USC Center EDGE Awardees of the Education Solutions Exchange

Transformative international challenge solicited scalable strategies to help districts, schools, and students coping with the pandemic 

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.