Finding Coherence with RtI and Personalized Learning

One of the constant challenges facing educators is to find coherence in the work we are doing. We need to understand how our efforts relate to and support each other in pursuit of student learning. This task can be difficult, especially in an environment where we are working to transform our education system while also trying to maximize student success in the current system. The relationship between efforts to implement Response to Intervention (RtI) systems and our work to personalize learning offers a good example of this dilemma.

The intent of RtI is to intervene early with students who are not succeeding in response to initial instruction. The goal is to prevent these students from falling so far behind so that they cannot catch-up and keep up with peers and expectations.

The Personalized Learning Initiative advocates a different organization and approach to learning that is committed to getting learning right the first time. The goal of personalized learning is for students to experience their maximum rate of progress as the level of challenge and complexity in their learning grows so that falling behind is not a concern.

The initiatives share the goals of student learning success. Both are committed to assuring that students are able to experience consistent progress in response to learning challenges. Both approaches are designed to facilitate early intervention when students are not experiencing success. They even share a number of strategies and characteristics such as relying on real-time or near real-time data to guide interventions and instructional adjustments and a focus on demonstrated learning progress rather than the amount of time invested. Indeed, several of the strategies employed in an RtI model may well serve educators in supporting students in a personalized learning environment.

However, RtI and personalized learning differ from the perspective of the type of educational systems within which they are presumed and designed to exist. For the most part, RtI is designed to serve within the current system where batch processing of learners and learning is part of the design. Frequent occurrences of failure to learn are predictable and expected in the legacy system. RtI is designed to ameliorate this reality by effectively intervening before students fall too far behind.

An educational system that is designed to support personalized learning is structured differently from the current system. Instruction is designed to wrap around the learner at all times. The framework of a personalized learning approach enables educators to position intervention to occur as soon as the learner needs it. As a result, success is designed in from the beginning and learners are less likely to experience the loss of confidence that too often accompanies repeated failure to learn in the current system. Much remediation today must address the confusion and misconceptions learners may have from “first learning.” If students are able to learn constantly in a way that best fits them, “first learning” is less likely to become a significant barrier.

We need both approaches to support today’s learners. As long as students are expected to learn in the current system we need to have available strategies and structures to intervene early when students are not learning and progressive approaches to increase learning support when initial interventions are not enough. Meanwhile, we need to be expeditious about building and moving toward a new system that has designed in many of these supports from the beginning so that learning struggles can be addressed before they become failures and are more difficult and expensive to address.

Our “split screen” approach to leadership applies here. While increasingly moving to a transformed system that avoids and prevents many of the challenges we face in the current system, we need to support students to find success wherever and how ever we can in the legacy system of learning. Herein lies the coherence of our present reality.

Personalized Learning – A Student’s Perspective

We are very pleased to have Gillian Locke, a senior at Kettle Moraine School Districts’ KM Global Charter School, guest blogging for us this week. Gillian is in a personalized learning environment at KM Global and spoke eloquently about her experiences when she was one of the panelists at our Youth Summit in March.

Unlike most seniors in high school, I have the freedom to choose what I want to do when I wake up each morning.  I am not limited to an 8 hour bell schedule like my peers, nor does my learning stop when I drive off the high school parking lot at 2:30 pm. I don’t have to just do homework in the evenings, and don’t even have to go to classes during the day. Being a part of Kettle Moraine’s new charter school KM Global allows me to direct my learning on my own.

I have two classes in the traditional high school, physics and orchestra, because these were classes I wanted to take with traditional instruction. The rest of my classes are a mix of different formats-I’m getting my English credit this semester, for example, through project work. I’ve spent the entire semester studying in-depth about the topic of my choice. I work with my advisor to make sure I’m meeting the right standards and learning targets, but am free to take the direction of my project where I choose. Some classes, like my AP Comparative Politics and French classes, are what we call blended courses, because these classes combine traditional textbook work and note taking with online assignments, discussions over internet sites like Moodle, and independent research. And then there’s my Global Leadership course, which takes place through seminar work. Every Wednesday, you can find all of the what we call ‘Globalers’ in a little room at Kettle Moraine High School, discussing current events, creating resumes, listening to guest speakers, and participating in team building workshops. To say the least, KM Global is so much more than just an online school.

