District Conditions for Creating Systemic Impact

At the heart of a successful implementation of personalized, competency-based learning is:

• A community-wide shared vision that guides all decision making
• A student-centered district-wide culture that encourages agency and risk-taking for teachers, leaders and learners
• Transparency about what is expected of students both inside and outside of school walls, and how everyone has a role in pursuing the vision.
• System-wide alignment across ten district conditions:  curriculum, instruction, assessment systems, learning environments, student supports, professional development, leadership development, technology policy, data systems and community partnerships.

Our paper, District Conditions for Scale: A Practical Guide for Scaling Personalized Learning^©, explores the essential elements for successfully scaling personalized learning district-wide, based on in-depth research with districts across the country.

Building the capacity of district leaders and teachers is equally critical, and developing a keen understanding of the needs and strengths of your learning community is a great place to start. A companion paper, The Shifting Paradigm of Teaching, explores the impact of these conditions on teachers and their changing roles in a new system.

District Conditions for Scale: A Practical Guide to Scaling Personalized Learning^©

What are the conditions that a K-12 school district should put in place to support the scaling of personalized learning?
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The Shifting Paradigm of Teaching: Personalized Learning According to Teachers

Based on interviews with teachers, instructional coaches and principals, this resource explores what drives educators to build personalized learning environments in the classroom. It also provides excerpts from educator interviews and teacher reflections on how vision, culture and transparency have impacted personalized learning implementation.
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How Culture, Transparency and Vision Apply to Personalized Learning

One superintendent reflects on how these themes influence every part of his district’s work to implement personalized, competency-based education.
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How Do We Move to Learning Systems with Personalized Learning at the Core?

How do we move from the isolated examples of personalized learning to whole systems designed around providing personalized learning options for all students? How do we build a school system, a learning system, with personalized learning at the core?
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