What is United We Learn?
United We Learn is our vision for the future of public education in Kentucky. This vision builds around three central themes: creating a more vibrant experience for every student, encouraging innovation in our schools – especially when it comes to assessment, and creating a bold new future for Kentucky’s schools through collaboration with our communities.
Building on the strength and success of KDE initiatives to date, education stakeholders are working on ways to enrich student experiences in our schools and improve learning outcomes for all students. Our ideas will be bold and forward-thinking, motivated by our desire to give all children the equitable and engaging learning opportunities they need for success.
United We Learn means everyone in our Commonwealth – educators, families, and community and business leaders – working together to support our public schools in bringing about deep and authentic learning experiences for our students.
Why is United We Learn so Important?
Students across Kentucky are growing up in a globally interconnected world; a world that is accelerating in competitiveness and possibility. We know that while every student has the potential for success, learning opportunities and outcomes have been uneven. While many students and school districts are thriving, others are struggling – especially those in our traditionally underserved communities and groups.
Kentucky’s children will only realize their full potential if we can ensure high-quality learning experiences that meet the needs of all students.
How Will We Realize Our Vision?
Opportunities to engage communities and create deep and meaningful learning experiences for students abound in our Commonwealth. We call upon every district, school and community to aspire to the vision people from across the state imagined in United We Learn and help us bring about a bold new era of education in Kentucky.
How Does the Vision Become Reality?
- In the spring of 2021, Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass held a series of 13 virtual town halls to hear from Kentuckians about what is and isn’t working in education for them and their families.
- The Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education – a diverse group of more than 50 stakeholders from across the Commonwealth – was formed in June 2021 to dig into the information from the town halls and do more empathy interviewing to create a report on this new vision for education called United We Learn: Hearing Kentucky’s Voices on the Future of Education.
- KDE is developing a new strategic plan to move initiatives and innovations from ideas into action.
- Local Laboratories of Learning (L3s) are districts that are engaging in a collaborative improvement process in their communities that mimics the work done by the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education. Some are already piloting new assessment processes and ideas to reimagine the student experience through equitable and deeper learning opportunities. There are three L3 cohorts:
- Cohort #1: Allen County, Fleming County, Frankfort Independent, Jefferson County, Johnson County, Logan County and Shelby County
- Cohort #2: Berea Independent, Boone County, Bullitt County, Corbin Independent, Greenup County and Lawrence County
- Cohort #3: Carter County, Floyd County, LaRue County, Rowan County, Warren County and Washington County