Project Based Learning for All

A Leader's Guide

Bob Lenz, Lisa Mireles

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781416633969
• eBook ISBN: 9781416633983
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

The days of "deep learning for some, rote learning for most" are over.

Project based learning (PBL) is a powerful educational approach that empowers students to

• Engage with authentic content.
• Co-construct knowledge.
• Work to solve real-world problems.
• Develop lifelong learning skills.

Access to these foundational components of deeper learning benefits all students, but especially those marginalized by traditional teaching practices. In Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide, Bob Lenz and Lisa Mireles argue that PBL is both the strongest pedagogical pathway to deeper learning and a valuable tool for disrupting systemic oppression, promoting educational equity, and improving educational outcomes across the board.

After presenting detailed frameworks and research evidence to support the use of PBL in schools, Lenz and Mireles offer a road map for implementing it school- or districtwide. Illustrated by case studies of deeper learning in action, the book takes leaders step-by-step through the process of crafting a vision for widespread PBL, developing a supportive culture for its adoption, designing the infrastructure to make it possible, and building capacity in teachers and staff to effectively lead and assess PBL with students of all ages. The steps are augmented by reflection prompts, rubrics, templates, and action plans that will help you navigate the process from start to finish.

Project Based Learning for All is for leaders who aspire to present all students, regardless of background, with opportunities for deeper learning. Expand your students' world, connections, and vision for the future by committing to PBL!

This book is a copublication of ASCD and PBLWorks.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Praise for Project Based Learning for All
• Foreword
• Prologue
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Frameworks for Scaling High-Quality PBL for All Students
• Chapter 2. Reframing Leadership: Key Mindsets for Scaling Deeper Learning Using PBL
• Chapter 3. Crafting the Vision
• Chapter 4. Developing the Culture
• Chapter 5. Designing the Infrastructure
• Chapter 6. Building Capacity: Gold Standard PBL
• Chapter 7. Building Capacity: Assessing Deeper Learning
• Chapter 8. Measuring Impact for Continuous Improvement
• Chapter 9. Translating PBL Leadership Practices for District Leaders
• Chapter 10. Onward to Deeper Learning
• Appendixes
• Appendix A. Project Design Rubric
• Appendix B. Project Based Teaching Practices Rubric
• Appendix C. Sample Data Collection Plan
• Appendix D. PBL Implementation Pulse Survey
• Appendix E. Policy and Initiative Self-Assessment
• Appendix F. District Conditions Inventory
• Appendix G. District PBL Readiness Checklist
• Appendix H. PBL School Implementation Planning Tool
• Appendix I. PBL Action Plan Template
• Appendix J. Additional Planning Resources
• References
• About the Authors
• Related ASCD Resources
• Copyright
• Back Cover