System design
Educational Transformation
We help schools and education systems connect vision, curriculum, teaching practice, leadership, assessment, and student outcomes.
Open Evidence Page
Partner With ARIE
Advanced Reasoning in Education
Transforming teaching. Strengthening leadership. Improving student outcomes.
ARIE partners with schools, districts, education systems, and organizations to turn ambitious educational goals into sustainable classroom practice.
Our practitioner-led approach combines project-based learning, curriculum design, performance-based assessment, teacher development, model-school leadership, instructional coaching, and implementation support.
Decades of school leadershipReal experience leading and transforming schools.
International experienceEducational work in the United States and international settings.
Practitioner ledLearning led by educators who have implemented what they teach.
Proven school modelsGrounded in implementation, outcomes, and continuous improvement.
About ARIE & what we do
We help educators turn ambitious ideas into systems that last.
Professional learning should change what happens for students, not end when the workshop ends.
Our team includes experienced school leaders, teachers, instructional specialists, curriculum designers, coaches, and practitioners who understand the realities of implementation.
We work alongside educators from initial planning through classroom implementation, coaching, reflection, and continuous improvement.
Whether supporting an individual school or helping strengthen an education system, our goal remains the same:
Build local capacity that continues long after ARIE leaves.How we help
From vision to classroom practice.
ARIE helps institutions align the people, practices, and systems required for meaningful educational transformation.
Educator capacity
Teacher Development
Interactive professional learning gives educators practical strategies while building the deeper instructional capacity needed for long-term improvement.
Open Evidence PageProven in practice
Model School Leadership
Our work is grounded in designing and leading real schools that became models for project-based learning, deeper learning, and sustainable transformation.
Open Evidence PageRigorous learning
Curriculum and Assessment
ARIE supports standards-aligned curriculum and authentic assessment that strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy while advancing deeper learning, reasoning, application, and student performance.
Open Evidence PageAuthentic instruction
Project-Based Learning
We move beyond isolated projects to create rigorous experiences in which students apply knowledge through STEM teaching, authentic problem-solving, meaningful challenges, and real audiences.
Open Evidence PageFrom training to practice
Coaching and Implementation
Classroom observation, instructional coaching, collaborative planning, implementation monitoring, and leadership support make learning sustainable.
Open Evidence PageARIE supports
SchoolsDistrictsUniversitiesMinistriesNonprofitsEducation initiatives
Start here
What are you looking to accomplish?
Choose the path that best matches your needs. Both lead to specific services, evidence, and a direct way to begin.
For schools, districts, and universities
We want professional learning that changes classroom practice.
Explore Think Global PBL Academies, curriculum and assessment design, educational technology, coaching, leadership support, and customized training.
Explore Training Options →For ministries, funders, and regional partnersWe need a partner for transformation at scale.
Review ARIE's capacity in localization, curriculum, technology, educator development, inclusion, monitoring, implementation, and sustainable local capacity.
Review System Readiness →ARIE Foundations Online
Build a rigorous, authentic PBL project at your own pace.
ARIE's complete self-paced Think Global PBL Foundations course includes seven modules, 15 practitioner videos, applied project-building activities, scored assessments, saved progress, and an ARIE Certificate of Completion.
Explore the Online Course$395 individual educator access
Transformation at scale
Ready for complex education system partnerships.
ARIE connects foundational learning, curriculum design, educational technology, teacher development, coaching, leadership, inclusion, measurement, and local capacity in one practical implementation model.
Explore System PartnershipsARIE signature approach
21st Century Educational Transformation through PBL.
ARIE's approach does not abandon foundational skills or academic rigor. It strengthens instruction while creating authentic learning experiences that develop student agency, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, cultural awareness, and real-world problem-solving.
Strong foundations and meaningful application work together. Educators learn how to connect required curriculum to the local culture, community priorities, and future pathways that make learning matter.
Think Global PBL AcademiesProfessional learning designed by practitioners who have lived the work
Flagship program
They experience it, design it, practice it, and prepare to implement it.
Think Global PBL Academies provide immersive professional learning centered on authentic, rigorous, standards-driven project-based instruction. Participants do not simply learn about PBL. They create work they can use.
Project designStandards alignmentAuthentic assessmentStudent inquiryCollaborationAcademic rigorTechnology integrationClassroom cultureCoaching supportSchool leadershipFoundational literacy and numeracySTEM teaching and problem-solving
Programs can be customized for schools, districts, universities, ministries, and educational organizations.
Extended implementation model
ARIE can extend the three-day Academy into a sustained engagement that connects foundational learning, guided design, classroom application, observation, coaching, and local capacity development.
Results that matter
Success should be measurable.
Educational transformation must ultimately improve opportunities and outcomes for students. ARIE is informed by demonstrated experience in academics, growth, college and career readiness, student engagement, and implementation across classrooms.
Featured school model
Cedars International Next Generation High School
An A-rated campus centered on rigorous academics, authentic learning, project-based instruction, college and career readiness, and strong student relationships. The campus earned every available distinction.
Years of educational leadership
More than three decades of designing, leading, and strengthening innovative schools.
National recognition
Recognized by President Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and White House high school redesign leaders.
Across learning levels
Support for educators from kindergarten through higher education.
