Spring 2026 Leadership through Design: Enhancing Student Growth & Achievement

An impactful and engaging education system puts people first – students, parents, teachers, community members. Human-Centered Design (HCD) provides the toolbox and mindset to ensure a system stays agile and responsive to current and future stakeholders.

This course will introduce school leaders to design thinking and, more specifically, Human-Centered Design. Design thinking encompasses five phases of design: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Throughout this course, participants will learn about and apply each phase of the design cycle to a challenge within their school system that will foster student growth and achievement.

HCD is a subset of design thinking that focuses on empathy as a means for collaborative problem solving. When school leaders know their students well, the school systems better meet their needs. When leaders understand the challenges facing their communities, they can adapt to their priorities.

Participants will work throughout the course to develop and implement a plan for addressing an area of need in their school system around student growth and achievement.

This course includes direct instruction, individual and group activities, independent assignments, as well as job-embedded applications. Resources, including explainer videos and design templates, will be available.

Meeting Dates and Times
This course is 100% virtual. Each meeting date will be a three-hour block with an hour of synchronous time, an hour of asynchronous time, and a final hour of synchronous time.
Thursday, February 5, 2026 – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday, February 26, 2026 – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday, March 12, 2026 – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday, March 26, 2026 – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Thursday, April 16, 2026 – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Job-embedded assignments will take place between sessions. All work will build towards the completion of a final project that utilizes an HCD mindset and strategies to support student growth and achievement.

Participants who complete the course will receive 25 hours of Act 45 credit. These hours include 10 virtual synchronous hours; 4 asynchronous hours, and 11 job-embedded hours of work.

The course is $375 per person with discounts available for district teams of three or more school leaders.

Cancellation Policy
Registrants must cancel two weeks prior to the start of the course in order to receive a full refund. Registrants who drop the course any time thereafter will not be eligible for a refund, but will receive a course credit that can be used toward a future Act 45 course within the next 12 months. Course credit is not refundable. Registrants must communicate any changes to their participation in writing. No-show registrants will be charged the full price of the course without the option for redeemable course credit. All registrants will be invoiced/charged following registration.