[From a Symposium on Personalized Learning interview series by New Media Partner edReformer.com]
Symposium speaker Roberta Selleck, Superintendent Adam’s County School District 50, Colorado talks about her district’s shift from a teacher-led to a student-centric learning system.
What is the vision for personalized learning?
We just finished our first year using non-graded time as a variable this year, in other words, grade levels went away as we know it. They are based in their instructional level, not their frustration level. That’s a huge paradigm shift. The words we are using are mass customization. We recognize that every child is unique, so we must look at every child as a unique individual. Where are they on that continuum so that we can help them continue that academic unique journey?
Where does personalization intersect with equity?
We certainly believe that what happens in our traditional system is a travesty. The kdis are put on a conveyor belt, and nine months later they are popped out and for the most part if they are almost ready to go to the next level, they go, regardless. That for us is not equity. We have broken that model and tried to look at each child as an indidvidual. It’s not the teacher just talking about her 25 kids in the class. All teachers are owning all kids’ education and graduation goals, even at the elementary level. We all have a piece of the game.
I wish people could come and really see this in action. Once a month, we host these tours and we have 25 and 30 people, come, we put it in context. We put it in the classroom. These kids can clearly articulate what their goals are, and where they are at, academically. What it is they are working on, and they can tell you what they know, and they can tell you what they don’t know. It’s really remarkable to see. Kids are not shy about sharing that with others.
Read more of the inteview on the challenges being addressed, system design, curriculum and technology, teacher role and professional development, and opportunity for public-private software development partnership. Read more about the Adams County initiative.