Create Systemic Change
Develop a system-wide approach for Project Based Learning in your district that strengthens the capacity of leaders, teachers, and staff to promote high-quality, sustainable implementation.
Create Systemic Change
Develop a system-wide approach for Project Based Learning in your district that strengthens the capacity of leaders, teachers, and staff to promote high-quality, sustainable implementation.
What is District Partnership?
PBLWorks partners with a select number of districts to support system-wide implementation of high-quality Project Based Learning. Through a multi-year partnership, we work alongside district leaders to launch, support, and sustain PBL by building capacity within people and establishing the systems and conditions necessary to successfully integrate PBL into existing district systems and ultimately ensure every student has access to at least two high quality projects a year.
District Partnership includes support to:
- Build the capacity of your school and district leaders to support a system-wide approach to high-quality PBL
- Develop a clear vision and purpose for PBL
- Bring coherence by articulating how PBL aligns with other priorities and initiatives
- Create the conditions and build teacher capacity to implement high-quality projects
- Develop the culture across your district to support PBL
- Align and operationalize the durable skills named in your state or districts Portraits.
- Reflect and refine to engage in continuous improvement
Your partnership is facilitated by a Director of District & School Leadership from PBLWorks – and supported by a hand-selected team of our expert Lead National Faculty members.
What District Partnership Looks Like In Practice
Every one of our District Partnerships looks a little bit different because every district has unique goals and challenges. We structure our work around your goals.
Visioning Workshop & Implementation Lab
- A Visioning Workshop facilitates a process naming a districts' vision for PBL and supports aligning with existing priorities in service of sustainability.
- The Implementation Lab allows leaders to develop a deep understanding of current conditions and create an action plan to bring PBL to every school and student in a systematic way.
- Ongoing stewardship: quarterly calls, data reviews, and classroom walkthroughs to reflect on progress and revise and refine.
Leader Launch & Ongoing Team Coaching
- Each school's PBL Leadership Team — principal, assistant principals, coaches, lead teachers — enters in cohorts based on readiness.
- A two-day Leader Launch unpacks the district PBL vision, assesses conditions, and builds a school plan aligned to the Portrait of a Graduate, priorities, and readiness indicators.
- Cross-school Learning Walks and Coaching Sessions — covering topics such as PBL culture, infrastructure, and capacity building — follow, allowing leaders to see the work come to life in classrooms.
Foundational PBL Training & TEACH Resource
- As leaders build coherence, teachers begin building PBL capacity through cohort-based training aligned to your goals.
- Most districts choose the two-day Facilitate PBL or the three-day Design PBL (formerly PBL 101), building teachers' skills to design rigorous, standards-aligned projects tied to your Portrait of a Graduate.
- Every teacher gets ready-to-use Gold Standard projects in TEACH, making PBL easier to scale district-wide.
The Benefits of District Partnership
PBLWorks District Partners Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism is complex, and there is no magic wand solution. However, it is meaningful that 20 of our 22 district partners saw a decrease in chronic absenteeism while working with us to implement Project Based Learning in their districts. The pattern is striking and consistent — 91% saw that kind of success, nor can it be random that 70% of those school districts saw greater decreases than their state average.
Read the report for more about what we're learning, and to hear from a few of the leaders involved.
Ready to get started?
Our suite of services for district partners is both comprehensive and contextualized. We support leaders and teachers through onsite & online professional learning, just-in-time support, and a dedicated district toolkit. From vision to prototyping to consistent implementation—we partner with you every step of the way, always in service of your students. To learn more, schedule a call.
What PBLWorks has given University Prep Schools is not just a framework or a set of tools. They have transformed our teachers, our leaders, and our system in ways that will outlast any single school year or initiative.