Shared Milestone
Design Experience 1
Overview
In Design Experience 1: Embracing the Challenge and the Work Ahead, your school design team will come together to lay a powerful foundation for the journey ahead. Guided by insights from the Educational Outcomes Audit and Analysis (EOAA) and School Readiness Assessment (SRA), you’ll gain a clear, data-informed picture of your school’s current state. You will connect these findings to the XQ Design Principles, consider present and future trends, and strengthen your commitment to transformation by anchoring your work in the XQ Learner Outcomes.
Through reflective conversations, your team will articulate a compelling
Case for Change that captures why this work matters for your community. By the end of Day B, you will walk away with a unified vision of where you stand, why transformation is needed now, and the steps you’ll take next—including plans to gather more input on your Case for Change and to embark on inspiration visits.
Outputs
- Draft Case for Change: A compelling summary of the current state and a bold vision for the future, grounded in insights from the EOAA, future trends, and your community. This tool helps build understanding and momentum for transformation by clearly stating why change is needed and what’s possible.
- XQ Design Principles and Learner Outcomes Reflection: Key takeaways about student experiences and outcomes, drawn from the EOAA, SRA, and team expertise. These insights ground the design journey in real needs and help spark belief in what’s possible.
- Community Engagement Plan:A draft plan outlining how the team will engage their broader community to both share insights and gather input. This includes sharing EOAA and SRA findings, learning more about the community’s hopes and experiences, and collecting feedback on the Case for Change to refine and strengthen it.
Goal
Build shared understanding of the current state, explore design foundations, and lay the foundation to shape a bold vision for change grounded in community, research, and the science of learning.
Owner(s)
Facilitation partner, district transformation team
Contributor(s)
School design team
Example Schedule
Day A
MORNING SESSIONS
Community Opening: Ground in the purpose and rhythm of the Design Journey and get to know who is in the room.
Why Must We Reimagine School?: Explore key trends shaping the future of learning and connect them to local realities.
Current State Insights: Analyze EOAA and SRA findings and surface key insights.
Break Time
AFTERNOON SESSIONS
XQ Learner Outcomes and Design Principles: Explore a broader vision of student success and the school design elements that come together to achieve it.
Science of Adolescent Learning: Consider lessons about how teenagers learn and what that means for high school.
Day B
MORNING SESSIONS
Case for Change: Draft the core elements of your team’s Case for Change through storytelling, reflection, and synthesis.
Community Engagement: Begin planning for how you will engage your community and prepare for inspiration visits.
Sharing Our Work: Present and receive feedback on your Case for Change and early community engagement plans.
Inspiration Visit Preview: Explore what to expect from your upcoming visits and how to approach them with the right mindsets.
Break Time
To move forward in the journey…
Note that to move forward, both schools and districts must have completed all the steps listed below. It is recommended that the district and school design teams check in to ensure that both have completed these steps.
All high schools must have completed the following steps:
The district must have completed the following steps:
Schools, the district, and the facilitation partner have gathered for Design Experience 1.