Powerful Learning - Fostering Agency, Purpose, and Curiosity Through Connection

Oct 15, 2026

Powerful Learning presents a unifying education framework responding to fragmentation in learning systems and to urgent pressures from reading gaps, youth mental health challenges, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. The report connects decades of learning science to a shared language for educators, system leaders, and technology developers, centering human connection and treating agency, purpose, and curiosity as design requirements. It outlines systemic challenges, explains what Powerful Learning is, and describes its application to build knowledge, skills, and dispositions together.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages44

Reading Time1 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

Foreword

Introduction

Systemic Challenges Facing Learners

What is Powerful Learning?

Powerful Learning in Practice

Conclusion

References

Powerful Learning: Fostering Agency, Purpose, and Curiosity Through Connection Cultivating Future-Ready Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Gabriella Anton, Kelly Mills, Sharin Jacob, Nancy Chou, Kelly McNeil, and Chris Wegemer July 2026 Table of Contents Foreword .......................................................................................... 4 Introduction .....................................................................................7 Systemic Challenges Facing Learners ..................................... 10 What is Powerful Learning? .........................................................13 Powerful Learning in Practice .................................................... 22 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 38 References ..................................................................................... 39 About Digital Promise Digital Promise is a global nonprofit working to expand opportunity for learners and prepare them to thrive on every path ahead. We integrate research, practice, and technology across the education ecosystem to design, investigate, and scale innovations that drive meaningful outcomes. Our vision is that every person engages in Powerful Learning experiences that lead to a life of well-being, fulfillment, and economic mobility and security. For more information, visit the Digital Promise website and follow Digital Promise for updates. Acknowledgements This report was developed under the guidance of Gabriella Anton, Kelly Mills, Sharin Jacob, Nancy Chou, Kelly McNeil, and Chris Wegemer of Digital Promise with support from Dr. D’Andre Weaver, Shibrie Britwum, My Nguyen, and Sarah Martin of Digital Promise, as well as Lacey Gonzales. The authors thank the experts that reviewed the content of this paper and offered guidance, including: • Akilah Allen • Dr. Kate Babineau, Digital Promise • Dr. Quinn Burke, Digital Promise • Jean-Claude Brizard, Digital Promise • Dr. Sheila Chelimo • Dr. Kyle Dunbar, Digital Promise • Dr. Ximena Dominguez, Digital Promise • Chaula Gupta, Digital Promise • Emily Gazda, Digital Promise • Dr. Rebecca Griffiths, Digital Promise • Dr. Emi Iwatani, Digital Promise • Jessica K. Jackson, Digital Promise • Britney Jacobs, Digital Promise • Adrienne Kraushaar, Digital Promise • Dr. Stany Leblanc, Digital Promise • Tabatha Mason, Digital Promise • Carmen Cortez Morales, Digital Promise • Megan Pattenhouse, Digital Promise • Kathryn Petrillo-Smith • Dr. Jeremy Roschelle, Digital Promise • Kimberly Smith, Digital Promise • Dr. Jeffrey Starr, Digital Promise • Stefani Pautz Stephenson, Digital Promise • KellyAnn Tsai, Digital Promise • Dr. Latia White, Digital Promise • Dr. Korah Wiley, Digital Promise • Alisha Workman, Digital Promise • Dr. Viki Young, Digital Promise Suggested Citation Anton, G., Mills, K., Jacob, S., Chou, N., McNeil, K., & Wegemer, C. (2026, July) . Powerful learning: Fostering agency, purpose, and curiosity through connection: Cultivating future-ready knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Digital Promise. [https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/307](https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/307) Digital Promise® Powerful Learning: Fostering Agency, Purpose, and Curiosity Through Connection | 3 Foreword After more than 30 years in education—as a teacher, high school principal, school system leader, and now as the head of a global organization dedicated to transforming learning—I have watched our field cycle through waves of urgency and innovation, each promising to bethe breakthrough that finally moves the needle for every child. Many of those waves produced real gains in isolated classrooms and districts. Too few produced lasting, systemic change. We are at another inflection point. And this one is different. The convergence of an academic achievement crisis, a youth mental health challeng

FAQs

What problem does Powerful Learning aim to address?

It responds to fragmentation in education, where isolated pockets of excellence struggle to scale and where there is a persistent gap between what research says and what happens in classrooms.

Which major forces shape the report’s urgency?

An academic achievement crisis, youth mental health challenges, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence have compressed the need for urgent change.

How does Powerful Learning define the role of agency, purpose, and curiosity?

It treats agency, purpose, and curiosity as design requirements for true learning, centered on human connection and integrated with building knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Oct 15, 2026

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