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Opportunity Education

If you memorize the answers,
what happens when the questions change?

Life moves fast and raises new questions every day.

Yet today’s education experience is built mostly on static knowledge and rote memorization.

Our goal is to equip students with the mindset, habits and skills to succeed in life and work, and to create value for themselves, their communities, and society.

Opportunity Education is a U.S.-based foundation that helps students, teachers and schools improve primary and secondary education worldwide.

Our flagship program, Quest Forward Learning, empowers students with skills-forward academic materials, teachers with effective methods and tools for mentoring, and high schools with the most innovative digital learning capabilities available today.

Watch how Quest Forward Learning empowers learners to create value.

Looking for a better high school education?

Quest Forward Learning is available worldwide and in different forms:

In our Schools

Quest Forward Academies

Private schools designed by Opportunity Education that run entirely on the Quest Forward method, creating the most innovative and high-quality learning experience. Quest Forward Academies prepare students for success in life and work, while helping them master the academic requirements of high school.

See the academies

In the Classroom

Quest Forward Schools

Private or public schools that use Quest Forward Learning for some of their academic and life-skills work, with thoughtful mentoring from experienced educators, trained and supported by Opportunity Education.

Find a school

In the World

Quest Forward Programs

Programs for developing life and career skills, or mastery of academic materials, which may be offered in a school context or by non-school organizations with deep subject matter expertise.

Learn more

Get Quest Forward Learning

Want to see Quest Forward Learning at your local high school?

Get Quest Forward

Quest Forward Learning serves the needs of students, parents, teachers, and school leaders—all with the goal of providing a better learning experience.

Hear from...

Students & Parents

Learn what makes Quest Forward Learning a truly student-focused education, hear from students and parents who have experienced it for themselves, 
and see where to find our Academies, Schools and Programs.

Hear from...

Teachers

Find out how our mentoring approach will help 
your students fully engage in learning, and give you the necessary tools and support to succeed as 
a mentor.

Hear from...

School Leaders

See the key components of Quest Forward Learning, how to introduce it at your school, and learn about our step-by-step implementation process.

See how Quest Forward Learning gets students out of their chairs and into the world.

Learning requires action.

To succeed in life and work, young people need different skills. Gaining skills requires active engagement, practice, and feedback.

Inspired by rigorous learning design principles, Quest Forward Learning ensures that students work actively every day and learn through discovery and practice. Supported by teachers who work as mentors, students acquire the mindset, essential habits, and skills to see and seize opportunities all around them. In addition to meeting academic standards, they learn to be curious, to collaborate, to solve real-world problems, persist through challenges and setbacks, and to live an integrated life.

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See how technology can be used effectively in the classroom.

Deeply connected learning.

Most students use technology in school and life, yet all too often, it serves the wrong goal.

Instead of trying to make classrooms efficient, the Quest Forward Platform apps enable students to discover knowledge at their own pace and work closely with their peers and mentors. Teachers can mentor each student with rich information on the students’ needs, providing targeted feedback, and effective opportunities for growth.

See how

Quests ensure students learn and retain what is relevant to them.

Relevant and engaging content.

When learning shifts from content consumption to discovery, new curricular materials are needed.

Quest Forward Learning uses “quests”—well-structured projects with curated, relevant resources—to enable students to discover knowledge and practice skills. Each quest is designed for relevance to the student, incorporates collaboration and feedback from peers and mentors, and focuses on development of competences and skills.

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Quest!

Learners are able to submit reviews of quests.
Every quest gets rated in terms of the effort required by the learner.
At the center of every quest is the production of an artifact.
Every quest starts with a Driving Question.

Sample Quests

What’s Native, What’s Not?

Which species belong where in a globalized world?

Overview

As globalization makes us more connected with people and places around the world, what happens to natural ecosystems, species, and cultures? How have humans reshaped the world? In this quest, you will consider these questions in the context of fire ants, kudzu, raccoons, parrots, and pigs--all on the move in our globalized world.