Field sites for future educators
Manor New Tech served, and Cedars International Next Generation High School currently serves, as a University of Texas at Austin UTeach field site where preservice educators observe and practice project-based instruction.
From training to transformation
Professional learning becomes measurable classroom practice.
ARIE's transformation model treats professional learning, classroom application, observation, coaching, monitoring, and local capacity development as one connected system. It is designed for sustained improvement beyond a short-duration workshop.
Learn
Cohort-based professional learning builds shared instructional expectations through modeling, rehearsal, and collaborative planning.
Plan
Educators translate new practices into classroom-ready literacy, numeracy, and authentic learning experiences aligned to local curriculum.
Apply
Teachers put strategies into practice in real classrooms rather than waiting until professional learning is over.
Observe
Calibrated observation tools document visible teaching practices and identify a limited number of high-impact refinements.
Coach
Targeted feedback, modeling, and reflective coaching help educators reinforce, refine, and extend implementation.
Sustain
Monitoring, leadership engagement, and performance-based local trainer development build lasting system capacity.
Classroom embeddedTraining connects directly to implementation, observation, and feedback.
Evidence orientedDocumented practice informs coaching, program refinement, and accountability.
Designed for contextInclusive, low-technology resources support access across varied school environments.
Built to transferLocal instructional leaders develop through demonstrated practice and coaching participation.
National recognition
More than three decades of leadership, recognized at the highest levels.
ARIE's credibility comes from building, leading, studying, and sharing school models that produced sustained results.
President Barack Obama
President Obama visited Manor New Tech, thanked Principal Zipkes for his work, and highlighted the school's different approach as a model that was working.
Read the White House remarksICLE Model School
The International Center for Leadership in Education documented Manor New Tech's rigorous learning, authentic assessment, technology integration, personalization, and measurable outcomes.
Read the Model School evidenceHigh School Redesign Leadership
Steven Zipkes brought the experience of building and leading Manor New Technology High School to the White House High School Redesign conversation. That practitioner foundation continues to shape ARIE's work.
Explore the national initiative
Watch the recognition
Hear President Obama discuss the approach and results at Manor New Tech.
Watch the President Obama videoInternational impact
Global transformation, demonstrated across 78 Australian schools.
From 2016 to 2019, ARIE supported Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese through Academies, school-based coaching, curriculum support, and leadership learning. The partnership reached more than 3,000 educators across primary and secondary schools.
78Primary and secondary schools
3,000+Educators reached
2016 to 2019Systemwide partnership
Documented impact included increased student engagement, richer inquiry-based learning, and stronger development of the capabilities and learning dispositions central to contemporary education.
“ARIE combines strategic educational leadership with the practical ability to help schools translate ambitious ideas into meaningful improvements in teaching and learning.”
Global impact
Education is local. The need for powerful learning is global.
ARIE experience includes educational work, professional learning, school transformation, and international engagement in the United States, Australia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Poland, and Mexico.
We respect local culture, national priorities, curriculum expectations, community needs, and existing educator expertise. ARIE collaborates to adapt proven practice to the context in which educators and students actually work.
Explore the interactive global mapBuild capacity. Develop local leadership. Create sustainable change.25,000+Educators directly engaged
100,000+Educators reached and influenced worldwide
7Countries represented in ARIE experience
Original ARIE photography
Real educators. Real schools. Real work across the world.
From the original ARIE website
The work is visible.
These are authentic photographs from ARIE's schools, academies, partnerships, and professional learning. Select any image to explore the larger photo archive.
National recognitionPresident Barack Obama with Steven Zipkes at Manor New Technology High School
System partnershipEducators learning together during ARIE's multi-year work in Parramatta, Australia
Think Global PBLAuthentic project design during an ARIE academy in Austin
Global professional learningARIE educators and participants during international professional learning
Classroom implementationCollaborative learning and implementation support in Australia
Educator capacityParticipants applying ARIE's deeper learning design process
China
Professional learning in Beijing, Shenzhen, Hohhot, and Hangzhou.
ARIE worked alongside educators across four Chinese cities, combining authentic project design, standards-aligned assessment, collaborative inquiry, and practical planning for classroom implementation.
Explore ARIE's work in ChinaLeadership
Led by educators who have done the work.
Steven Zipkes Founder and President
Steven Zipkes is an experienced school leader, educational innovator, and advocate for authentic project-based learning and school transformation.
His leadership includes the development and implementation of innovative school models designed around rigorous academics, deeper learning, student engagement, college and career readiness, and authentic real-world learning.
His work has included collaboration with educators and educational organizations in the United States and internationally.
Why ARIE
Professional development is easy to deliver. Transformation is harder.
ARIE is designed for the harder work. Our goal is not dependency on consultants. Our goal is to leave educators and leaders stronger than when we arrived.
TrainingbecomesPractice
IdeasbecomesImplementation
Individual teachersbecomesOrganizational capacity
Isolated projectsbecomesSustainable systems
CompliancebecomesMeaningful student learning
Ready to strengthen teaching and learning?
Bring ARIE to your school, district, organization, or country.
One short inquiry. A direct response from ARIE. No mailing list and no automated sales sequence.
Whether you lead a school, district, university, ministry, nonprofit, or broader education initiative, ARIE can help design an approach aligned to your goals and context.