Borderless Learning

Please join the Future of Learning Coalition to hear why the time is right for significant innovation, review some of our initiatives, and share our priorities for the future.

To support the development of high-quality Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences in middle and high schools across the state, EdSystems distilled the feedback received from pilot sites into best practices, lessons learned, and recommendations for policy and supports to help better inform the field.

In partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois State Board of Education, Education Systems Center at NIU created a Toolkit to provide guidance, tools, and frameworks to offer a Career Development Experience.

Explores resources developed through the Illinois State Board of Education's pilot program to develop Career Exploration and Career Development Experiences in middle and high schools.

The purpose of this extension is to explore Career Development Experiences and provide resources to address the needs of stakeholders outside of a traditional high school setting, including workforce development organizations, community-based organizations, and alternative high schools.

The Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network (I-WIN) is designed to help employers, educators, and students leverage innovative models for scaling high-quality work-based learning opportunities in school districts and community colleges across the State.

This playbook was developed by the Clayton Christensen Institute to help K–12 and postsecondary leadership and nonprofits that work with those institutions implement and adapt strategies, tools, and metrics that build and strengthen their students’ networks in support of their well-being and with the aim of expanding their postsecondary and career options.

The Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Act establishes a voluntary system for school districts to award college and career pathways endorsements on high school diplomas. Download the endorsement framework.

Download a one-page brief from Education Systems Center at NIU on HB3296, new legislation which advances the work laid out in the PWR Act by centering on two of its core components: the Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework and the College and Career Pathway Endorsements.

An article by LEAP Innovations CEO Phyllis Lockett describing the ways new learning technologies can broaden student pathways and skill-building.

This article in Forbes by LEAP CEO Phyllis Lockett underscores how today’s students will need human skills, hard skills, an ability to integrate them, and a capacity to keep learning more in order to thrive in the future of work. It features Lindblom Math and Science Academy and its “Colloquia” initiative.

On July 18, 2022, the Illinois WBL Innovation Network (I-WIN) focused on experiences along the work-based learning continuum in the business sector. Learn how District 214, along with their industry and school partners, supports and designs opportunities in their business pathway.

The LEAP Learning Framework is a research and evidence-based pedagogical framework for personalized learning. This guide includes research and example strategies for implementation that are focused on, led with, and demonstrated by the learner and are connected to career-relevant, real-world skills and opportunities.