Artifacts
  • Create a plan for handling or managing a controversial species
Course: Social Science

What is the value in seeing nature as the enemy? What happens when humankind loses in the fight against nature? Explore texts, ideas, and historical events, all of which depict humans and nature in a struggle against each other.

Love Not War

What do you do when you believe those with power are using it for something that is wrong?

Overview

We often come across things in our daily lives that do not seem right to us. War is one of those things that many feel this way about. Throughout most of American history, people have actively supported the government and the military in times of war. This was especially true in World War I and World War II, but that has not always been the case. Research how Americans reacted to the war in Vietnam, and connect that to similar movements in the US today.

Artifacts
  • Create something that could be used to support a modern protest movement that interests you
Course: Social Science

Evaluate arguments made for and against different forms of authority. Are the arguments good? How can they be used as evidence?

Land Art

What is the relationship between art and nature?

Overview

Nature often inspires art, but what happens when artists use nature to make their art? In this quest you will look at some works by the artist Andy Goldsworthy. From fallen trees to piles of rocks, Goldsworthy's pieces make his audience think about the relationship between art and nature, and humans and nature.

Artifacts
  • Create an art appreciation for a work by Andy Goldsworthy.
Course: Reading, Writing, Thinking

Explore the ways writers and thinkers have championed a positive relationship between humans and nature. What do we gain when we work with nature, and, in some cases, view ourselves as the enemy? And if nature is necessary for our physical and psychological well being, how do engage with it in the right ways?

Be Careful What You Like

How are you participating in a market economy through your use of social media sites?

Overview

Did you know that Facebook made billions of dollars in 2017? Wait. How? Facebook doesn't sell anything. Right? In this quest you'll learn how social media sites like Facebook make money, and explore how you are contributing to their success.

Artifacts
  • Summarize how Facebook makes money and how consumers contribute to its success using your own personal example of placing an ad
Course: Reading, Writing, Thinking

How do incentives and supply and demand impact our lives today?

This I Believe

What core values drive your daily life?

Overview

Could you summarize your core beliefs in a single essay? What if that essay were so short it could be read out loud in under four minutes? That's the challenge for this quest! You will be engaging with the radio program This I Believe, which, for over fifty years, has been asking people, "What do you believe?"

Artifacts
  • Complete a brainstorming activity handout
Course: Reading, Writing, Thinking

How do you convey something you believe? Explore a variety of ways to share your beliefs and opinions with others, including personal essays, persuasive speeches and paragraphs, and even commercials.

One Giant Leap

How do you know that bungee jumping is safe?

Overview

Bungee jumping - it can be thrilling and terrifying at the same time! How do you know that bungee jumping is safe? In order for bungee jumping to be exciting and safe, the bungee has to be just the right length. Experiment by creating a bungee jumping experience for a toy or small object. To figure out the right length of "rope," you will start with some very short jumps, and then use math to predict how much "rope" you will need for a big 4 meter jump. Test the limits and discover what bungee jumping has to do with math.

Artifacts
  • A video of your experiment, including the model you used to make the prediction and a reflection on your model.
Course: Math

Analyze data and determine which type or types of model are most appropriate for a given circumstance and use non-technical language to explain the reasoning behind your mathematical thinking.

Global Reach, Local Relevance

Quest Forward Learning is available globally, with locally developed, relevant quests and courses for high school students. Through its Primary Schools Program, Opportunity Education has provided educational materials to over 1,700 schools in eleven countries, reaching over 1 million elementary students.

Quest Forward Academy Santa Rosa

Quest Forward Academy Omaha is a private high school located on the campus of Bellevue University, outside of Omaha, NE. The Academy was designed by OE, and operates independently with the Quest Forward methodology, curriculum and technology platform. Students work with Quest Forward courses and quests for all subjects, and follow a weekly schedule optimized for active, discovery-oriented learning.