Because I have so many options, and different formats for learning, I have become a lot more in tune with how I learn best. For example, I’ve learned that I do best by having group discussions and writing things down, but this may not be the case for every other student. This is ok, because other students have different routes they can take, such as building projects, listening to lectures, doing independent research, reading information, watching information, etc. No Global student is limited to just one thing, and that’s what makes my education interesting. I am free to take it where I want it to go, and when I have control over what I’m doing every day, it makes my day so much more enjoyable. I’ve noticed too that when I’m enjoying my learning, I learn better. What I learn in a day is more etched into my mind than what it might’ve been had I been learning in a generic format in the traditional high school. It’s also easier to make personal connections to what you learn, when you’re the one in control of learning it, and we all know that personally connecting to what you’re learning cements it more in your mind, and gives you a better understanding of it.  I am more confident in my studies this year than I ever have been, and look forward to using the tricks and tools I’ve learned for myself next year when I go on to the college level.

For some students, the current system works really well. For others, small changes and creative ideas (whether in Charter schools or elsewhere) could be of great benefit. By no means is our traditional system a failure, or ‘wrong’-the fact of the matter is there is no right or wrong answer for all students. Every student is different, and each one needs different things. Every school in the US has the potential to deliver personalized learning to each of its students-it will just take some creativity, some time, and some dedicated students, administrators, and teachers. Charter schools like KM Global are an amazing and wonderful opportunity, but we can take what works in the charter schools and create new ideas that we can implement in traditional schools as well. I hope giving you an idea of what my experience has been like in the charter schools has given you some ideas of what we can do in every school, and for every student. I am optimistic about the future of education in the US. Together, we can create systems that allow each student to learn and grow in the best way possible.

Transforming Learning Practices at Richmond School

This week the Institute is pleased to have a guest blogger. In this post George Zimmer, Superintendent of Richmond School, talks about their transformational journey.

It is becoming more apparent that public education can no longer adopt a “one size fits all” teaching philosophy if today’s students are going to be fully prepared for the challenges of tomorrow’s world. Technology has drastically changed the landscape of teaching and learning.  No longer are teachers the purveyors of knowledge and information.  Already twelve years into the 21st Century, it is time our schools and classrooms move forward and take advantage of the 24/7 learning online environment and implement systems that promote and support personalized learning models.  In short, districts must seize opportunities to deliberately transform learning.

According to experts, transformative learning is personalized learning which consists of student profiles, relevant and meaningful learning activities, a technological emphasis, and competency-based assessments.  At Richmond School District, we began our transformative learning journey seven years ago.  Over the years, our model has evolved and it now embraces proficiency based staff development, peer coaching, technological fluency, external and internal benchmarking, and strong team collaboration.

At Richmond School, not only do our teachers set annual SMART goals, but so do each of our preK – 8th grade students.  Each student reviews his or her own assessment data and develops a SMART goal.  Regularly students monitor their own progress.  Each month teachers individually conference with students on goal attainment.

Parents are an essential component of our district’s transformative learning plan.  Parents are informed about their child’s goal progress and they have the opportunity to attend a number of evening parent workshops.

Teachers develop SMART goals each fall.  Goal accomplishments are measured through student outcomes.  At the end of this school year, teachers will submit a 3-5 minute video documenting their own SMART goal implementation and results.  These videos will then be available for all staff to review and study as part of our bigger professional learning community.

The journey into actually transforming learning practices is unique to each school and district.  Our own journey into transformative learning with personalized learning models has been both challenging and rewarding.  As a staff, we continue to find more opportunities to reflect, revise and of course celebrate. We want our parents to view Richmond School District as their school of choice.

Personalized Learning for All Students

This week’s post is by Jean Garrity, Assistant Director at the Institute. 

A school ought to be a magical place where you are queen or king, and where what you get to do is focus on your intellect, and on what you can accomplish as a human being, and you come to understand what your life can be.  That’s what school should be for children.  Not a place where you go to study for a standardized test. Not a place where you go where you hear every day about the problems that you are. Not a place where you go where people tell you that you are under-performing. Not a place where you go where people tell you that you are part of some pathology (Ruth Simmons, Inaugural Address, Brown University, 2001).

No one would argue that we all want the best for each of our students. We all want school to be a positive, productive place, where every child can do their best. For the struggling or disengaged student, however, school isn’t always this kind of place. Think of the student who often sits back and tries to blend in. Think of the student who finds classwork too easy or too difficult, or simply is not interested in what’s being taught. Think of the student whose learning style doesn’t align with the teaching style, causing further disengagement.  Personalized learning can re-energize and re-engage these students by fostering choice and active learning. Personalized learning has been found to be especially effective for at-risk or struggling students. Many of our districts in the CESA #1 region have shown remarkable gains for kids who used to struggle in math, for example; many of whom had behavioral challenges related to their dislike for the subject, and their feelings of powerlessness over their inability to find success in the class.

