized outside play and exploration. At one college go to, she realized that college students spend two hours exterior earlier than starting problem- and project-based studying. After one other noon break outside, they returned for extra classroom work earlier than the tip of the day.
Again house in Connecticut, Faioes hosted knowledgeable growth session for elementary college educators on the evidence-backed deserves of play-based studying and learn how to combine these practices of their school rooms. The purpose was to indicate educators that small, research-based adjustments could make a significant influence.
“As a frontrunner, [international study tours] encourage you to need to push folks and attain for extra,” Faioes mentioned. “It evokes you to push the boundaries.”
Reworking Expertise in Colorado with Uruguay Insights
Merely seeing examples of world schooling programs and the way they work isn’t sufficient to evoke change at house. Options-oriented examples have to be put right into a real-world context, recognizing the complexities of varied schooling ecosystems and contexts. By pairing these genuine examples with on-the-ground consultants, resembling leaders from schooling organizations and edtech corporations, district leaders can craft an motion plan to carry these adjustments again stateside.
As a longtime edtech innovator and former district chief in Denver, Colorado, Kellie Ady, senior director of schooling technique and studying innovation at PowerSchool, joined the research tour in Montevideo, Uruguay.
In Uruguay, the research group noticed firsthand how the nation constructed and supported its nationwide efforts towards offering equitable entry to digital studying inside and outdoors of the classroom. They realized how trainer coaching classes leverage expertise in rural and concrete school rooms. They visited college websites, related with students and schooling leaders and noticed education schemes that incorporate AI and rising applied sciences throughout the nation.
“It’s really easy to get caught in your personal context and solely understand how you do issues. A possibility like this to not solely step out of your personal context, however step out of your personal nation context and study from any person else, after which have a community of individuals you are additionally studying alongside — it’s onerous to quantify what an incredible expertise that’s,” Ady mentioned.
Highly effective studying can not occur in a silo. When district leaders are supplied alternatives to collaborate and widen their horizons by way of world studying alternatives, they will establish new and progressive academic approaches that they will take again to their house districts.
This yr, particularly, district leaders should make good, research-backed selections on learn how to spend their dwindling district budgets. Collaboration is essential to creating such selections. And, fortunately, district leaders don’t need to go it alone.
Keep updated on future worldwide studying alternatives with Digital Promise’s League of Revolutionary Colleges.
