Collaborating for a new
education paradigm
Realign Education catalyzes the transformation of K-12 education to prepare students to lead purposeful lives, shape a strong democracy, and power a dynamic economy — by reshaping college admissions.
The challenge
An outdated K-12 model is sustained by college admissions’ reliance on narrow metrics.
The dominant model of K-12 education in the United States disengages students and dulls their natural curiosity, leaving most unprepared to lead fulfilled lives, participate in civic life, and find security in a continually evolving economy.
High school emphasizes memorization at the expense of deeper learning, limiting students’ development of competencies essential for human flourishing, active citizenship, and living-wage careers.
Meanwhile, college admissions unwittingly sustains the outdated K-12 status quo by prioritizing narrow metrics over holistic evaluation. Even colleges claiming “holistic admissions” fail to implement meaningful holistic evaluation due to cost and logistical barriers.
The opportunity
Join in a broad realignment of K-12 education to improve the chances of all Americans to thrive.
Realign Education aims to galvanize a movement in partnership with the K-16 ecosystem to challenge the dominant model of K-12 education in the United States, which has long failed to meet the evolving needs and aspirations of our children and nation.
Our current focus is on reshaping college admissions, recognizing its outsized influence over K-12 education.
By leveraging this influence, we seek to catalyze a broader realignment of K-12 that will nurture human flourishing, strengthen democracy, and energize the economy — enabling a thriving society accessible to all Americans.
Learner-centered principles
More and more education leaders point to a learner-centered education model as essential for students — and for America’s future.
In an era marked by rapid technological change, shifting global dynamics, and mounting challenges, the need to realign America’s approach to education has never been more urgent. Traditional educational models, often rigid and one-size-fits-all, are increasingly out of step with the needs of learners and the realities of a society in flux.
In response, we offer guiding principles for a Learner-Centered Education. These principles reflect a critical understanding: education must evolve to foster individual potential, adaptability, and lifelong learning for all children, while cultivating the shared capacity our nation needs to thrive. By aligning educational practices with these values, we aspire to cultivate environments where every learner can thrive, contribute to a healthy democracy, and power a thriving economy.
The following principles outline a path forward, inviting educators, policymakers, and communities to join in a collective effort to shape an education system that truly serves the needs and aspirations of all learners and our nation.
PRINCIPLES OF A LEARNER-CENTERED EDUCATION
Learner Agency
Learners are active participants in the design of their own educational journeys.
Personalized, Relevant, Contextualized Learning
Learning experiences are personalized to individual needs, interests, and challenges; and are relevant to and contextualized within the real world.
Essential Literacies
Learners develop literacies essential for thriving in the world as is and creating a world that could be.
Borderless Learning
Learning takes place in multiple settings, including outside of school.
Socially Embedded Learning
Learning takes place in the context of meaningful relationships with teachers, learners, and others.
Competency-Based Learning
Progress is measured by mastery of specific knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors according to the learners’ own timeframe.
PRINCIPLES OF A
LEARNER-CENTERED EDUCATION
Learner Agency
Learners are active participants in the design of their own educational journeys.
Personalized, Relevant, Contextualized Learning
Learning experiences are personalized to individual needs, interests, and challenges; and are relevant to and contextualized within the real world.
Essential Literacies
Learners develop literacies essential for thriving in the world as is and creating a world that could be.
Competency-Based Learning
Progress is measured by mastery of specific knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors according to the learners’ own timeframe.
Socially Embedded Learning
Learning takes place in the context of meaningful relationships with teachers, learners, and others.
Borderless Learning
Learning takes place in multiple settings, including outside of school.
Note: These principles draw very heavily on the language and insights of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Charles Fadel; Education Reimagined; and Google For Education.
Student competencies that matter to America
At its best, a learner-centered education develops the capacities students need across knowledge, skills, and mindsets in order to thrive in life, work, and citizenship.
The seven competencies listed below were distilled from a review of hundreds of “Portrait of a Graduate” frameworks from across the country. Strikingly consistent with one another, these portraits reveal a previously unrecognized national consensus on what our young people need to know and be able to do. They were then cross-walked with the Center for Curriculum Redesign’s Competencies Framework, which itself integrates insights from dozens of national and international frameworks. Together, they reflect what students need to thrive in life, contribute to a healthy democracy, and energize a vibrant economy.
