Q.E.D. Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing training, coaching, and strategic consulting in the re-engagement of disengaged learners, effective design of engaging learning, youth voice, democratic practices, assessment for and of learning, equity, data collection and analysis, and math literacy coaching. In addition to working with schools and community organizations throughout New England and across the United States, QED provides a variety of online resources, accessible from www.qedfoundation.org, Faces of Learning (www.facesoflearning.net), The Five Freedoms Project (www.fivefreedoms.org) and the Five Freedoms Project online community at network.fivefreedoms.org. For additional information, contact Kim Carter, Executive Director, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 603-672-2111.

Q.E.D. Foundation (QED) has its roots in the Monadnock Community Connections School (www.mc2school.org), a competency-based high school program for students seeking "choice and voice" in their educational experience. Seeing the success MC2 has with students who did not fare well in the comprehensive high school, the school Advisory Committee, which consisted of the MC² principal, an MC² teacher, student, and parent, a principal from a district elementary school, a school board member, and a local businessperson, agreed on the desirability of starting a nonprofit organization to champion the student-centered learning philosophy and structures of MC². As a result, the Q.E.D. Foundation was founded in July 2007 by the MC² principal. The QED Board is comprised of educational leaders from around the country who have collaborated with MC², and QED consultants have been MC² staff, graduates, students, and parents.

MC² opened in 2002 with 27 9th grade students, 21 of whom were males, and 29% of whom were eligible for free and reduced lunch. Shortly into the first year, the SAU was awarded a five-year Voluntary Public Schools of Choice grant, which included tuition and transportation costs for out-of-district students. Over the next five years, MC² students hailed from as many as 17 communities at one time, with students from Keene, Hinsdale, and Winchester usually leading enrollment numbers. When the grant was not renewed, the Monadnock Regional School Board initially voted to accept out of district students to MC² on a tuition basis. In the spring of 2009, the school board voted to discontinue accepting out of district students.

Numerous budgetary, staffing and physical changes impacted MC²’s enrollment, at the same time, district administration remained committed to integrating MC² practices within MRHS, transitioning from being an off-site program to becoming a school-within-a-school.  Meanwhile, through QED, the MC² community continues to share, coach, and advocate for student-centered practices and pedagogy, throughout the state, region, and country.

Q.E.D. Foundation is an organization of adults and youth working together to create and sustain student-centered learning communities. Our work is based on relationships and practices that first and foremost support students’ growth and learning while simultaneously improving the health of our communities and our society.

Our vision is of communities where each individual is empowered to use his or her unique voice effectively and with integrity in co-creating our public world.

Our mission is to build – and inspire and help others to build – transformational learning environments, in and out of schools, that engage all students in successful and sustainable growth and learning.

Fostering collaboration among educators, families and young people provides powerful energy for revitalizing our schools and our communities. Grounded in extensive research and practice, QED brings practical applications, diverse expertise, accomplished student voice and valuable family perspectives.

Our philosophy is that young people are our most important resource for the future. As we have learned from experience, when students work in concert with adults who are deeply invested in their success, they bring powerful voice and vision to the work of redesigning our school communities. Their participation in the work empowers and sustains their voices and vision.

Underlining our philosophy is a shared commitment to four guiding principles:

1. We are all learners with aspirations and passions which deserve to be supported in every way possible.
   
2. Learning changes lives by helping us develop the will, knowledge, skill, and capacity to achieve our aspirations.
   
3. Learning needs to happen in different ways, so we use various strengths and resources to engage with the world around us.
4. Learning empowers us to co-create our public world and to shape the decisions that impact our lives.
   

To achieve its mission, QED concentrates on the following core strategies:

1. Sharing our stories and lessons to provide inspiration and vision
2. Consulting with national, state, and local education organizations to provide expertise, coaching and support
3. Developing and disseminating tools and applications that provide organizational structures and practical protocols that support a school culture of “choice and voice”
4. Funding seed grants in schools that support the development of shared commitment to the power and potential of youth voice

Our story is one of experience. It is also a story of hope, innovation, community and the power of choice. The educators, youth, families, and community partners who serve as QED consultants are not unique; they have been provided with the space and support to use their voices “effectively and with integrity,” and have developed the ability and desire to speak out in favor of change that empowers others as they have been empowered. Through their perspectives and stories, they continually help us improve our practices, structures and tools.