Visioning Toolkit: Laying the Groundwork for a Community-Wide Vision for Personalized Learning

A district’s vision is central to everything they do and everything they hope to accomplish. If you really want to change the system, a vision must be created by and lived throughout your community.

In this toolkit you’ll find the following resources to help you begin and sustain the work of implementing personalized learning: Guidance on crafting a system-wide vision for personalized learning, incorporating diverse stakeholder voices Questions and considerations for finding the right people to champion the work of personalizing learning Direction on how to identify factors that may impact… Read More ›

10 Game-Changing Ideas in Education

In this article, editors at EdWeek have compiled 10 commentaries that outline exciting ideas in the field of education. For example: In The Secret to Student Engagement authors Chip & Dan Heath assert that “peak moments”, events that represent the culmination of students’ work are remembered long after the event and can create engagement and motivation… Read More ›

Writing Commentaries: The Power of Youth Voice

This video shows a producer from Youth Radio in Oakland, CA working with students to produce their own commentaries. It discusses why commentaries can be powerful tools to spark discussion and stimulate civic engagement. It includes prompts to help students uncover a meaningful story they want to share, components of good commentaries, and tips for… Read More ›

Want to Set Students Up for Success? Make Room for Vulnerability

This article, written by a student, describes the culture at One Stone school in Boise, Idaho. One Stone is a student-led and directed nonprofit committed to making students better leaders and the world a better place. The school is free and open to any student. Much of the work at One Stone occurs through Design… Read More ›

Golden Ticket

This dynamic case study combines narrative, video, data visuals, and photos to tell the story of a vital component of school reform efforts in the Lawrence, MA  Public Schools. The case study provides details on the creation and implementation of Acceleration Academies, week-long opportunities for personalized learning in small class settings  held over February and… Read More ›

ASCD Citizens in the Making Resources

Two resources from the ASCD Express issue  Citizens in the Making highlight ideas and resources for teachers who want to incorporate more project-based projects that will allow   students to use their voices to inact change in their local communities. Teaching for Active Citizenship: Ideas and Resources describes several active citizen projects in which students take on… Read More ›

CoSN Empowered Superintendents Resources

Through the Empowered Superintendents initiative, The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) collaborates with superintendents to assess their challenges and increase their capacities to lead technology efforts to support student learning. The Superintendents Toolkit  is a guide to support leadership in the digital age. It includes two modules, one which examines 5 key roles superintendents must address to… Read More ›

Guide for Creating Trusted Learning Environments

The following guidebook was designed to help communities create positive and safe learning environments for students inside and outside of school, on and off-line. The classroom is moving beyond a physical space to include learning networks enabled by technologies. These environments should advance learning and foster innovation without sacrificing the safety of the learner. To achieve this,… Read More ›

How one Chicago high school turned the corner using full-time internships

This article highlights the intensive internship program at Chicago Technology Academy. The school, which serves predominantly minority students from low-income families, has committed to month-long, full-time internships for all seniors as part of its turnaround efforts focused on project-based learning. The article discusses the academic and social emotional benefits to students who can build confidence,… Read More ›

The Massachusetts Personalized Learning Edtech Consortium (MAPLE)

The Massachusetts Personalized Learning Edtech Consortium (MAPLE) is an initiative of the LearnLaunch Institute and the Massachusetts Department of of Elementary & Secondary Education. This public-private partnership was launched to encourage exchange between peers and increase implementation of student-centered learning tactics and tools in schools across the state. The program has brought together 15 “catalyst… Read More ›

Education Elements Personalized Learning Resources for School Leaders

Education Elements is an organization that works with schools to support adoption of personalized learning and competency-based education. The following white papers can help school leaders tackle implementation, with a focus on digital integration. The Core Four of Personalized Learning: The Elements You Need to Succeed describes each of these elements of successful personalized learning: integrated digital content,… Read More ›