We understand the lifelong value of practicing and developing learning skills in school. They benefit students well beyond their education and throughout their adult lives. By cultivating and using these skills, students also come to demonstrate leadership, think critically, and take initiative.

Opportunity Education developed a custom framework of important Learning Skills, organized into four groups:

Explore

Establish Meaning
Use prior and new knowledge and tools to understand what is happening or being said.

Ask Questions
Compose questions based on observations, readings, or problems.

Investigate
Use multiple methods to inquire, gather information, and establish context.

Analyze

Interpret
Use sources, data, or computations to extract meaning.

Identify Patterns
Find similarities and draw connections among events, ideas, and representations.

Be Creative
Create solutions, new ideas, and new methods.

Reason

Assess Arguments
Evaluate arguments, points of view, and positions with attention to evidence and reasoning.

Take a Position
Develop your own position. Support it with appropriate evidence and reasons and defend it from the criticism of others. 

Reflect
Reflect upon actions and experiences, recognize strengths and shortcomings, and identify ways to improve. 

Communicate

Collaborate
Participate in group work, and give and receive peer feedback.

Compose
Design and produce works that connect ideas and demonstrate knowledge. Revise work to make it better.

Share
Connect with the audience and communicate work clearly.