Obama Praises Democratic School

Posted in Education Policy on Mar 02, 2010 - 11:27 AM

In a speech yesterday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama pointed to the Met Center schools as a powerful model for engaging young people and providing them with personalized support and hands on career experience. The Met schools and their parent organization, Big Picture Learning, network over 70 schools throughout the United States and around the world. The schools provide largely lower income youth and youth of color with the respect and opportunity to be meaningfully involved in their own learning and to pursue their interests and dreams.

Since 1995 the Met schools have grown to be one of the most vibrant and powerful examples of democratic education and 21st century learning. It is profoundly encouraging that President Obama is looking to follow the Met schools model.

View the speech here, courtesy of MSNBC. The President mentions the Met Center around minute 11.

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And here is more from the Met Center's press release:

In a speech before the United States Chamber of Commerce unveiling a new nationwide drop out prevention campaign, President Obama recognized and praised the Met Center in Providence, RI and the Big Picture Learning design for effectively reducing the drop out rate and preparing students for 21st century careers through their personalized and authentic learning program.

President Obama singled out the Met Center in Providence, Rhode Island as an institution that offers the kind of individual instruction to students that is necessary in order to effectively target the drop out crisis in the United States. He said: “That(tm)s why we•€(tm)ll follow the example of places like the Met Center in Rhode Island that give students that individual attention, while also preparing them through real-world, hands-on training the possibility of succeeding in a career.”

The Met Center in Providence, RI is the flagship school of a quickly growing international network of Big Picture Learning schools. Presently, the Big Picture Learning design is being implemented in over seventy schools across eighteen states and has partnering schools in Australia, The Netherlands, and Israel. Big Picture Learning touts a highly-praised and innovative school design grounded in personalization and real-world learning opportunities that has been successfully implemented in grades K-12 with incredible results. This design is applicable and beneficial for all students, both at-risk, over-age, and/or under-credited as well as gifted and talented youth. Big Picture Learning is also a leading organization in the Association for High School Innovation (AHSI), a national network of youth development organizations.

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video, barack obama, met school

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