{"id":10759,"date":"2015-07-01T10:35:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T14:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lexingtoninstitute.org\/?p=10759"},"modified":"2016-04-13T07:01:40","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T11:01:40","slug":"personalizing-educational-excellence-in-the-arizona-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexingtoninstitute.org\/personalizing-educational-excellence-in-the-arizona-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Personalizing Educational Excellence in the Arizona Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/h2>\n

This Fall, Arizona\u2019s Yuma Elementary School District One will become the nation\u2019s first traditional school district to convert to a districtwide personalized learning model for all students in all schools.\u00a0 Superintendent Darwin Stiffler and instructional team studied blended learning models from around the country, and one right in Yuma, carefully evaluating their own students\u2019 educational needs in making the deliberate choices they felt necessary for the success of their own model.\u00a0 Details follow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Adding the Right Tools<\/h2>\n

On Yuma Elementary School District One\u2019s website, the feature that stands out most prominently is its \u201cCountdown to Personalized Learning.\u201d \u00a0Amid multicolored balloons, a clock indicates the days, hours and minutes until August 10, 2015 \u2013 the scheduled launch date for a districtwide conversion to a new personalized learning model for all students.<\/p>\n

Yuma is a city of 93,000 in the Southwest Arizona desert, not far from the California and Mexican borders.\u00a0 Local educators have joked for years that the community, whose high school mascot has been The Criminals for the past 100 hundred years, is not widely regarded as a cauldron of cutting-edge education innovation.\u00a0 But it is fast becoming home to an exciting initiative to improve educational opportunity for children \u2014 offering a glimpse of what might be possible for students nationwide.<\/p>\n

Schools embracing classroom technology is not unique, but this may be the nation\u2019s first example of an entire school district making the transition to a personalized learning instructional model all at one time.\u00a0 In Yuma, it is as much about learning as it is about the technology.\u00a0 District leaders have worked to design a new instructional model for students and support model for teachers utilizing state-of-the-art digital learning software, computer devices and dedicated training for teachers they feel will best meet the educational needs of the 9,000 students they serve in kindergarten through eighth grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our goal that personalized learning will marshal increased student engagement, bolster differentiated instruction, and foster an environment of increased communication between students, educators, and parents,\u201d explains Superintendent Darwin Stiffler. \u201cThis initiative will not only enhance each student\u2019s educational experience, but will intentionally add the tools necessary for our educators to be better equipped for a 21st<\/span>\u00a0century education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meeting Educational Needs<\/h2>\n
\"Educators<\/a>

Educators from Yuma Elementary School District One working to design and implement their innovative personalized learning instructional program.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Arizona\u2019s eighth grade reading proficiency rates have held somewhat below national averages, with 28 percent scoring at proficient or above.\u00a0 Yuma\u2019s students have generally performed slightly lower than state averages.\u00a0 Passing scores on the state AIMS reading test in the Yuma elementary school district, 72 percent, trailed the 78 percent state average in 2013 and 2014.<\/p>\n

Statewide, Arizona\u2019s $7,500 total per student spending level is the nation\u2019s fourth lowest.\u00a0 State-level school funding fell 18 percent between 2008 and 2015.\u00a0 And while school spending is down, the number of students enrolled in Arizona\u2019s public schools are predicted to continue growing faster than just about anywhere else.<\/p>\n

A human capital challenge is also a factor for many Arizona school districts, with experienced educators seeking new opportunities elsewhere or retiring, producing an acute statewide shortage of qualified teachers.<\/p>\n

Finally, a by-the-numbers look at Yuma\u2019s student population suggests that building a school culture of educational excellence will involve addressing a range of other factors:<\/p>\n