In 1995, Big Picture Learning burst upon America’s languishing public education system. This brainchild of two daring educators, Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor, has grabbed the hearts, hands and minds of young people, inspiring them to become: Lifelong learners. Productive workers. Engaged human beings.
Take a look at what we do Working with educators, philanthro-
pists and public officials, we adapt our innovative school design
to fit specific school districts and communities. However, we do
not own schools or manage charter schools.
In America, all of our schools are either public or public char-
ter schools. We already have more than 55 schools across 14 states,
(including some of America’s largest cities, where entire school
districts are in danger of failing). Around the globe, we work with
schools in Australia, the Netherlands, Israel and Canada.
We are a non-profit and our mission is “the educa-
tion of a nation, one student at a time.” We focus on per-
sonalizing each invidual student’s learning experience
within a community of fellow-learners. We are living proof
that all young people, including (and especially) our under-served
urban students, can succeed in high school, college, and a wide
variety of post-secondary pathways. We make it happen by stick-
ing to three basic principles: 1) Learning must be based on each “That’s why we’ll follow the example of places like the Met Center [a Big Picture Learning school] 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.”
- President Barack Obama
student’s interests and needs. 2) Curriculum must be relevant to
the student and allow them to do real work in the real world. 3)
Students’ growth and abilities must be measured by the quality
of their work and how it changes them.
Every day, we strive to form deep ties that connect students,
teachers or advisors, parents, mentors, and their entire com-
munity. We also devote extra time and energy to helping in-
sure that our students are prepared to succeed in college
or other post-secondary learning paths and careers. This
is why Big Picture Learning works. All across America our
high-school on-time graduation rate is 87% (versus a 74.7%%*
in traditional high-schools nationally). In Big Picture Learn-
ing established schools over 95% of our graduates are accepted
into college. But those percentages only hint at the dramatic
difference Big Picture Learning makes. Big Picture Learning con-
sults with educators, families and communities in order to share
our successes. We seek to engage in a wide variety of contexts in
order to influence public policy and effect change at scale.
A Poignant Reminder
This student throwing
off a shower of welding
sparks is Dierdre Jones.
She’s our youngest Senior,
immersed in her real-world
assignment. Here’s the
story behind her welding.
After her father died in
prison, and her boyfriend
was shot to death,
Dierdre was desperate to
evoke the ripple-effect of
street crimes on the sur-
vivors. Instead of a formal
memorial, she utilizes the
power of mundane pos-
sessions left behind at the
scene. A pair of sneakers.
A child’s mitten. An un-
used bus pass. A bloodied
T-shirt. Everyday objects
suddenly charged with
emotion. But how
to display them? The
answer became her gradu-
ation project.
With support from
her Advisor, Chantel
Wyllie, Dierdre designed
a metal cart that could
wheel the mementos
from site to site. To build
it, she chose herself.
Guided by (cont.)
* SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2013
The Challenge for Education Today America longs for dynamic
new schools that will shake up our failing school system. Today’s
classrooms and districts barely differ from classrooms and dis-
tricts from 1910. They’re stuck in the past with predictable results.
For every 100 students entering American public high schools in
9th grade, only 75 graduate. 60 of these begin college, but only 30
earn a certificate or degree within 6 years. These percentages are
substantially worse for students from lower socioeconomic lev-
els, and for students of color; the gap in educational attainment is
wide, and growing ever wider.
This crisis was dramatized in 1983 when A Nation At Risk
(published by American President Ronald Reagan’s National
Commission on Excellence in Education) sounded a dire warn-
ing call. Education experts launched a full-court press to develop
academic standards and tests to measure student progress. Billions
and billions were spent to meet lofty goals by the year 2000. (Not
a single one of these goals has yet been reached.)
her Mentor, welder
Meredith Younger,
she picked out her
metals, cut them
to her own pattern,
then, learning as she
went, mastered the
challenging art of
welding. When her
cart was completed,
she installed the
mementos, and
presented it to faculty
and fellow-students.
After her graduation,
Dierdre, a member of
the Institute for Non-
Violence displayed
it at conflict
mediations and
events throughout
Providence.
“Big Picture Learning is a perfect example of a heavyweight team that has
redefined — indeed, revolutionized — schooling. By bringing students and
their interests to the forefront, Big Picture Learning is a model of student-
centered learning, which is key to intrinsically motivating students to
provide them with the education they deserve.”