COMPETENCIES NECESSARY FOR REAL-WORLD SUCCESS
Essential Knowledge Literacy
Knowledge needed in society
Collaboration & Leadership
Positively influencing oneself and others
Curiosity, Courage & Resilience
Exploration, risk-taking, self-discovery
Thinking
Creative, critical, quantitative, strategic
Civic Engagement
Active participation in democracy
Well-Being
Physical, mental, interpersonal
Communication
Creative, formal, interpersonal, quantitative
COMPETENCIES NECESSARY FOR REAL-WORLD SUCCESS
Essential Knowledge Literacy
Knowledge needed in society
Collaboration & Leadership
Positively influencing oneself and others
Curiosity, Courage & Resilience
Exploration, risk-taking, self-discovery
Thinking
Creative, critical, quantitative, strategic
Civic Engagement
Active participation in democracy
Well-Being
Physical, mental, interpersonal
Communication
Creative, formal, interpersonal, quantitative
Realigning K-12 education
Why target admissions?
College admissions has long functioned as a powerful tool for shaping American education.
In the early 1900s, it was used deliberately to standardize high school curricula across the country. That influence endures, but the admissions system itself has barely changed since then. Despite the enormous transformation of the last 125 years, colleges still rely on outdated signals of merit: GPA, test scores (even in test-optional schools), legacy course titles, and secretive notions of “fit.” While some selective institutions have moved toward holistic admissions, they rely on opaque, subjective, and expensive processes that can’t be scaled. Few colleges clearly articulate the competencies they value, leaving students and schools to guess what really matters.
As a result, K–12 schools continue to mold themselves around priorities that may have made sense a hundred years ago, rather than preparing students for the competencies they need today. In short, admissions is still doing what it was built to do ... but for the wrong century. Worse still, it has upheld privilege, fueling inequity, anxiety, and a culture of performance that rewards resources over readiness. Our work is to rebuild the system so that it drives the right changes in K–12 education: changes designed for a dynamic world and an uncertain future.
Our three-pronged approach
We plan to reshape undergraduate admissions at U.S. universities and colleges through three mutually reinforcing strategies: college cohort support, movement building, and AI platform development.
We support college cohorts by helping them:
STIMULATE K-12 EDUCATIONAL CHANGE THROUGH:
College
Cohort
Support
AI Platform
Development
Movement
Building
RESHAPING
COLLEGE
ADMISSIONS
Colleges
Anchor the movement
Inform the AI platform
The Movement
Accelerates AI development
Expands college cohorts
The AI Platform
Strengthens college cohorts
Inspires movement-building
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Clearly articulate to applicants the competencies they value (e.g., quantitative reasoning, collaboration)
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Accept multi-dimensional assessments beyond the SAT, ACT, and AP exams
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Architect processes that make truly holistic evaluations feasible
We build a movement through:
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Hosting cross-sector convenings (including youth, K-12, higher ed, industry, government, civic life, and wellness sectors) that center youth voices
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Speaking at conferences and on campuses
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Publishing thought leadership pieces
We develop an AI platform that:
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Helps K-12 students document their in-school and out-of-school learning experiences while also providing them with actionable feedback to strengthen their competencies (e.g., literacy, civic engagement, leadership)
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Provides college admissions officers with both quantitative and qualitative insights into applicants’ competencies
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Enables holistic admissions at scale
The AI Platform
Strengthens college cohorts
Inspires movement-building
Colleges
Anchor the movement
Inform the AI platform
The Movement
Accelerates AI development
Expands college cohorts
STIMULATE K-12 EDUCATIONAL CHANGE THROUGH:
College
Cohort
Support
AI Platform
Development
Movement
Building
RESHAPING COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
Reshaping college admissions
Collaborate with us
We welcome partnership from both institutions and individuals committed to realigning education for today’s learners and tomorrow’s world.
Students, educators, admissions officers, education administrators, industry professionals, policymakers, well-being advocates, and civic leaders all have a role to play in realigning college admissions and K–12 education. We are especially eager to work with partners who can:
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Share your perspectives on how education can better serve you and your peers
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Engage with us in rethinking your admissions process, or help bring other colleges into the work
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Co-host or speak at Realign Education convenings that center youth voices and cross-sector collaboration
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Share research, tools, or case studies that help shape the work
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Contribute insights from your field to help shape a more relevant, learner-centered education system
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Connect us with others working to improve how education serves students and society
Advance the work
Your support powers the systems change that our students and our nation need.
We welcome sponsorship, investment, or donations from institutional funders, individual donors, and corporate partners who believe it’s time to realign K–12 education with these urgent and shared needs.
Your support can help us:
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Convene leaders across sectors to chart a new path forward
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Expand our work with college cohorts ready to lead change
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Build the AI platform that will make holistic admissions scalable and equitable
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Amplify the voices of students, families, and educators in the movement
