About Us
Woo-Labs is a network of partners advancing educational and racial equity for historically marginalized Worcester k-6 students.
We foster partners’ capacity to provide high-quality, culturally responsive, project-based learning opportunities in out-of-school time.
This tightly woven ecosystem of community-based organizations re-conceives education as a coordinated, child-centered effort in which partners work together to maximize student achievement and remove obstacles to learning. This ecosystem includes youth serving organizations, higher education partners, cultural and city-based institutions, and WPS.
Woo-Labs | Project-based learning success in Worcester, MA
Hear from our Assistant Director
An informational video presented by WEC Assistant Director, Emily Dodge.
Origin Story
Woo-Labs emerged organically from work Worcester Education Collaborative (WEC) co-led to create a strategic plan for the Worcester Public schools (WPS) and the subsequent engagement of the local education ecosystem to develop a comprehensive, aligned response to out-of-school time learning.
Woo-Labs has evolved from this work as a network of partners seeking to advance educational and racial equity for historically marginalized Worcester K-6 students by improving partners’ capacity to provide high-quality, culturally responsive, student-centered, project-based learning opportunities in out-of-school time (OST).
Woo-Labs partners engage in the following core capacity-building activities:
Providing student-centered, project-based learning opportunities that foster deeper learning and center students’ lived experiences and cultural backgrounds
Supporting the social emotional and 21st century skill development needed for students to thrive professionally and personally
Participating in a regular Community of Practice focused on professional development, collaborative problem solving, and sharing of best practices
Implementing a common measurement-for-improvement framework using a research-based, assessment system to ignite program quality improvement and optimize student skill development
Supervising a Hanover Fellow, a local college student embedded at the site to support core Woo-Labs activities, especially project-based learning
Our Reach and impact
Since Woo-Labs’ launch in June of 2021, our 11 partner organizations have reached over 3,800 students, providing 60+ standards-aligned, high-quality projects that – importantly – make learning and social emotional skill building fun. By deeply engaging in professional development, partners increased their program quality in all 13 metrics according to third-party observers. And students are reaping the benefits: in SY23-24, 78% of students demonstrated proficiency or significant growth in core social emotional skills such as communication and critical thinking..
our partners include:
Black Excellence Academy
Latino Education Institute
How do we support our partners?
Woo-Labs draws on the expertise of Boston Beyond, Harlem Children’s Zone, and the Harvard Education Redesign Lab—all of which have evidenced the benefits of a coordinated, cross-sector approach to enhancing OST opportunities to drive improved student outcomes across urban districts. Consistent with Wallace Foundation research on effective OST systems building (Browne, 2015), Woo-Labs employs: 1) a coordinating entity, WEC; 2) quality frameworks; and 3) a shared data system. Using this approach, Woo-Labs builds the capacity of our 11 Host Partners, to promote meaningful academic and social emotional growth in OST programming by aligning them around 3 key activities:
1) Project Based learning Opportunities
Project based learning involves working on a long- term project to solve a real-world problem relevant to students’ lives and culminates in knowledge demonstration through a public product or presentation. Research demonstrates PBL has positive impacts on academic outcomes as well as social emotional competencies such as collaboration (Krajcik et al, 2021; Duke et al, 2020).
Woo-Labs partners align their offerings with PBLWorks’ Gold Standard PBL, a comprehensive, research-informed model that includes two frameworks, Design Elements and Teaching Practices, to promote a high-quality learning environment and deepen student learning.
2) Measurement-for-improvement framework
Woo-Labs utilizes data and feedback cycles to catalyze continuous improvement and maximize student skill gains across the out-of-school learning community.
To drive improvement in quality, student experience, and student skill development, Woo- Labs partners implement the highly regarded Afterschool Program Assessment System (APAS) developed by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST).
3) Community of Practice
Learning happens in community. Woo-Labs centers capacity-building efforts through a robust, sustained Community of Practice where partners convene to discuss issues, learn about essential topics, and devise action steps to address areas for improvement.
Activities include:
Bi-weekly meetings
Project Based Learning Trainings & Workshop
Targeted trainings on topics of interest
Program-Specific Data Analysis and Action Planning Sessions
Hanover Fellowship
promoting learning and growth
WEC recruits, trains, and embeds local college students, called Hanover Fellows, at Host Partner sites to implement these strategies, namely project-based learning, and provide direct service.
WEC work intentionally to recruit Fellows who reflect Worcester’s rich diversity and intends for this program to inspire a diverse cohort of Worcester college students to pursue education career.
Article Features
Woo-Labs featured in the Central Massachusetts Town Square