Clayton M. Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of Disrupting Class.
Pick a table. Any table. Can’t you almost hear the opinions, the banter, the
sheer engagement of these kids? This is a gathering of minds, both young
and old. Respect and equality exists between students and adults, among
students, and among adults. Students are encouraged to take a leadership
role in the school and student voice is valued in decision making processes.
Our schools strive to create a respectful, diverse, creative, exciting, and
reflective environment. This is what we call school culture.
America longs for new schools to excite and inspire its chil-
dren to thrive and bloom in this new century. Big Picture Learning
satisfies this longing.
The Innovation Imperative Compared to the conventional
thinking of regular schools, Big Picture Learning seems radical.
But these examples show how our schools motivate and trans-
form students, educators, families and communities. The unique
approach that we take to learning and teaching appeals to people
because it resonates deeply with the way that they have learned
what is most important to them. We allow the curriculum to rise
from the student and make it real, out in the real world. This is the
’disruptive innovation’ we delight in bringing to public education.
Our students form small groups (called an Advisory),
with a teacher (called an Advisor) who guides the same group all
through high school. Each student also has an adult Mentor
outside of school. The parent or adult advocate of each student
is also actively enlisted as still another resource to support
the student and engage in the school community.
All students help create their own curriculum, a personal
one that reflects and expands their own interests and aspira-
tions. Each week students spend many hours at an off-campus
internship generated from each student’s interest; real life train-
ing in real-world work. It could be in a law office, design studio,
research lab, bank, hospital...it could be anywhere. Big Picture
Learning students also tackle college courses. Every quarter they
exhibit their work to their advisor, peers, parents, mentors and
the community.
Birth of an Entrepreneur
Daryl Hall is the student
in this photo, but nobody
calls him ‘Daryl’. He is
‘DJ’, and here’s his story.
DJ’s is a familiar tale
bedeviling lots of kids in
middle school. Monumen-
tally bored and totally
unconnected to curricu-
lum or faculty, DJ’s
quandary was two-sided:
He toyed with dropping
out, yet yearned to go to
college. Then, one
fine day, kicked out of
class once again, a fellow
student tipped him off
to The Met, a Big Picture
Learning school where
‘you study what you want
to study’. From the day
DJ entered The Met,
things started looking up.
After he landed his first
internship: Creating
street murals and doing
silk screening, that’s
when he discovered his
flair for business. Galva-
nized, he jumped into The
Met’s entrepreneurial
program, E360, run by a
local business dynamo.
He soaked up everything
the program offered, and
did extra research on his
own. DJ’s work was so
impressive that he was
asked to become CEO
of a new product launch
— Big Picture Soda.
Bristling with ideas, he
and a classmate drew
up a business plan, then
hired students to (cont.)
Evidence of Success Big Picture Learning schools consis-
tently outperform regular schools, yet they cost no more, because
we achieve our superior performance with no added financial or
human resources. But don’t take our word for it. On page 23 of this
brochure you can see the results of Big Picture Learning schools
in contrast to regular schools in major cities across the country. In
Providence, Rhode Island, fully 10% of all public high school stu-
dents now go to Big Picture Learning schools. Our first set of small
schools, The Met, has been ranked Number One on the Rhode Is-
land State Assessment of Learning for school climate, parental in-
volvement, instruction and safe and supportive environments.
College Unbound Fall 2009 ushered in a new era for Big
Picture Learning when it expanded its focus to higher education,
launching a bachelor degree partnership program focused on meet-
ing the needs of 21st century adult learners, their communities,
and their workplaces. College Unbound is a “life-to-text” model,
a design that puts students in the driver’s seat of their educational
journey. Students begin their studies focused not on which course
they need to take, but instead on questions and ideas that are im-
portant to them. They then ground these purposes for learning
within the actual problems and questions facing their community
and career or interest. College Unbound students’ work is highly
collaborative. As a means of building a professional and academic
network and providing the necessary support they need, students
meet regularly with their peers, academic liaisons, profession-
al mentors from their workplace, and other experts in the field.
