Future Ready Learner Design Process

In 2023, the Readiness Institute at Penn State and Future Ready Schools^® launched the Future Ready Learner Design Process — a toolkit to guide school leaders in their planning process to innovate for better results for learners of all ages and backgrounds.  

This toolkit was created based on a growing need from educators around the country to challenge the traditional education system and better prepare students for the future. It encourages educators to work together through several interactive and customized activities to answer the critical question:

What are the essential skills, knowledge, characteristics, and dispositions that learners need to possess in order to be future ready?

This process leverages the various voices, talents, and values of each member of the team (teachers, administrators, learners, parents, community leaders, etc.) and through a four-step process, empowers them to collaboratively look, understand, and make their unique version of a Future Ready Learner that their school and district communities value and aspire to develop.

The Four Steps Include:

1. Radar Diagramming: Help individuals and teams plot items according to personal significance and value.
2. Dot Voting: Conduct a vote to reach a consensus about the key areas of focus moving forward.
3. Showcase Your Customized Future Ready Learner: Design a customized Future Ready Learner profile that represents the values and goals of your school and district communities.
4. Moving from Essentials to Action:
   • Action 1 — Future Ready Learner Ideastorm Matrix: Identify new practical and relevant essentials that intersect distinct categories through the utilization of the FRS framework.
   • Action 2 — Future Ready Why?, How?, and What? Matrix: Create an outline to build a shared understanding of essentials in an orderly manner.
   • Action 3 — Future Ready Headlines: Develop a shared vision of a Future Ready Learner success story.

This toolkit is available now. It can be used by school leaders to start workshopping with team members internally, or it can be facilitated through the Readiness Institute and Future Ready Schools.

Future Ready Learner Profile Overview