Debbie Pixton

Explore our series of Design Thinking for Education Explainer Videos for a walk-through of a variety of strategies to use with students or adults. The methods support a wide variety of efforts to personalize learning, cultivate competencies in many Portraits of a Graduate, and encourage collaborative problem solving that focuses on serving people.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, students all over the country suffered in their academic progress, and those at Clairton City School District were no exception. With evidence that tutoring could make a real difference for these students, but lacking staff to provide such intensive services, the Eden Hall Foundation, with the Consortium as its partner, decided […]

The Consortium for Public Education has two professional development opportunities starting this September for teachers, school counselors, and school administrators. PDE professional development hours are available for each training. We hope to see you there! Using Design Thinking to Teach the PA STEELS Standards K-12 educators looking for support implementing the new STEELS Standards are […]

An initiative that the Consortium piloted in 2021-2022 among a handful of districts coalesced during 2022-23 into a cohort of educators committed to creating cultures of belonging in their schools. They agreed on three tenets for doing so, then focused on several approaches for advancing their objectives going forward. “Because transforming culture is such an […]

As some 100 educators representing 15 Western Pennsylvania school districts travel next month to Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, the Consortium will be gearing up to help them make the most of all the ideas they bring back. Huntington Bank is sponsoring the trip to the acclaimed private school to give the educators opportunities to learn […]

The Consortium is both honored and proud to announce the appointment of its Executive Director, Jackie Foor, to the Board of Directors of the Team Pennsylvania Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to accelerating economic growth in the Commonwealth. Co-chaired by Gov. Josh Shapiro and a private sector representative, Brian Jackson, Managing Partner of McNees, Wallace […]

A longstanding host for workplace site visits that the Consortium organizes for schools, Urban Design Associates (UDA) finds working with students both fun for staff and an opportunity to expand public understanding of urban planning. “It engages our staff to think outside the box a little bit and they just enjoy it,” said Lori Sipes, […]

Projects that our Future Ready Leaders (FRL) teams undertook this year ranged from career fairs and senior student debriefings to step-up days and workshops on career exploration and college planning. “All of the projects provided the kinds of experiences students need in order to think about their next steps after high school and find out […]

With an increased emphasis on career learning in K-5, the Consortium this year organized employer site visits for elementary students with community partners ranging from the Pittsburgh Opera and Urban Design Associates, to the Green Building Alliance, DMI Companies, and the Moonshot Museum/Astrobotic. Clairton Elementary School Music Teacher Kevin Danchik called the visit to the […]

A year of staff preparation should pay off for years to come in helping some of Butler Area School District’s youngest students get a head start on career learning. Teachers at Northwest Elementary School, one of Butler Area’s seven K-5 buildings, worked this year with the Consortium to introduce their students to the Wonders of […]