Expeditionary Learning Schools: A Comprehensive Overview

Introduction

Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS) represent a transformative approach to education, drawing inspiration from the educational philosophy of Kurt Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound. With a network spanning over 150 schools across 30 US states and the District of Columbia, ELS focuses on cultivating a learning environment that fosters academic excellence, character development, and high-quality work.

Core Principles of Expeditionary Learning

The Expeditionary Learning system is grounded in ten design principles, abstract and aspirational in nature, yet fundamental to the system's core. These principles, derived from the Outward Bound experience, guide all aspects of an Expeditionary Learning school, shaping everything from classroom arrangement to school evaluation. Learning is viewed as an expedition into the unknown, blending personal experience and intellectual growth to promote self-discovery and knowledge construction. Adults guide students on this journey with care, compassion, and respect for their diverse learning styles, backgrounds, and needs, believing that all individuals can and want to learn given fundamental levels of health, safety, and encouragement.

The ten design principles are further elaborated through specific educational guidelines known as "Core Practices," which provide practical direction for schools seeking to become Expeditionary Learning institutions.

The Primacy of Self-Discovery

Learning is most effective when intertwined with emotion, challenge, and appropriate support. Individuals uncover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities through adventurous and unexpected situations.

The Responsibility for Learning

Learning is both an individual journey of discovery and a collaborative social activity.

Empathy and Caring

A supportive community where students' and teachers' ideas are respected and mutual trust prevails fosters optimal learning.

Success and Failure

To build confidence and the ability to take risks and overcome challenges, all students need opportunities for success.

Collaboration and Competition

Expeditionary Learning schools integrate individual and group development, emphasizing the importance of friendship, trust, and collaborative action.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion enrich ideas, enhance creative power, improve problem-solving abilities, and promote respect for others.

The Natural World

Cultivating a direct and respectful relationship with the natural world revitalizes the human spirit and imparts important lessons about recurring cycles and cause and effect.

Solitude and Reflection

Students and teachers require time alone to explore their thoughts, make connections, and generate original ideas.

Service and Compassion

Acts of meaningful service to others strengthen both students and teachers.

Learning Expeditions: The Heart of the Curriculum

At the heart of Expeditionary Learning lies the concept of "learning expeditions" - in-depth studies of a single theme or topic. These expeditions are long-term, interdisciplinary projects designed to engage students in the world through authentic projects, fieldwork, and service. Unlike traditional field trips, learning expeditions are rigorous and purposeful, deeply connected to curriculum standards.

These teacher-designed studies extend learning beyond the classroom, enabling students to practice original research, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Learning Expeditions are directly tied to curriculum standards, and focus on developing literacy as well as persistence, leadership, and collaboration. Each expedition culminates in a celebration of student learning, where final products are shared with authentic audiences.

Key Components of Expeditionary Learning

Project-Based Learning

Students actively participate in project-based learning expeditions, engaging in interdisciplinary studies of compelling topics within their community. Assessment is ongoing and multifaceted, incorporating cumulative products, public presentations, and portfolios.

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Crew

Each student is part of a Crew, where teachers and students cultivate strong relationships and develop skills essential for success. Students learn best when they feel that someone knows and cares about them as individuals.

Student-Led Conferences (SLCs)

Twice a year, students lead conferences to share their goals and progress with their parents, marking a deliberate shift from traditional parent-teacher conferences. Student Led Conferences (SLCs) represent a deliberate shift from a traditional parent-teacher conference, where students are often not present and rarely play an active role. In contrast, SLCs place students at the center of their own learning, while recognizing that parents and teachers play active supporting roles.

Passages

Significant transitions, such as moving from 8th grade to high school or from 10th grade to the final years of high school, are recognized and celebrated through Passages. These formal presentations allow students to demonstrate their readiness to advance to the next level of their education. Students prepare portfolios, sharing examples of their work that demonstrate mastery of academic standards as well as development of habits of scholarship and student self-assessment.

Service Learning

Projects that provide service of real value and that are aligned with academic content are incorporated in Learning Expeditions and in individual courses.

The Role of EL Education

The organization Expeditionary Learning (EL) is the primary organization working with schools to design and implement their programs. EL provides schools with curricular and instructional frameworks, along with strategies to change the culture of school communities. EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning) is a different approach to education, where students learn through doing, and time is devoted to building relationships and developing character.

