7 Tips for Planning a Makerspace
This article offers seven practical tips for creating a makerspace using examples from experts who share insights on planning and execution. Makerspaces are informal workshop environments where students can invent, tinker, and build to increase exposure to STEM subjects and technical disciplines. Topics include ideas to establish a maker culture and involve other stakeholders. This article… Read More ›
Personalized Learning in Practice: How a Risk-Taker Tailored Learning in Her District
This in-depth article, from EdWeek’s Leaders to Learn from series, features Patricia Deklotz, superintendent of the Kettle Moraine School District in Wales, WI. Over 17 months, Deklotz and a task force of 25 educators transformed the small district of 4,100 students to a personalized learning model. The article shares the process of this transformation, including what motivated her… Read More ›
Black History Month Resources for the Classroom
This compilation brings together 20 lesson plans and resources created by PBS NewsHour Extra to help teachers quickly find high-quality materials for any classroom to engage in authentic student-driven learning about Black History Month. Topics include historical civil rights events and current events. They include descriptions of the targeted grade-level, materials needed, national standards covered,… Read More ›
An Overview of Personalized Learning for Schools, Families & Communities
This report provides an overview of student-centered learning for families and community members, using parent-friendly language, short explanations, and many examples. The report first outlines the need for and the basics of personalized learning. It explores, through five short case studies, personalized learning in action and how it differs from traditional learning environments. It also… Read More ›
Student Voice in Practice: Burlington High School Help Desk
The Burlington High School (BHS) Help Desk is the heart of the school’s Student Technology Innovation and Integration course. The semester-long course open to students in grades 10-12, provides a hands-on study of technology integration in an educational context. Students are required to assess technology problems submitted by fellow students and teachers and define the… Read More ›
How Lesson Imaging Brings Math and Science Instruction Into Focus
This article, written by an associate professor of mathematics instruction, details the student-centered lesson planning strategy called “lesson imaging”. The author asserts that traditional math and science teaching methods don’t support 21st century skill development. She advocates for a shift to a more student-centered pedagogical approach. In inquiry math and science classrooms the teacher presents a rich… Read More ›
How Do We Ensure Personalized Learning is a True Equity Initiative?
This article discusses the importance of addressing equity as schools embrace personalization. The authors assert that while personalized learning has great potential, ensuring equity, especially for students with disabilities (SWDs) and English Learners (ELLs), requires a lot of work and an ongoing commitment. The authors pose five questions the field should address including whether adequate teacher training and student support systems… Read More ›
Can Blended Learning Improve Equity in One of Nation’s Most Diverse Districts?
This article details the shift of New Jersey’s Morris School District (MSD) to a blended-learning model in an effort to meet diverse student needs. MSD hopes to increase gains for student populations, such as English Language Learners (ELLs) and low-income students, which continue to see slower growth despite overall district improvement. So far, the district has found results at… Read More ›
Evaluating News and Other Sources
This resource combines the short online course, Evaluating News and Other Sources, designed to help older high school and college students understand and assess bias and evaluate sources, as well as an issue of the ASCD Express newsletter, Critical Literacy in the Age of Clickbait, focused on the same topics. Credo Education released its online micro course… Read More ›
Leading Change: The Emerging Human Capital Landscape in Personalized Learning Initiatives
This report describes findings from a study of the human capital landscape in the 21 districts participating in the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top–District (RTT–D) grant program. It explores the various professional roles that RTT–D sites created or modified as they adopted personalized learning. It also examines lessons learned about compensation, hiring… Read More ›
Making Learning Personal for All: The Growing Diversity in Today’s Classroom
The report makes the case for the need to shift to personalized learning to serve growing numbers of diverse learners. It asserts that current models that drive personalization are often overly simplistic and not based on research. The report expresses concern that these over-simplified models risk driving personalization in a way that actually perpetuates achievement gaps… Read More ›
Designing for Equity in Next Generation Learning
This toolkit was created to provide support and inspiration to educators and community members who wish to have more meaningful, transparent and transformative conversations about equitable learning. The toolkit was developed by Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC), an initiative of Educause Learning Initiative, a nonprofit community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to the advancement of… Read More ›