College Unbound students work their plan by engaging with a
variety of online resources and discussions, participating in work-
fill sales and market-
ing slots. After
working out the kinks
with their E360
mentor, they present-
ed their plan to local
investors and busi-
nessmen. Bingo! They
raised $10,000 to
launch Big Picture
Soda, and in six short
months, landed Whole
Foods and 20 other
Rhode Island stores to
distribute the new
drink. Their growing
profits support
The Met’s Dollars-for-
Scholars project,
including $2000 for
the scholarship
program. PS: DJ was
invited by a number of
HBCUs (Historic Black
Colleges and Universi-
ties) to visit their
campuses, DJ fell
in love with Howard
University, was
accepted, majoring
in (what else?)
Business Management.
place learning experiences, conducting individualized research,
and designing and completing high-interest projects through
which they demonstrate high levels of competence in:
Applied Knowledge, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving,
Communication, Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity,
Reflection, Resilience and Advocacy for Self and Others
A New Life, Backstage
With hip-hop rocking
from his earphones, Daniel
Ledesma sped on his
skateboard to his first day
at our Big Picture Learning
school in Providence.
He brought with him two
mind-sets: a) He has an
interest in design. b) He
has a passion for design-
ing roller coasters.
Our extended face-to-face
interview with Daniel
brought out these goals
and interests, and he
seemed a likely candidate
to pursue an opening at
a theater. But Daniel had a
theory that theater design
was not for real men.
His theory soon was chal-
langed by a local outfit,
Rites & Reason Theater. A
bit skeptical, but always
ready to try something new,
Daniel jumped into the
action feet first. Guided by
Alonso Jones, who is the
Technical Director at Rites
& Reason, and who
became his mentor, Daniel
delighted in learning the
use of one power tool after
another, and mastering
several precise measuring
devices. From day-to-day,
he absorbed lessons in
setting up stage lighting,
even taking responsibility
for running the complex
lighting board during a
performance. More
importantly, Daniel learned
the value of working with
others, and how teamwork
can meet and conquer
daily problems in design
and production. (cont.)
A striking memento of
his Rites & Reason
experience is the
3-Dimensional scale
model he created of the
set. These days, Daniel
Ledesma feels right at
home at his Big Picture
Learning school. He likes
the way it keeps his
brain (and hands) busy,
and keeps his work ethic
as strong as his stellar
attendance record.
Daniel is also achieving a
deeper learning compen-
tacy – developing an
academic mindset. He is
developing a positive
attitude and belief about
himself as a learner that
increases his academic
perseverance and
prompts him to engage
in productive academic
behaviors. Students like
Daniel are committed to
seeing work through to
completion, meeting
their goals, doing quality
work, and thus searching
for solutions to overcome
obstacles.
Back-to-School. Happily.
The hand with the worm,
on the left, belongs to
Brandon Jantuah, on the
right. His love of agricul-
ture, is a recent develop-
ment, because for years,
Brandon totally removed
himself from school. Until
Big Picture Learning got
him hooked, by letting
him dig into his own in-
terests. Now Brandon says
the relationship he formed
with his mentor has recon-
nected him to his goal of
graduating high school.
Here’s why it works:
1) The Advisor works with each individual
student in the class to help them discover what
interests and motivates them. 2) The Mentor, a
lawyer, engineer, small business owner, etc.,
guides each student’s internship. 3) The Parent
is actively enlisted as a resource to the Big
Picture Learning community. 4) The Student
(and his fellow students) interact to reinforce
each other’s passion for real work in the real
world. The result is a self-teaching community
of learners where no one feels left-out, and each
helps motivate the other.
