Collecting or Connecting? A Different Way to Think about the Evidence We Ask Students to Collect

FROM THE FLIGHT LOG | Are we asking students to collect evidence of success or evidence of learning? How might these differ? How might Defenses provide an opportunity for students to tell a more cohesive, connected story of their learning? Explore with us this week!

RUNWAY READY | See how Letcher County is rethinking evidence collection, and grab a simple tool to help learners notice moments worth preserving.

WHAT'S ON DECK | Learn with us through upcoming Design Studios! FREE for ALL Kentucky teachers and leaders.

Imagine a student preparing for her defense of learning. Her portfolio holds exactly what she was asked to collect: two artifacts for communication, two for collaboration, two for problem solving, two for lifelong learning. She's done everything right. But does her evidence tell a story about who she's becoming or does it just prove she met another requirement?

After being part of hundreds of student defenses, we've found ourselves wondering: Have we become so focused on helping students collect evidence of competencies that we've overlooked helping them recognize the learning those experiences reveal?

Consider the kinds of artifacts most often shared. Students naturally save the certificate representing the high score, the award, or a polished final product. Yet the most revealing evidence is often the prototype that failed, the feedback they resisted, or the moment they finally asked for help. The evidence that best reveals learning isn't always the evidence that best showcases success.

Consider the difference between a student saying, “This project shows I'm a good collaborator,” and one explaining, “I used to think collaboration meant making sure everyone followed the plan. Now I understand the importance of listening, changing my mind, and making room for other people's ideas.” The first student has matched an artifact to a competency. The second is telling a story of learning. Helping more students get there may require rethinking not just what we collect, but how students learn to see their own growth.

Read the full piece: What if the Profile is a lens, not a Filing Cabinet?

FROM COLLECTING EVIDENCE TO UNCOVERING STORIES

But what would it take to design a system where learners don't just collect evidence of their growth, they actually learn to recognize it?

That's the shift we're exploring alongside Letcher County Schools. Through our recent Digging Into Defenses partnership, we challenged traditional approaches for evidence collection and explored what it takes to help learners capture meaningful moments, revisit experiences, recognize patterns, and eventually use their Portrait of a Learner to interpret and defend their growth.

And it goes well beyond changing how students prepare for defenses. Together, we explored how narrative craft within ELA can strengthen students' storytelling, while digging into the routines, structures, and shared decisions that make meaningful evidence collection possible throughout the year.

Because changing how we think about evidence is only the beginning. The real work is designing the conditions that allow students to discover and tell their own learning stories.

A SMALL MOVE TO GET STARTED

You don't have to redesign your entire evidence collection system to begin shifting the experience. Our A Moment Worth Keeping tool offers a simple way to help learners notice and preserve meaningful moments of learning before asking them to connect those moments to Profile competencies.

[Grab the free tool →A Moment Worth Keeping]