DREAM Charter School’s educational ideas and practices are based on the nine Principles of Learning developed by the University of Pittsburgh’s “Institute of Learning,” under the direction of Dr. Lauren Resnick. These principles lie on the belief that every student is capable of high achievement. By adopting these principles, DREAM ensures that every student reaches his or her potential.

The nine principles are:

1. Organizing for Effort

2. Clear Expectations

3. Fair and Credible Evaluations

4. Recognition of Accomplishment

5. Academic Rigor in a Thinking Curriculum

6. Accountable Talk

7. Socializing Intelligence

8. Management of Learning

9. Learning as Apprenticeship