Who am I?
What are my gifts, skills, passions, next steps? What drives me? How do I best learn? How will I nurture and protect my inner life and health?
Where is my place?
Do I have a deep understanding of the world? Given the lessons of history, economics, politics, and geography, where will I live, and how do I fit in and stand out?
What is my “calling”?
What will be my next adventure in life, and how will I use my gifts and passion to solve a deep, burning need in the world?
Who will I serve as a leader?
Do I have the questions, tools, and skills I need to become a “level five” leader, form healthy relationships, and negotiate and solve disputes?
The badge system supports the journey of self-discovery, mastery, searching for a calling, and leadership in three main ways:
Self-Directed Learning: Because of the modular design and freedom for Eagles to make choices in the badge system, Eagles are able to customize their learning and move through subjects at their own pace. This freedom and the frequent celebrations when Eagles earn badges keep motivation and curiosity high. The requirement to self-manage time and set long-term goals, while difficult at times, may be the most important outcome of a badge system.
Accountability and Quality: Badges make it easier for Eagles and parents to track individual learning and monitor quality.
Ability to Prove Mastery to Others: Badges may be used in a portfolio to land a transformational apprenticeship or impress a college recruiter. In addition, the achievements within a badge can be rearranged into a traditional high school transcript to satisfy college admissions, without these traditional requirements diminishing the learning that occurs at Acton.
A Description of the Individual Badges
As part of celebrating the learning that occurs at Acton Academy, work is collected in the following badges, which can then be presented in the form of a traditional high school transcript or displayed in an electronic portfolio. (Eagles have detailed descriptions of each badge in the Electronic Points Tracker.)
Core Skills
Math Badges from Khan Academy in pre-algebra, algebra I and II, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, and calculus are the backbone for Acton Academy mathematics.
Deep Book Badges show an Eagle has devoured a “world-changing” or “life-changing” book and delivered a pitch designed to convince others to read it.
Genre and Three-Draft Genre Badges celebrate a significant achievement in writing, video, or another form of communication; a Three-Draft Genre (Revision) Badge includes at least three drafts plus associated critiques.
Civilization Badges equip Eagles with the tools, hard questions, and lessons that come from studying the lives of heroes, history, geography, economics, and philosophy, while exposing them to the collective memory of the human race.
Quests, Quest Creation, and Apprenticeships
Quests and Quest Creation Badges: A Quest is a five- to seven-week series of challenges connected by a narrative and leading to a public exhibition of completed work; these are designed to deliver twenty-first-century skills in science and other real-world subjects. Quest Creation is the process of deep learning that a Launchpad Eagle undertakes not only to master a subject but also to create a Quest for other students to take.
Apprenticeship Badges celebrate real-world apprenticeships that help Eagles discover their next “stepping-stone adventure” and prepare them for a calling in life.
Learning Badges
Learning Badges signify earning certain leadership privileges, from becoming an Independent Learner all the way through a Level Five Leader.
Ensuring Quality
Eagles set and often revisit the quality of standards for work submitted for badges. In most cases, a badge must be approved by a Running Partner or committee, using one or more of the following standards of excellence:
Best Work—If this is the first time someone has attempted a task, that person must certify it was their best work.
Better Than Last Time—If this is a task or skill that has been tried before, is there evidence of improvement?
Comparison to World-Class Standards—Is there a detailed critique comparing the work favorably to a world-class example?
Winner of a Contest—Did Eagles select this as a “best of” example in a vote by the studio?
Approved for Exhibition—Was this approved for exhibition to the public?
From time to time, an audit committee will be asked to check the ratings offered by Running Partners or committees. If there is evidence of a serious slide in quality or intentional misrepresentation, both the Eagle involved and those who previously approved the work will lose an entire badge, and an honor code violation may be taken to Council.
All systems can be cheated. Cheating is rampant in traditional schools and in the very best universities. Eagles will no doubt make mistakes, but in our system leaders understand that any decrease in quality in the badge system will throw their own work in doubt, so we expect to have a self-enforcing ethic in the community, as long as parents will respect the result.
Appendix H
List of Online Learning Programs
Acton Academy has used the following online programs:
Math
Khan Academy
DreamBox
ST Math
ALEKS
MangahighReading
ClickN READ
Lexia
ReadTheory
NewselaGrammar/Spelling/Writing
Typing Club
VocabularySpellingCity
ClickN SPELL
NoRedInk
Grammarly
Storybird
PaperRaterForeign Language
Rosetta Stone
Mango Languages
DuolingoOther
ChessKid
Codecademy
Algodoo and CK-12
GitHub and Code.org
Robo Rush
Cha-Ching
3D GameLab
Gamestar Mechanic
TinkercadVia Coursera
“Internet History, Technology, and Security”—University of Michigan
“An Introduction to American Law”—University of Pennsylvania
“Introduction to Chemistry: Reactions and Ratios”—Duke University
About the Author
Laura Anderson Sandefer lives in Austin, Texas, with her children, husband, and three dogs. She calls herself the Chief Encourager of the Acton Academy affiliation of independent schools. She’d love to hear from you if you are interested in starting your own Acton Children’s Business Fair or an Acton Academy in your community. Feel free to email her at [email protected].
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