What is EL Education?
EL Education was founded in 1991, born out of a collaboration between The Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA. What started as a concept has grown into a movement. Our mission, now as then, is to create classrooms where teachers can fulfill their highest aspirations and students achieve more than they think possible, becoming active contributors to building a better world.
Three Dimensions of Student Achievement
We believe that, when students enter adult life, they will be celebrated not for their performance on basic skills tests, but rather for the quality of their work and their character. That’s why EL Education builds students’ capacity for three dimensions of high achievement:
Character
Work to become effective learners: develop the mindsets and skills for success in college, career, and life (e.g., initiative, responsibility, perseverance, collaboration)
Work to become ethical people: treat others well and stand up for what is right (e.g., empathy, integrity, respect, compassion)
Contribute to a better world: put their learning to use to improve communities (e.g., citizenship, service)
Mastery of knowledge and skills
Demonstrate proficiency and deeper understanding: show mastery in a body of knowledge and skills within each discipline
Apply their learning: transfer knowledge and skills to novel, meaningful tasks
Think critically: analyze, evaluate, and synthesize complex ideas and consider multiple perspectives
Communicate clearly: write, speak, and present ideas effectively in a variety of media within and across disciplines
High quality work
Create complex work: demonstrate higher-order thinking, multiple perspectives and transfer of understanding
Demonstrate craftsmanship: create work that is accurate and beautiful in conception and execution
Create authentic work: demonstrate original thinking and voice, connect to real-world issues and formats, and when possible, create work that is meaningful to the community beyond the school