307. Make Learning Meaningful Through Student Agency with Garrett Smiley — Learning Unboxed

In this episode of Learning Unboxed, we’re joined by Garrett Smiley, founder and CEO of Sora Schools, to explore how education can move beyond delivering content and give students meaningful reasons to learn. Garrett shares how Sora combines online learning with strong relationships, interdisciplinary projects, and opportunities for students to connect academic concepts to real-world interests and challenges.

We also discuss what traditional public schools can learn from Sora’s model, including offering families multiple learning pathways, replacing high-stakes testing with mastery-based assessment, and giving students greater control over their schedules and projects. Garrett explains how meaningful, useful work helps young people develop the independence and confidence they need for college, careers, and life. Join us to explore how student agency and project-based learning can make education more relevant.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

Why access to more educational content has not automatically improved student engagement
How Sora Schools combines online learning with community and meaningful relationships
Using interdisciplinary projects to connect academic standards with real-world challenges
Replacing high-stakes testing with mastery- and competency-based assessment
How public schools can offer flexible pathways without losing their community role
Helping students build agency, independence, and college readiness

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Produced by NOVA