EL Education promotes learning that is both rigorous and joyful. Students learn deeply though challenging, collaborative work. Schools in the EL network define student achievement to include mastery of skills and content, combined with character development and the production of high quality work.

EL Education’s expert educators work with public schools-both district and charter-across 35 states, serving over 200,000 students and 16,000 teachers in our school network and literacy partnerships.

Assessment in Expeditionary Learning

Assessment is embedded in an Expeditionary Learning school's curriculum and instruction. Expeditionary Learning nurtures a culture of continuous reflection, revision, and improvement. Expeditionary Learning schools make explicit the criteria they apply to judge student performance, and they expect students to work hard until they have achieved their best work. Expeditionary Learning schools try to avoid setting assessment apart as an isolated, dreaded event.

Expeditionary Learning recognizes that effective assessment is impossible unless one has clearly defined standards. Students, at the end of 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade, present their portfolios for evaluation by a panel of people who represent the RMSEL community, and then discuss their work in terms of effective communication, deep knowledge and higher order thinking. Students whose work is not judged by the passage panel and crew leaders as meeting passage requirements are not promoted until they demonstrate that they have completed the required work and attained the necessary knowledge and skills. Creating a culture of reflection, critique, and revision pushes students to better performances. Expeditionary Learning believes the same is true of entire schools.

The Impact of Expeditionary Learning

Research suggests that Expeditionary Learning programs can lead to dramatic increases in student engagement and motivation, reflected in high attendance rates and low disciplinary problems.

Several schools implementing Expeditionary Learning have demonstrated significant academic gains:

King Middle School in Portland achieved dramatic gains on the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA), surpassing the rate of change statewide.
In New York City, three-year longitudinal comparisons show significant increases on the Degrees of Reading Power Test in grades seven and eight at the School for the Physical City.
In 1996, fifth-grade students at Clairemont Elementary School in Decatur scored at the 8.1 grade equivalent in math on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the 7.6 grade equivalent in reading after its third year of implementation.
In Boston, the Rafael Hernandez School ranked 11th in math and 17th in reading out of the city's 76 elementary schools on the Stanford-9 test in the percentage of fifth graders reading above grade level.
McKinley Elementary School's fourth graders improved their scores on Cincinnati's Fourth-Grade Proficiency Test by 26 percentage points in math, 23 in citizenship, and six in reading from 1995 to 1996.

The Teacher's Role in Expeditionary Learning

Teachers are the key to Expeditionary Learning's success. Instead of working in isolation behind closed classroom doors, teachers collaborate closely with colleagues, family and community members. This openness and collaboration ensures rich and high quality learning experiences for students, and significant professional growth and renewal for teachers.

Theory of Action

Expeditionary Learning Schools: Theory of Action and Literature Review of Motivation, Character, and EngagementBeesley, Andrea; Clark, Tedra; Barker, Jane; Germeroth, Carrie; Apthorp, HelenMid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)Background: Expeditionary Learning Schools opens and transforms K-12 schools. Through engaging, long-term interdisciplinary projects designed to achieve academic standards and an emphasis on a healthy school culture, Expeditionary Learning aims to develop students who are not only high-achieving but also highly motivated to do challenging activities and deeply engaged in work that matters. Equally important are character expectations such as cooperation and good citizenship. Recognizing that the student outcomes they are trying to achieve go beyond state test scores, Expeditionary Learning worked with McREL to propose an updated model of student outcomes. It focuses on three primary areas: motivation, character, and engagement. The purpose of this report is to present a theory of action regarding how non-academic student outcomes, such as motivation and character (prosocial orientation), foster engagement in learning, leading to student academic success, and to support that theory of action with a narrative literature synthesis. The constructs highlighted in this theory of action are intended to capture the goals beyond academic achievement that Expeditionary Learning has for students. In an Expeditionary Learning school, students are expected to exhibit prosocial character traits that foster a healthy learning environment for everyone. The learning expeditions are intended, in part, to involve them intensely in an intrinsically motivating and mastery-oriented experience that will support their self-efficacy. Together, the emphasis on character and motivation creates an atmosphere that encourages engagement through effort, persistence, civic engagement, and identification with school. Engagement then leads to student academic success.

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