Struggling students require significant amounts of time and attention, and relying on a century-old approach to education will not help these students move forward and find success. When learning is personalized, teachers use assessment data to identify the starting point in the curriculum where students can be successful, creating learning paths that engage students in their own development. Personalized learning also makes learning relevant by engaging students in real-world problem solving connected to academic content.   Progress is based on proficiency of learning, not on seat time or standardized tests.

For these reasons and many others, it is imperative that we offer personalized learning opportunities to all students, not only those who are already achieving at high levels. Personalizing learning will promote achievement, engagement and ultimately ownership for all students, and if we give our kids who struggle a chance, they just might surprise us.

Reflections on the Youth Summit

This week the Institute is pleased to have a guest blogger. In this post Mark Bichler, a Business Education Teacher at Port Washington High School, reflects on last week’s Youth Summit, hosted by the Institute.

This past week’s Youth Summit at Carroll University turned out to be an eye-opening experience for everyone in the room that morning. There were over one hundred students from many school districts throughout CESA 1. It was amazing to see the different personalities, learning styles, and student interests all gathered in a room with one common focus: how can we make education work best for everyone. The day worked as sort of a Focus Group Theme. I believe the Institute can use the results to make something happen.

To someone in the classroom, this is something I have always focused on in my own room, and I am sure that many educators have done the same in their own classroom. The events of the Youth Summit were an opportunity to take this “individual” movement into a “movement of the masses” – one that might have more success when it is something that can be seen as successful in many districts. Best of all, the reactions of the day at the Summit were those of the true experts: The Students! We have opportunities for districts starting down the path of innovation to use as a model in our creations. I encourage all districts to contact those presenting at the Youth Summit!

It was wonderful to see the students engaged in several activities throughout the day, but even more powerful were the questions and concrete ideas that they were able to generate for the Institute. The panel presentation from several students/districts gave my students an opportunity to see how “real schools” are doing things differently to meet the needs of students at multiple levels. The next challenge is to take the videos, presentations, and work from the summit and make it work for districts around Southeast Wisconsin. I know that several of my students were interviewed, videotaped, etc. and the common theme that came back to us was that people actually wanted their input to make positive change. It’s time to act as districts, let’s revitalize education before someone does it for us.

From a classroom teacher’s perspective, there are definitely challenges that lie ahead of us no doubt. I believe we are on the right path in involving the students in the say of how their education can work best for them. We need to continue to keep these eager students engaged and involved. As educators we have virtually unlimited resources at our finger tips. Let’s not forget to use one valuable resource – Today’s Voice – Students!

Mark Bichler
Port Washington High School

A Look Ahead to the Youth Summit

We are excitedly anticipating next week’s Youth Summit at Carroll University. Over one hundred middle and high school students have already committed to attend the half-day gathering. Students are being provided a link to a video by Sir Ken Robinson in advance of the gathering to stimulate their thinking and prepare them for the event.

This is the first large scale gathering of students around education transformation and personalized learning since April of 2010. So, we plan to share with students ideas and emerging practices from across CESA #1 that are moving education and learning away from the traditional “batch processing” approach and toward a customized/personalized experience. We will also be looking for their reactions and ideas.

Students will have the opportunity to register their opinions using audience response technology and then engage in conversation around their responses. Meanwhile, we will be compiling a database of perspectives and preferences from learners about our current work and where it might lead in the future.

A panel of students who are already experiencing a more personalized learning environment will share their reflections and observations with attendees. Following the presentations of student panel members, participants will have an opportunity to interact with the panel in a Q and A session.

In addition, students will view a video on personalized learning, then react to what they have seen and provide advice regarding how they would like to see the ideas and concepts applied in their learning environment. We anticipate that the input we receive from students will provide valuable guidance as we continue planning as a region and further develop a model for personalizing learning at scale.

Personalized Professional Development

This week’s post is by Jean Garrity, Assistant Director at the Institute. 

Were you ever asked to attend a workshop about a subject you already knew a lot about?  Have you ever wondered how you could use what you just learned in a workshop with your students?  Moving toward a system of personalized learning requires a retooling of our current educational workforce as well as our approach to professional development.  Educators need to be facilitators of learning, rather than owners of content. The role of the educator is changing, and the old model of “sit and get” professional development is not able to provide the results educators need to be successful in a personalized learning environment.

