Thinking and Learning

The “Top 20” Badges Program awards virtual badges to PreK-12 schools that utilize evidence-based strategies delineated in the Top 20 Principles from Psychology for PreK-12 Teaching and Learning to boost achievement and student well-being. Schools can demonstrate evidence of school-wide use of principles for one or more categories including: thinking and learning, motivation, social and emotional development, classroom management and assessing student progress.

Obtaining a badge can help you collect evidence for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). (See Map of Top 20 Principles on ESSA, PDF 77KB.) Additionally, a badge can be put on your state audit, annual review, students’ school report cards and used for website marketing to attract parents.

The Thinking and Learning Badge encompasses Principles 1-8:

Principle 1 

Students' beliefs or perceptions about intelligence and ability affect their cognitive functioning and learning.

Principle 2 

What students already know affects their learning.

Principle 3 

Students' cognitive development and learning are not ability to learn is not limited by general stages of development.

Principle 4 

Learning is based on context, so generalizing learning to new contexts is not spontaneous but instead needs to be facilitated. 

Principle 5 

Acquiring long-term knowledge and skill is largely dependent on practice. 

Principle 6 

Clear, explanatory, and timely feedback to students is important for learning.

Principle 7

Students’ self-regulation assists learning, and self-regulatory skills can be taught. 

Principle 8

 Student creativity can be fostered.

All PreK-12 publicly or privately funded schools that demonstrate evidence of school-wide applications of principles are eligible to apply.

Schools may apply for more than one badge category per year.

If a school was not awarded a badge for their application, the school may submit a new or revised application at another time.

Badge recipients are selected by members of the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. In addition to a badge, participating schools receive written feedback from the coalition, including suggestions for improvement.

All the schools that are awarded badges are cited on the APA website with a link to their webpages. 

Deadlines

• August-October: Call for submissions
• November: All applications due
• December: Review of submissions
• January-February: Delivery of review to applicants

Lifecycle of the Application

• Initial Screening of Application: During this phase the application will be reviewed for submission of all required information and documentation. Applications deemed incomplete will be returned to the applicant. The applicant may resubmit a complete application at no cost before the deadline.
• Technical Review: During this phase applications will be reviewed based on the criteria posted online. The applicants will receive a summary of strengths and weaknesses of the application. The review may provide advice on future directions for continuous improvement.
• Badge Determination: Applications will be recommended for a 3-year badge, a 2-year badge or no badge, based on the final review.

To apply, complete and submit this online application. To preview the questions, download the application (PDF, 160KB). The online application portal does not save your progress; therefore, we recommend having all materials ready before you start applying.

The fee per application is $75. Resubmission fee is $50. All application fees are nonrefundable.

The scoring rubric for this badge (PDF, 367KB) is available for reference while filling out the application. Regardless of outcome, each complete application will receive feedback regarding their submission.

Badges are scored on a range from 1-3. Badges are awarded for levels 2 and 3 as indicated below:

Level 3: 3-year badge earned  
Applicants demonstrate awareness of principles and show evidence of school-wide integration of the principles. Applicants also provide evidence of a plan for continuous improvement.

Level 2: 2-year badge earned  
Applicants demonstrate awareness of principles and show evidence of school-wide integration of the principles. 

Level 1: no badge  
Application is missing components, shows misinterpreted application of principles or has not evidenced school-wide integration of principles.

Awarded virtual badge can be placed on a website or in printed documents. Schools that earn all individual five badges will also be awarded a banner for display on their school building.

If the school gets on this “honor roll,” the school may be contacted by other schools applying or considering applying for further information and potential visits.

2017

The Odyssey School of Stevenson, Md.