New PBLWorks and ASCD Book Supports Education Leaders in Creating Conditions for Gold Standard PBL to Thrive

“Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide” is co-authored by PBLWorks CEO Bob Lenz and Managing Director of Digital Curriculum Dr. Lisa Mireles

San Rafael, CA (December 4, 2025) – Project Based Learning (PBL) is a powerful educational approach that promotes deeper learning and benefits all students, especially those who often experience systemic and institutional barriers. To guide education leaders in creating environments where Gold Standard PBL thrives in their schools and districts, two of the nation’s leading PBL experts, Bob Lenz, CEO of PBLWorks, and Dr. Lisa Mireles, PBLWorks’ Managing Director of Digital Curriculum, co-authored a new book, “Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide.”

“Project Based Learning isn’t just for students who are excelling, or those who are struggling, or those who attend middle-class suburban schools. Project Based Learning is for all students,” said Lenz. “Education leaders are critical to creating the culture and conditions needed for PBL to thrive, and our book serves as a guide to help them create these conditions, providing opportunities for all students to experience deeper learning.”

The book is a co-publication of ASCD(Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and PBLWorks, and it is filled with powerful stories and testimonials from the field that illuminate what transformative Gold Standard PBL looks like in practice. This book offers leaders step-by-step guidance and a roadmap for removing obstacles, expanding deeper learning, and creating conditions where every young person has the opportunity to succeed. It is available for purchase from PBLWorks, ASCD, and Amazon.

Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide provides detailed frameworks and research to support the use of PBL in schools and a road map for implementing it in a school or district. Illustrated by examples from the field, the book takes readers step-by-step through:

●       Crafting a vision for widespread PBL

●       Developing a supportive culture for its adoption

●       Designing the infrastructure to make it possible

●       Building capacity in teachers and staff to effectively develop and assess PBL with students of all ages

●       Measuring impact for the continuous improvement of PBL implementation

The steps are augmented with reflection prompts, rubrics, templates, and action plans to help leaders navigate the process.

The book provides both inspiration and critical guidance to empower education leaders.

“You can implement PBL in any school, and in any setting. You just have to start. You have to be brave, and you have to lead with your heart,” said Mireles. “We wrote this book to help give school and district leaders the inspiration, confidence, and specific guidance to get started because we have seen first-hand the power and impact great PBL can have on schools, teachers, and most importantly, on students.”

The book is already receiving praise from education thought leaders nationwide.

“Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide is an extraordinary gift to educational leaders and systems-change agents alike,” said Carlos Moreno, co-executive director of Big Picture Learning and author of Finding Your Leadership Soul: What Our Students Can Teach Us About Love, Care, and Vulnerability. “With deep moral clarity and practical wisdom, Bob Lenz and Lisa Mireles provide more than a road map . . . they offer a soulful invitation to lead with purpose, equity, and hope.”

Katie Martin, co-founder and co-CEO of Learner-Centered Collaborative and author of Evolving Education and Learner-Centered Innovation, called the book “a must-read for leaders committed to meaningful, systemic change.”

Laura McBain, managing director of the Stanford d.school said, “It's the book I wish I'd had at the start: a trusted design guide to imagine boldly, lead with purpose, and create deeper learning experiences for each and every student. This is your design guide to the future.”

About the Authors:

Bob Lenz is the CEO of PBLWorks (formerly Buck Institute for Education). His commitment to advancing racial equity in education has driven his efforts to expand deeper learning for all students. His early career as a middle and high school teacher inspired him to co-found Envision Education, which developed innovative project-based schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as Envision's CEO and chief of innovation from 2001 to 2015.

Dr. Lisa Mireles is the Managing Director of Digital Curriculum at PBLWorks. She is recognized as an expert in leadership for Project Based Learning and in leveraging digital tools to accelerate deeper learning. A seasoned school and district leader, Mireles co-founded the Kauaʻi Educational Leadership Alliance and the Hawaiʻi chapter of the Society for Technology in Education, and has helped lead Hawaiʻi's Leading Schools of the Future conference for over a decade.

To hear more from the authors about Project Based Learning for All: A Leader's Guide, watch the trailer video.

About PBLWorks

The Buck Institute for Education/PBLWorks believes that all students, especially Black and Brown students, should have access to high-quality Project Based Learning to deepen their learning and achieve success in college, career, and life. Its focus is on building the capacity of teachers to design and facilitate high-quality Project Based Learning, and on supporting school and system leaders in creating the conditions for these teachers to succeed with all students.

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