We know that by personalizing learning for each student, we can capitalize on student strengths and preferred modes of learning, while addressing individual student needs as they occur.  Why not do the same for our educators?  How powerful could professional development be if we engaged educators in their own personalized learning?

Rather than bringing groups of educators together for a face-to-face workshop with pre-determined, generalized objectives, personalized professional development is based on a clear set of standards educators need to be proficient in to be successful.   Pre-assessment data that identifies strengths, weaknesses, and learning preferences in relation to these standards and other special areas of learning are compiled into individual learner profiles.  These profiles serve as the foundation for the development of learning plans, created by the educators themselves, often in conjunction with a learning coach. This personalized professional development can take place anytime – anywhere, and can truly meet the learning needs of the individual educator.

How is personalized professional development good for educators?  In a personalized professional development system, educators are able to focus on their greatest areas of need and key areas for growth, working on only those areas that they need most.    Learning is personalized to educator learning preferences and styles.  Perhaps most importantly, educators learn first-hand what it is like to learn in a personalized learning environment.

We know personalized learning will not replace an educator’s professional judgment, guidance, relationship skills or knowledge of students and motivation.  We also know, however, that educators need to engage in professional development in order to build the skill sets necessary to effectively facilitate learning in a personalized environment.

Breaking Down Our Change Strategy – Part 3

This blog post wraps up our in-depth look at the change strategy that the Institute is using to help frame the work of personalizing learning for all students. In previous posts we discussed changes to learning and teaching, and relationships and roles, both of which serve as the foundation for the final area of change: structures and policies.

Structures and Policies

When significant changes are made to learning and teaching, the roles of both students and teachers will change, as will the relationships between them. Organizations will undoubtedly begin to feel pressure as these new ways of learning “bump up” against existing structures such as schedule, calendar, student groupings or grading practices.  Stakeholders involved in personalized learning will clamor for the flexibility necessary to truly transform public education into a student-centered environment. This is when conversations about changing existing structures should begin to take place.

These conversations may be difficult because changes to the status quo can be uncomfortable for those involved. However, because the models and modules of innovation were fully explored and tested in the first two phases of change, a solid foundation will have been laid. Those involved will understand that structural changes are necessary in order to make the vision of getting learning right for all students a reality.

Generally it is after structural issues have been addressed that policies are changed, since the strength and purpose of policy is to stabilize a system and practices. In this last phase we will see an innovative system, fully transformed.

 

Personalized Learning Using Digital Tools

In support of the first ever Digital Learning Day, the Institute @ CESA #1 is pleased to release a series of videos that highlight projects underway in several of our districts. We hope that these short clips will help others outside of our region understand what “it” looks like – what we mean when we talk about student-centered, personalized learning.

What you will see and hear when you look at the clips is an overarching theme that, while digital tools and media can certainly help aid the process of personalization for students and make it more easily scalable, if student-centered learning is to be truly successful and sustainable, it cannot only be about the technology. These projects are not technology projects – they are learning and teaching projects, focused on determining the right tools and blend of instruction that works best for each student.

We hope you enjoy the videos – we will continue to add to our video library as the personalized learning model evolves.

Breaking Down Our Change Strategy – Part 2

A couple of weeks ago we began to examine the change strategy the Institute is using to help frame our work of personalizing learning for all students. The first area we discussed was change to learning and teaching, which we feel must be at the nexus of any significant change to education. This week we will explore the next area of change: relationships and roles.

Relationships and Roles

Educators who make a commitment to engage in modules of personalization within their classrooms is a great start, but in order to build capacity and take it to scale, change must be made to the relationships and roles of both educators and students.  Specialized roles for educators that tap into individual strengths and interests will be identified and developed. These may include coaches, content experts and assessment specialists, as well as others. Educators will no longer be isolated within their classrooms, but instead will work collaboratively with each other and with students. Moving to these new roles will require “re-tooling” and support for educators. This support must be personalized, just-in-time, and when and where they need it.

Student roles will change as well. Incorporating student voice is a key component to the success of personalized learning. Students must be allowed to have a say in determining how they learn best and the path they will take to get there.  This level of involvement will occur along a continuum, from more instructor-driven in the early years to a more student-driven approach in the later years.  This enables students to develop the skills to become life-long independent learners, skills they will need in our increasingly complex world.

Over the next year we will engage with districts in the CESA #1 region that are ready and willing to take some of the innovative modules that affect learning and teaching and begin to pull them together into part of an innovative model that will affect relationships and roles. We will also engage with students to incorporate their voice into our transformational work. These changes will inevitably put additional pressure on our next area of change: structure and policy.

Innovative model