The Learning Vault: Resources from High Tech High

High Tech High [1], a charter-school-development organization that runs eight schools in and around the San Diego area, has won accolades for its project-learning approach and the way it tightly connects the classroom with the real world. Its schools, which span grades K-12, also strive to integrate subjects, and they challenge students to present their work publicly.

High Tech High makes a wealth of videos, lessons, teacher and student portfolios, and other resources available online. Here are some places to start investigating:

High Tech High Digital Commons [1]
Provides examples of featured student and staff portfolios as well as video clips.

Seven Successful PBL Projects [2]
Offers detailed descriptions of activities and assessments, plus rubrics you can download. This is a good entry point for exploring High Tech High's project resources.

Projects [3]
More than sixty-five projects -- covering a range of grade levels and subject areas -- you can adapt for your own use.

UnBoxed: A Journal of Adult Learning in Schools [4]
Published by the High Tech High Graduate School of Education; offers reflections on purpose, practice, and policy in education.

High Tech High Graduate School of Education [5]
Established in September 2007 at San Diego's High Tech High village of schools, it offers a master's degree in education in two concentrations: school leadership and teacher leadership.

Professional-development residencies and institutes [6]
Open to interested educators.

"Integrated Units: A Planning Guide for Teachers [7]"
An eighteen-page resource for educators on creating cross-disciplinary teaching units (PDF download, 116 KB).

Diane Demée-Benoit is a former online consulting editor for Edutopia.org.
Grace Rubenstein is a senior producer at Edutopia.