Barr Foundation – Catalyze New Models 

2017 – Present


The Learning Agenda (TLA) leads four learning communities for the Barr Foundation’s Catalyze New Models Portfolio.  Barr’s investments seek to advance greater success for all students by nurturing the development and expansion of high-quality, personalized high school models that are grounded in positive youth development theory. TLA manages the communities and brings in outside expertise and resources as driven by the interests and needs of each community.  

These communities include: Portrait of a Graduate; Rigor, Relevance, and Purpose; School Leaders; and Wider Learning Ecosystem.


Portrait of a Graduate 


In 2019 the Barr Foundation established a grant program for school communities to develop a “portrait of a graduate.” The portrait articulates the vision of what all high school students will know and be able to do by graduation in order to succeed in college, career, and the community. It is not just a vision but a tool to help inform decisions about what learning experiences look like for students. Grantees were selected representing 14 communities, 60 high schools, and diverse groups of partners that span urban and rural high schools across four states in New England.  

TLA supports the Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) grantees through a cohort learning community.  The cohort includes single school sites, multiple schools working together within one school system, and regional approaches of schools working together across systems to ensure that visions of success prioritize students who have traditionally been underserved by school systems. The learning community provides opportunities for peer learning and gaining knowledge from national experts. The vision is to enable all grantees’ school communities to begin to operationalize a compelling shared vision that will lead to notable change, better outcomes for students, and changed mindsets of myriad stakeholders. 

Work Product


Rigor, Relevance, and Purpose


This cross-grantee group works to embed equity into every aspect of teaching and learning. Grounded by Zaretta Hammond’s seminal text, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, and Springpoint’s Indicators of School Quality, members of this community explore challenges and promising practices for leading both classroom and schoolwide instructional change centering on the understanding of each and every student and how students themselves play an integral role in the redesign of educational spaces.

Work Product


School Leaders


This cross-grantee community serves 20 heads of schools, principals, and design leads for new school models.  Over the term of a one-year commitment, the group will explore challenges and celebrate successes for leading systemic change and building teacher practice – with an emphasis on both theory, practice, and reflection with peers. The goal is to support participating leaders in receiving consultation and support from a network of peers and to test new tools and practices to create tangible, positive changes within their schools.

 Work Products 


Wider Learning Ecosystem


In fall 2017, this community embarked on a two-year planning process to redesign their school model and build capacity to provide students with credit-bearing learning opportunities in their wider learning ecosystem. Now in the implementation phase, seven school and community teams are continuing to partner with the Barr Foundation to support the phased implementation of their redesign plans. 

 Work Product