AccountabilityAchievement & Assessment

MREA's Work with Schools on AIW Featured in News

By April 16, 2013 No Comments

MREA’s extensive project with five northern Minnesota school district on Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) was featured this week in the Park Rapids Enterprise.

A rigorous revamping of the way teachers teach and the way students learn has been quietly taking place in a small conference room at the Laporte School. Five teachers and two administrators have delved into an educational concept called AIW, Authentic Intellectual Work.

Five small northern Minnesota schools, including Laporte, received a $225,000 grant to implement the program, which questions traditional methods of teaching and whether requiring students to regurgitate facts back to teachers makes any sense.  Read the full article by Sarah Smith.

MREA developed a unique partnership in the fall of 2012 The Center for Authentic Intellectual Work to increase student learning by engaging students in authentic intellectual work at five MREA school districts. During the two-year project, the groups are aiming for secondary school reform in Northern Minnesota through reflective professional development.

AIW focuses on equipping students to address the complex intellectual challenges of work, civic participation, and managing personal affairs in the contemporary world through reflective professional development. The participating school districts include Bagley, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Fisher, Kelliher, Laporte. Learn more about MREA’s partnership with AIW.