LOS ANGELES – The USC Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education (Center EDGE),
Andrew Nikou Foundation, and IDEO announced 56 selections, as part of a first-of-its-kind
initiative to crowdsource solutions from educators, parents, and students to help schools
navigate the many challenges they face returning this fall. These solutions, which came from
across the world, will be featured on the Education Solutions Exchange — a public repository of
ongoing, high-quality, achievable, and scalable ideas that can be implemented for free in
schools as early as fall 2021.

• Amidst the pandemic, entire education ecosystems have been upended locally, regionally, and
  globally. Fundamental defects and structural issues have been exposed and exacerbated by
  COVID-19, whether it be on teaching and learning, equity, or social-emotional fronts.
• “From the digital divide to the massive learning losses due to the pandemic, the education
  system is being confronted with a host of challenges on a scale not seen in modern history,”
  said Alan Arkatov, founding director of Center EDGE.
• “The Education Solutions Exchange is an exciting outgrowth of what we learned early in the pandemic — that creative, relevant, and
  relatively simple solutions can bring a quantifiable voice to those on the frontlines of education, and can have impact in timely, effective, and efficient ways.”
• In response to the historic challenges facing students, Center EDGE and its partners formed
  The Education (Re)Open this spring, an online challenge to prioritize the voices of key
  stakeholders, and solicit ideas from students, teachers, parents, and leaders from the public,
  independent and parochial school sectors, along with experts from across the globe. The
  Education (Re)Open not only solicited new ideas, but the submission of ideas that were working
  in classrooms, schools, or homes that could be effectively scaled across broader education
  ecosystems.
• Through these partnerships and IDEO’s human centered design platform for The Education
  (Re)Open, the need for what started as a unique crowdsourcing opportunity for time-sensitive
  solutions has created a demand for a new type of education clearinghouse — the Education
  Solutions Exchange — that can provide high quality and implementable recommendations in
  simple and accessible ways.
• The Education (Re)Open received hundreds of submissions from 42 states in the U.S. and 34
  countries. After a vigorous two-month submission, vetting, coaching, refinement and judging
  process (more information can be found here), 56 solutions were identified to be part of the
  Education Solutions Exchange. Innovators whose solutions are featured on the site each
  received $1,000 for their participation and dedication to strengthening school communities.
  Winning entries, chosen in part for their simplicity and ability to immediately impact students’
  needs, include:
• Mental Health Check In: A simple, low-cost, easily implementable system for students
  to communicate their emotional wellbeing and give teachers insight into how the class is
  feeling overall, and in particular to students who may need extra support.
•  The 3 M’s: Media, Middle School, Mindfulness: A curriculum that teaches students to
  become more discerning with information seen on the internet, and to determine if it’s
  coming from a trustworthy source, which is especially critical in light of the disinformation
  surrounding the pandemic and vaccines.
• Core Values in the Community: A program designed to reward students who
  demonstrate the values of Gratitude, Responsibility, Integrity, and Tenacity, and are given
  “GRITcoin” that can later be spent on things like raffles and pop-up shops at their
  schools. The program recognizes that students are anxious about returning to school,
  and yet they can be inspired to turn those feelings into something positive.
• A Trusted Space: a free, cutting-edge, research-based film and curriculum for
  educators on how to help mitigate the effects of the grief, trauma, anxiety, and other
  emotional stressors that so many students are facing.

“The L.A. County Office of Education and the Greater L.A. Education Foundation are excited
about crowdsourcing innovative solutions from those that know education best — our educators,
parents, and students,” said Dr. Debra Duardo, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools.
“We’re looking forward to working with our 80 superintendents and other district leaders
throughout the country to give a real voice to our stakeholders, by curating and implementing
selections from the Solutions Exchange that can improve teaching and learning outcomes.”

Lead funding and strategic support was provided by the Andrew Nikou Foundation with
additional support provided by:

• Great Public Schools Now,
• Joseph Drown Foundation,
• The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation,
• Annenberg Learner,
• the Johnny Carson Foundation,
• Shmoop,
• Eva Stern,
• the Khayami Foundation, and
• the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

To see all selected solutions visit www.EducationSolutions.net