Estonia, the northernmost of the Baltic countries, has a population of 1.3 million people, roughly the size of the population of Maine or New Hampshire. Although it is one of the poorest countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with a 2014 per capita gross domestic product of $28,140 compared to the OECD average of $39,333, Estonia has one of the strongest education systems among OECD countries. The nation boasts above-average results on PISA, almost universal access to pre-primary education, and a rate of educational attainment at the secondary level that is among the highest in the European Union and among OECD member nations. So how does Estonia do it?

Don’t expect to find students sitting passively in neatly rowed desks at MC² STEM High School. It’s far more likely to see students cutting plywood with laser cutters or driving remote-controlled robots down the hall at this open-enrollment high school dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The school fosters an atmosphere of innovation, both in its physical structure and its approach to instruction, that empowers students to direct their own learning.

“There are only two things that matter: what students are learning and how effectively they are learning it.”

Former Commissioner of the New York State Education Department, Dr. David Steiner, addressed the importance of rigorous standards and high quality curriculum and instruction during a recent talk at the Alliance’s High School Advisory Group Meeting. The group supports the Alliance’s efforts to elevate and expand practices to promote postsecondary opportunities for traditionally underserved students.

This week’s digest features social and emotional learning as a foundation, going beyond basic reasoning skills to prepare students for future jobs, project-based learning questions and answers, and the story of how one school keeps deeper learning afloat.