New America Announces a National Commission on Learning Ecosystems

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, New America is launching a National Commission on Learning Ecosystems to examine how local communities are overturning the status quo and helping families and students more easily connect to learning opportunities in and out of the school day.

With alarm rising over students’ academic struggles and their overall well-being, parents and educators across the country feel a fierce urgency to break old patterns and jumpstart more effective approaches to helping children and youth thrive. In many places, that work is already underway. Nonprofit organizations, educators, and school leaders are collaborating to redesign public education, building new infrastructure for connections in their communities across schools, libraries, museums, early learning centers, positive youth development programs, apprenticeship programs, and more.

The two-year commission is bringing together leaders of more than 15 national organizations and 12 regional ecosystems to share lessons and recommend policies for replication and scale-up. The regional ecosystems are rural, suburban, and urban examples of what is possible via partnerships between public schools and out-of-school-time organizations to provide active, meaningful learning experiences for children, youth, and families. The goal is to make an abundance of learning opportunities an expectation in all communities, instead of an exception only available to certain families in certain places.

“Building partnerships and learning from these community innovators on the ground, in communities big and small, is key to American renewal,” said Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America. “Children, youth, and families will be able to connect more meaningfully to what is available in their communities while gaining knowledge and skills they need to succeed in this complex, ever-changing world.”

With start-up funding from the Grable Foundation, New America will facilitate meetings and workshops with commission members. Much of the focus will be on sustainability, impact, and the most effective approaches for children and youth in low-income families and those too often left out of active, hands-on learning experiences, in and out of school.

“Learning happens everywhere,” said Lisa Guernsey, a senior director in New America’s Education & Work programs, which is convening the commission. “Decades of research from the science of learning show that young children and adolescents thrive by participating in activities and experiences that engage and motivate them. These opportunities should be readily available in school, at home, online, in libraries, in afterschool and summer initiatives, and in skills-focused programs throughout their communities. Kids should be surrounded by vibrant chances to learn and grow each day of their lives.”

Guernsey cited Remake Learning—a Pittsburgh-based network of nearly 1,000 schools, libraries, museums, universities, and creative industries—as proof of what’s possible. Since its founding in 2007, the network has emerged as one of the world’s foremost examples of a regional learning ecosystem, sparking fundamental shifts in how, where, and why learning happens. “Remake Learning has built a region-wide ‘neighborhood’ where learners can pursue the things that light them up: not only in classrooms, but also in life-sciences laboratories, flight simulators, Main Street business corridors, and beyond,” Guernsey said. “Our commission will explore how regions nationwide might strengthen and scale the kinds of learning opportunities that families need and every young person deserves.”

The commission was announced at Forge Futures, a national event developed in partnership between Remake Learning and the School Superintendents Association (AASA), the day before AASA’s annual National Conference on Education, in Nashville, Tenn. As we set up communities of practice for sharing insights, we welcome leaders from emerging and established learning ecosystems to join the conversation and the movement. We also welcome more funders and partners to help extend our reach and support the policy and practices that lead to scale-up. To learn more, see newamerica.org/ncle.

About New America: New America is a think-and-action tank dedicated to renewing the promise of America in an age of rapid technological and social change. Our work prioritizes care and family wellbeing, advances technology in the public interest, reimagines global cooperation, builds effective democracy, and ensures affordable and accessible education for all. Learn more at newamerica.org.