The Big Picture Learning Design
Mentor
Students
Parents& Family
Advisor
Big Picture Learning
Local School District
State
Graduation rate 100% 49% 87%
English language arts proficiency 71% 51% 90%
Math proficiency 28% 18% 75%
Graduation rate 85% 60% 79%
English language arts proficiency 42% 35% 54%
Math proficiency 46% 35% 53%
Graduation rate 73% 65% 77%
English language arts proficiency 66% 56% 76%
Math proficiency 25% 11% 33%
Big Picture LearningHigh School Data Comparisons
Met East, CAMDEN, NJ
Met West, OAKLAND, CA
The MetPROVIDENCE, RI
Big Picture Learning
Local School District
State
Graduation rate 98% 87% 79%
English language arts proficiency 71% 54% 54%
Math proficiency 78% 57% 53%
Graduation rate 81% 80% 79%
English language arts proficiency 59% 51% 54%
Math proficiency 53% 55% 53%
Graduation rate 78% 66% 77%
English language arts proficiency 72% 72% 79%
Math proficiency 36% 32% 42%
Graduation rate 94% 78% 87%
English language arts proficiency 66% 49% 61%
Math proficiency 32% 17% 33%
SD MetSAN DIEGO, CA
Met Sac, SACRAMENTO, CA
HighlineSEATTLE, WA
BPL HighNASHVILLE, TN
Drawn from publicly available state government websites and data collection agencies
BPL hired MPR
Associates to conduct
a study of graduates
from three Big Picture
Learning High
Schools—MetWest
(Oakland), Met
Sacramento, and San
Diego Met—to
determine what life
paths graduates
pursued after high
school and how well
their high school
experiences prepared
them for college and
career. Survey data
were collected from
January through May,
2012, from students
who graduated
between 2006 and
2010. Data from the
National Student
Clearinghouse (NSC)
was used to augment
the survey data with
additional information
about college out-
comes.
Highlights from the
study include the
following findings
detailed on the right.
100%personalized learning plans
for every student
100%of students
are in advisories
100%of students engage in real-world learning
100%of students engage inproject-based learning
After Graduation
• 74%ofBigPictureLearninggraduatesenrolledincollegewithin the first year after graduating from high school
• 44%ofgraduatesenrolledinfour-yearcollegeswithinone year of graduating
• Onaverage,freshmen-to-sophomorepersistence was 87%
• 74%ofrespondentswhoareworkingandnotinschoolreported securing a job through a high school internship contact
• 47%ofrespondentsreportedthattheycurrentlyperformcommunity service
• Theopportunitytoworkwithadultsatinternshipsitesand the opportunity to build self-confidence through work-based learning and other activities were cited as the most important aspects of the Big Picture model in terms of contributing to success in life after high school.
100% of studentsare mentored by experts
in their field of interest
100% of studentsdiscover and pursue theirinterests and passions
Gratifying Growth
Asian2%African American
36%
Native American7%
White31%
Other/Mixed1%
Latino23%
Our US Network in Numbers
OUR SCHOOLS Total of Current Students Served: 9000
Total Current States Served : 16Total Current Cities Served: 36College Unbound Programs: 3
Since 1996 Total Students Served: 26,000District Schools: 75% Charter Schools: 25%
Our Students in the US BPL Network
67%
20%Special Education
Free/Reduced Lunch
THE NETHERLANDSAUSTRALIA CANADA ISRAEL
Since 1996Big Picture Learning has
served students intwenty-two states and established
schools internationally
Student as the Center of Learning
Small class size run by Advisor-Student-Parent-Mentor teams
Curriculum always relevant to the real world
Increases motivation
Teaches one student at a time
Small school learning environments
Parents an intimate part of the teaching
Students go into the real world to pursue projects
Works for many more
Our on-time graduation rate 87%
Top-Down Teaching
Large class size with teacher as center, students as audience
Curriculum taught from textbooks
Inhibits motivation
Teaches entire class as a single group
Many high schools have over 2,000 students
Parents only occasionally involved
All teaching happens in classroom
Works for many
On-time graduation rate* 75%*
Learning: The Conventional Way
Learning: The Big Picture Way
RegulaRSCHOOLS
* SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2013
What constitutes student success?
“Most would define it as good grades, great test scores, a high school diploma, and a pathway to postsecondary learning. While we do not argue with those indicators, our experience tells us they are inadequate. We prefer additional indicators from a wider perspective: obtaining enjoyable and productive work with good prospects for growth, raising a family, contributing to the community, and figuring out how to navigate life’s ups and downs.”
– Elliot Washor & Charles Mojkowski, Leaving to Learn
These are students of
the Met School,
where Big Picture
Learning transformed
education, first in
Providence, then in
Rhode Island, now
throughout America
and overseas.
BIG PICTURE LEARNING SChoolS, InnovatIon, InfluEnCE
the education of a nation, one student at a time.
Printed on Sappi LOE paper, fiber from certified forests, and made with renewable energy sources
lEaRn MoRE at WWW.BIGPICTURE.ORG
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