Critical Skills Institutes

Explore problem-based, experiential, collaborative, and standards-driven learning

A Critical Skills Institute is truly an immersion into a Critical Skills Classroom. Under the guidance and leadership of Master Teachers, participating educators experience all dimensions of the model firsthand.

In the Institutes, educators explore problem-based, experiential, collaborative, and standards-driven learning. Over five days, they examine how these methodologies can be successfully integrated, focusing on the role of the teacher in designing curriculum, guiding students, and assessing performance. Participants develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to build and maintain a dynamic and responsive classroom.

Critical Skills Institutes are offered in four ways: at your site during the summer or during the school year, through enrollment in the 3-credit Critical Skills Immersion held in July at our Keene, New Hampshire Campus, or at our partner site, The Teacher Center at Riverside. School-based Institutes are typically arranged by a single school or district. They are supported throughout the year by online and/or face-to-face coaching by our master teachers and ideally through the internal support of professional learning communities or on-site study groups. We also offer Institutes during the school year, utilizing the existing in-service days scheduled by the district or school and supported by additional coaching between sessions. Finally, individual educators are welcome to enroll in our Critical Skills Immersion as either a first foray into the model or as a way of “catching up” with colleagues in already implementing schools.

See our News and Events page to register or learn more about locations, dates, and costs.

The Institute

In the Institutes, educators explore problem-based, experiential, collaborative, standards-driven learning. They examine how these methodologies can be successfully integrated, focusing on the role of the teacher in designing curriculum, guiding students, and assessing performance. Participants develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to build and maintain dynamic and responsive classroom exhibitions of learning.

Institutes examine strategies for:

• developing the classroom as a collaborative, problem-solving community
• using the experiential learning cycle to support student learning
• setting and maintaining criteria for quality work
• targeting Critical Skills alongside the curriculum
• turning curriculum into different types of problems to solve that provide a meaningful context for learning
• using simple performance-based assessment tools
• planning and structuring student exhibitions of learning
• guiding student reflection and debriefing processes

Workshops & Classroom Consultations

In addition to setting up a Critical Skills Institute, the ACSR can arrange information sessions, half-day or full-day workshops, and consultations for schools and districts on varying components of the Critical Skills Classroom model. Sample topics can include:

• Competency-Based Teaching and Learning
• Real-World Learning in the Classroom
• Meeting Academic Standards through Critical Skills
• Introduction to the Critical Skills Classroom
• Creating Collaborative Classroom Communities
• Introduction to Problem-Based Learning
• Community Building for Teachers and Students
• Setting Quality Standards for Student Work
• The Experiential Learning Cycle
• Problem-Based Service Learning
• Critical Skills and the Primary Classroom

Master Teacher Training

The title “Critical Skills Master Teacher” is earned through a rigorous process of implementation, reflection, and observation. An individual who has gained this status is imbued with the authority to train others in the use of the Critical Skills Classroom and to participate in the leadership community continued development of the model. Master Teachers are typically selected from Institute participants based upon their enthusiasm and their work in implementing Critical Skills in their own classrooms.

Master Teachers:

1. are active contributors to the Master Teacher community, participating in the ongoing evolution of the Critical Skills Classroom model and the Critical Skills Institute;
2. develop an advanced understanding of the CSC model leading to advanced application in participant’s classrooms/ work;
3. gain theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in working with adult learners;
4. appropriately utilize new technological tools in advancing the outcomes of Critical Skills Classrooms and Institutes/ Coaching.
5. craft and publish interconnected, coherent units of study driven by essential questions, specific curricular frameworks, and broad interdisciplinary perspectives

Master Teacher Training is scheduled annually.  Contact us to learn how to apply

What Past Participants Had to Say

• This was fantastic! I learned so much.
• Wonderful, enthusiastic engaging instructors.
• This institute taught me how to incorporate the skills of the Critical Skills classroom into my own classroom.
• I appreciated the way you were able to build community immediately- first day- was astounding and inspirational. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about how to use this model in my classroom. I’m forever indebted to you.
• A terrific marriage of content and experience!
• Loved it! I feel as though my kids will love it and really bring out the mystery wonder and discovery in science!
• I liked how they modeled the model through our activities. I learned so much in such a short time!
• I feel ready to do this.