Facilitate Empathy Interviews and Focus Groups Tool

Our Empathy Interview and Focus Group Tool provides a comprehensive guide for conducting both one-on-one interviews and focus groups. It includes tips for building rapport, asking effective questions, and ensuring equity of voice. By using this resource, you’ll be able to uncover bright spots, key challenges, and surprising insights that can inform your planning for the upcoming school year.

We invite you to explore this tool and discover how it can help you create a more responsive, inclusive, and learner-centered environment.

Please complete the form below to access the resource.

Blog

Big Moves: How to Create a Strategic Plan That Leads to Real Change in Your District

One of the most inspiring aspects of working with school systems across the country is seeing how deeply educators care about their learners. In every community I visit, I encounter dedicated, well-intentioned people doing everything they can to help students succeed. Yet, too often, these efforts occur in isolation—teachers working within their classrooms, principals…

BlogImpact

Operationalizing the Vision in Escondido Union School District

See how Escondido USD is turning ideas into actions with student forums, a guiding coalition, and a Framework for the Future.

BlogImpact

Building Relational Trust: Our Journey with Lamont Elementary School District

Contributions from Catina Hancock, Learner-Centered Collaborative and Dr. Lori González, Lamont Elementary School District In California’s Central Valley, Lamont Elementary School District is redefining what’s possible in education. Serving over 3,000 students, many from low-income backgrounds and a high percentage of English Language Learners, Lamont faced unique challenges. But under Superintendent Dr. Lori Gonzalez’s…

BlogImpact

How Hawaiian Charter Schools Are Honoring Identity

Brought together by a shared vision to create a more expansive student transcript reflecting whole child learning, charter schools in Hawaii offer a glimpse into their process—from vision to implementation.

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Blog

What Learners Really Experience: Reflections from the LiftOff Design Sprint

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the LiftOff Design Sprint, where 75 leaders from education, technology, research, philanthropy, and civic sectors came together in Silicon Valley. Over three days, we worked in teams to rapidly prototype 10 innovative learning models designed to help young people build the habits, skills, and mindsets they…

Press

Learner-Centered Collaborative Launches Southern California Microschool Network with Support from Silicon Schools Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 9, 2026 Contact: Devin Vodicka & Katie Martin, Co-CEOs Learner-Centered Collaborative press@learnercentered.org Learner-Centered Collaborative Launches Southern California Microschool Network with Support from Silicon Schools Fund SAN DIEGO, CA — Learner-Centered Collaborative, a national nonprofit organization, is leading the launch of the Southern California Microschool Network, a groundbreaking regional initiative supporting…

Blog

Public Microschools as an On-Ramp to Systemic School Redesign

The idea of microschools is generating growing interest across the education landscape. They’re showing up more frequently in philanthropic conversations, conference sessions, and learner-centered education spaces as leaders look for new ways to respond to longstanding challenges and emerging opportunities. For school and district leaders, this rising interest can feel irrelevant to their local…