RI Personalized Learning Initiative
The Rhode Island (RI) Personalized Learning Initiative was launched in September 2016 by the Rhode Island Office of Innovation with the Rhode Island Department of Education, Highlander Institute, and other partners. It supports educators and administrators statewide in the development, piloting, and growth of new models for personalized learning; and facilitates the sharing of best practices and… Read More ›
Making Students Partners Rather Than Pawns in the Change Process
What if we had a window into the thoughts and beliefs of students experiencing the transition to a student-centered model? How would the insights inform our strategies to support young people through this paradigm shift? How might students, themselves, be advocates for these changes? Some believe that it is the adults who are reluctant to… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
How Personalized Learning Starts with Less Teacher Talk, More Student Voice
This was originally posted on Edsurge on January 25, 2017 as part of the EdSurge Fifty States Project. Two of my students stared at me, and then at each other. Each held up a sheet of graph paper, but their graphs were different. And then, one of them asked the question I knew was coming. “But,… Read More ›
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 ›
A Close-Up Look at How a Workshop Framework Can Enhance Personalized Learning
Originally posted on CompetencyWorks, January 19, 2017. When I started teaching first grade over twenty-five years ago, I quickly realized that I was going to need additional strategies and support in order to help each of my students become independent readers and writers. The research and work of Donald Graves had a profound impact on… Read More ›
The EdSurge Guide to Becoming a Future Ready Leader
This guide from EdSurge is designed to help superintendents and district leaders plan for and implement personalized learning. It is a collaboration with Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education designed to help schools transform teaching pedagogy and leverage technology to personalize learning. The guide is aligned with the Future Ready… Read More ›
If You Do Any of These Four Activities in Your Classroom, You’re Already Personalizing Learning
In this article, a fourth-grade teacher discusses four teaching strategies that can personalize learning experiences for elementary students: passion projects, virtual field trips, alternative self-assessments, and student blogging. The author provides a description of each, discusses how they personalize learning, and lists tech tools and resources to use in the classroom. This article can help… Read More ›