IT'S THE KIDS!
Educating Future Generations
by Barbara Barnes
A Real-World Learning Framework Teaching K-12 Students Skills for Life, Work, Citizenship and Service
BOOKS
Barbara Barnes has written several books: It's the Kids!, an engaging overview and history of the project; The Power of Partnerships, which describes roles and examples of corporate and community Partners; and the It's the Kids! Ultimate Curriculum Guide, which contains projects, examples, templates, and assessment criteria.
IT’S THE KIDS!
In this book, I feature numerous innovative educational experiences, and identify the student achievement in each example. The eight chapters in this memoir all identify exceptional leadership, teacher professionalism, investigative real-world learning, portfolio assessments, integrated technologies, extensive parent involvement, and school choice, as well as numerous private-sector partnerships.​
Barbara Barnes, Creator of It's the Kids!
Barbara Barnes, one of the greatest leaders I have ever known, gives you a whirlwind tour of her life as a difference-maker in public education and, at the very same time, lays out a powerful positive
Joel Barker, Futurist, Filmmaker, Author
With this pathfinding work, Barbara Barnes has succinctly and persuasively tied together the various strands of modernization and reform in our public schools: corporate partnerships with the private sector, emphasis on creative and individualized student portfolios rather than standardized, multiple-choice testing, cross-age peer mentoring in K-8 “magnet”-type schools, emphasis on multi-cultural understanding, teacher pay and tenure based on periodic reviews of student performance, and collaborative local control over instructional methodologies and curriculum by teachers, parents, and principals. And all this in a highly readable text of less than 150 pages! Definitely a book well worth reading and recommending to all those concerned about improving public education at ALL levels.
Carl E. Schwarz, Ph. D.
Professor of Political Science, University of California
THE POWER OF
PARTNERSHIPS
The purpose of this book is to encourage Private Sector PARTNERS to promote high-level learning, provide real-world content and the latest technology skills, help ALL students develop a positive plan for their future, and keep them safe digitally and in their schools.
POSSIBILITIES
• Host students at your company

• Provide career information

• Share specific content with real world applications
• Apply organizational strategies to improve schools
• Help students understand finance and investments
IT’S THE KIDS!
ULTIMATE CURRICULUM GUIDE
It's the Kids! is an integrated curriculum involving real-world-based projects, mixed-age-group learners, community partners, portfolio assessments and content standards. It is the culmination of over 10 years of research and testing by the EFG Curriculum Collaborative, a non-profit created by Barbara Barnes which workshopped, developed, and implemented this extraordinary curriculum in the US, the UK, South Africa and New Zealand.
This book contains both an overview of the history and conceptual framework behind the curriculum as well as an in-depth dive into the details and implementation of the curriculum, including projects, examples, core skills, partnerships, parental involvement, and assessment criteria across several competency levels.