Quest Forward Academy Omaha

Quest Forward Academy Omaha is a private high school located on the campus of Bellevue University, outside of Omaha, NE. The Academy was designed by OE, and operates independently with the Quest Forward methodology, curriculum and technology platform. Students work with Quest Forward courses and quests for all subjects, and follow a weekly schedule optimized for active, discovery-oriented learning.

Thinking by Design — Bellevue University

Bellevue University offers a design thinking course called “Thinking by Design” to its first-year students. The course teaches students to use design thinking to identify and develop solutions for real-world problems in their community, and is built on the Quest Forward methodology.

Nicaragua

Two high schools in Nicaragua have implemented Quest Forward Learning to enhance their SAT agricultural high school curriculum.

Launch Montgomery — Rockville, Maryland

Launch Montgomery is sponsored by Montgomery County, MD, for underserved young adults ages 18-25. The program enables students to gain essential entrepreneurship skills with mentoring from experienced executives.

Upward Bound, UMD — College Park, Maryland

Upward Bound is the pre-college studies program at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, and it attracts high-potential high school students from Prince Georges County, MD for mentored learning. Upward Bound uses Quest Forward Learning method, curricula and technology in all of the academic courses, and also offers its student OE's Me to We empathy skills course.

Glasgow Middle School — Fairfax, Virginia

Glasgow Middle School is a public school in Fairfax County, VA. Glasgow offers Quest Forward Learning to 8th grade students during their Flexible Instruction Time, to enrich and personalize the standard academic offering.

Maya Angelou Charter School — Washington, D.C.

Maya Angelou Public Charter School integrates Quest Forward curriculum into 9th, 11th and 12th grade classes in Math and English.

Sierra Leone

OE supports 10 primary schools in Sierra Leone.

Ghana

OE supports 133 primary schools in Ghana.

Cameroon

OE supports 40 primary schools in Cameroon.

South Africa

OE supports 79 primary schools in South Africa.

Lesotho

OE supports 15 primary schools in Lesotho.

Zambia

OE supports 123 primary schools in Sri Lanka.

Uganda

OE supports 443 primary schools in Uganda.

Tanzania

There are 7 Quest Forward schools in Tanzania: Ekenyma, Uroki, Natiro, Bishop Moshi, Agape, Marangu Hills, and Mtakuja. OE also supports 400 primary schools in all regions of Tanzania.

Sri Lanka

OE supports 29 primary schools in Sri Lanka.

India

OE supports 329 primary schools in India.

Nepal

OE supports 37 primary schools in Nepal.

United States

OE has connected 1,033 sister schools in the United States with OE Primary Program Schools.

Australia

OE has connected 2 sister schools in Australia with OE Primary Program Schools.

Bahamas

OE has connected 2 sister schools in the Bahamas with OE Primary Program Schools.

Brazil

OE has connected one sister school in Brazil with OE Primary Program Schools.

Canada

OE has connected 13 sister schools in Canada with OE Primary Program Schools.

France

OE has connected 2 sister schools in France with OE Primary Program Schools.

Indonesia

OE has connected one sister school in Indonesia with OE Primary Program Schools.

Mexico

OE has connected one sister school in Mexico with OE Primary Program Schools.

New Zealand

New Zealand has one sister school.

Nicaragua

OE has connected one sister school in Nicaragua with OE Primary Program Schools.

Northern Ireland

OE has connected one sister school in Northern Ireland with OE Primary Program Schools.

South Korea

OE has connected 2 sister schools in South Korea with OE Primary Program Schools.

Turkey

OE has connected 3 sister schools in Turkey with OE Primary Program Schools.

United Kingdom

OE has connected 9 sister schools in the UK with OE Primary Program Schools.

Recent News

October 22, 2018

Meet Ed Vogel: Building Community with Words

As a new mentor this year at Quest Forward Academy Omaha, Ed Vogel is particularly attuned to how words empower students to communicate ideas and enable mentors to facilitate discussion.

October 18, 2018

Customizing the Classroom: Differentiation in Quest Forward Learning

October 15, 2018

The Power of Mindset

October 11, 2018

The Myth of Digital Natives

View More News

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