Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind
This archived webinar from the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) discusses the book Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind, written by Bena Kallick and Allison Zmuda. The authors discuss the four attributes they feel are critical to personalized learning: voice, cocreation, social construction, and self-discovery. They note that a… Read More ›
Defining Student-Centered Learning
This two-page overview of student-centered learning was developed by Meriden Public Schools based on the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s, Putting Students at the Center: A Reference Guide. It provides short descriptions of the main tenets of student-centered learning: student-owned, personalized, occurs anytime, anywhere, and is mastery-based. It also details what students and teachers should look… Read More ›
Helping Struggling Students Build a Growth Mindset
This article, written by two veteran researchers of brain and education science, presents five strategies to help struggling students develop positive outlooks on their learning capabilities. The authors outline the potential positive outcomes for students who have developed a growth mindset. The strategies the authors share include, creating student success files (a continually updated collection that… Read More ›
Designing New School Models: A Practical Guide
This school design guide, written by Springpoint, a group of school design experts, outlines a student-centered approach to designing innovative school models where students can be active agents in their own development. The guide was compiled from best practices gathered over four years while working with districts, networks, and charter management organizations around the country… Read More ›
Breaking Down Silos with the Student-Centered Learning Research Collaborative
Here’s an alarming thought: What if our educational research questions, policies, and practices sometimes arise as much from ignorance as they do from evidence? I’m wondering this because I have a confession: When I was a middle school teacher, I never read educational research. Mostly this was because I had little time to do so… Read More ›
Our Top 16 from 2016
As the excitement of the ball dropping and the year’s end fades into a cold and dreary January (at least here in Boston), we’re taking a moment to reflect and share our most-visited resources from 2016. We’re pleased to see that so many of the most accessed resources touch on important hopes and goals for… Read More ›
Redesigning for Student Success: Student-Centered Secondary Schools Showcase
This student-centered professional development showcase brings together 20 of the nation’s most innovative and successful secondary schools from across the country, including schools in New England, to share their high school redesign programs and strategies. These schools have achieved success with diverse populations through the implementation of innovative, student-centered practices. The showcase will provide administrators,… Read More ›
XQ Expert Series: Technology and Learning for an Interconnected World
This video podcast series, created by XQ America, a national movement to rethink high school, and hosted by Michelle Cahill, a distinguished fellow in education and youth development for the National Center for Civic Innovation, gives an opportunity to listen in on conversations with leaders in education as they discuss a wide variety of education related… Read More ›
Beginning Your Journey to a More Learner-Centered Classroom
In this article on pages 7-10 in Issue 17 of Pioneer, Dr. Jim Rickabaugh, the Senior Advisor to the Institute for Personalized Learning and a former Superintendent, attempts to answer the question for teachers, “Where do I start?”. He suggests beginning with small changes in the classroom, starting with giving students more voice and choice… Read More ›
Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners: The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance, A Critical Literature Review
This frequently-cited report from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research provides a comprehensive review of the connection between noncognitive factors and academic success based on existing research. After a literature review of over 400 resources, the authors organized a large number of noncognitive traits, skills, behaviors, and attitudes into five categories. The report… Read More ›
Starting Small and other Takeaways for Advancing Student-Centered Learning
Last week, I attended the Advancing Student-Centered Learning Forum in Devens, MA. This forum was hosted by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. It provided a platform for school and education leaders to discuss the landscape of education in Massachusetts, and how educators with supportive policy can help students excel through personalized, student-centered… Read More ›
Discipline Through a Personalized Learning Lens
This article, written by a former secondary school teacher, shares strategies for harnessing the fundamental principles of personalized learning to help with discipline. The author asserts that a disciplinary culture that uses a personalized learning lens may help transition schools away from punitive, zero-tolerance policies, and create more empowered and successful students. She makes several suggestions, such… Read More ›