By Stephanie Baker, Deputy Superintendent, Educational Services Pomona Unified School District and Kevin Wilkeson, Principal, HMC Architects

Education in California is at a crossroads. This presents California school districts with a unique opportunity to customize student education to meet the needs of their surrounding community and to better prepare students for work and life in the 21st century. With the adoption and implementation of Common Core State Standards that began in 2010, the nature of teaching and learning is shifting to meet the demands and opportunities. There is more focus on deeper learning and the development of students’ critical thinking skills that go beyond simply teaching to a test or memorizing basic information, but rather helping students to tackle a problem from the inside out, regardless of its context.

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