Chad Carlson shares how One Stone Lab School uses human-centered design to transform education by treating students as end users rather than products. He describes their unique approach that removes traditional grades, subjects, and bells in favor of personalized growth frameworks that prepare students for the real world.
• One Stone's origin story as an innovative school designed alongside students to make learning relevant and meaningful
• How human-centered design principles are applied to education through continuous iteration and student feedback
• The shift from viewing students as products to seeing them as end users of education
• One Stone's daily structure including Design Labs, interdisciplinary experiences, and mentor relationships
• Their growth transcript system that assesses 24 skills across contexts, replacing traditional grades
• The difference between durable skills (empathy, communication) and cognitive skills
• How colleges respond to their innovative transcript (accepted by 190+ institutions)
• The importance of human relationships over technological solutions in education's future

About our guest
Chad is the Director of Research & Design of the One Stone Lab School in Boise, Idaho. Chad joined One Stone in 2016 and helped design and lead the implementation of One Stone’s innovative, student-driven Lab School. He is currently leading One Stone's initiative to scale the school’s Growth Framework learning model and support schools in their transition to becoming transformative, future-ready schools.

Connect with Chad
Visit onestone.org to learn more about their model and trainings, or email [email protected] for discovery calls to discuss how these principles might work in your educational setting.

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About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.
Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.

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