{"id":11405,"date":"2015-11-16T12:16:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T17:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lexingtoninstitute.org\/?p=11405"},"modified":"2015-11-16T12:16:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T17:16:22","slug":"personalized-learning-produces-positive-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexingtoninstitute.org\/personalized-learning-produces-positive-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Personalized Learning Produces Positive Outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe longer students experience personalized learning practices, the greater their growth in achievement,\u201d according to new research by the RAND Corporation<\/a>.\u00a0 The report, entitled Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning<\/em>, is an important contribution to understanding whether personalized learning is producing results and how it is being implemented.<\/p>\n <\/a>With the advent of new technology platforms and digital content, scaling personalized learning is emerging in blended learning settings around the country.\u00a0 It is crucial to understand what benefits it is yielding.<\/p>\n While there is not a single definition of personalized learning, practitioners have identified key elements, including:<\/p>\n The achievement outcomes identified in the study are strong and indicative of the great potential for personalized learning to be transformative:<\/p>\n Darwin J. Stiffler, Superintendent Yuma School District One and one of the nation\u2019s leading practitioners of personalized learning, observed, \u201cThe outcomes we are seeing from schools that are using high-quality personalized learning models are extremely encouraging.\u00a0 In order to achieve their potential, it is critical that personalized learning be implemented strategically, with as strong a focus on pedagogy and addressing students\u2019 specific educational needs as on the technology itself.”<\/p>\n It should be noted that the report also found some mixed results across the schools studied, with only some schools seeing very large gains, while a few saw little or even negative effects. In addition, overall achievement gains were largest for students in lower grade levels.<\/p>\n Importantly, the study looked at implementation practices and teacher perceptions of personalized learning models and strategies.\u00a0 The characteristics of schools implementing quality personalized learning included:<\/p>\n Relative to a national sample, more teachers surveyed used technology for personalization, incorporated competency-based learning, and agreed their schools’ data system was useful.<\/p>\n Highlighting the need for sustained and quality professional development, teachers in the study noted that the need to develop personalized content and lessons could be an obstacle to effective implementation. Further, the report found that a majority of teachers expressed a need for help translating data into instructional steps, but most teachers reported using a variety of data sources on a regular basis.<\/p>\n Most every educator strives to provide personalized learning and every student and parent wants it. Technology can enable reaching that goal consistently and at scale; the questions are how to do it for all students in classrooms, schools, and districts, and with what models and practices.<\/p>\n Scalable personalized learning models are new, with evolving pedagogies and support.\u00a0 This poses a challenge to researchers seeking to establish best practices with definitive efficacy research.\u00a0 Worthy contributions to the research base come from SRI International<\/a>,\u00a0the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation<\/a>, and the Christensen Institute<\/a>, which look at schools and districts implementing personalized and blended learning.<\/p>\n While there is more to learn, we are encouraged by the early findings and with the RAND report\u2019s conclusion that \u201cthese findings suggest the impact of personalized learning and its effects on student achievement are promising.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe longer students experience personalized learning practices, the greater their growth in achievement,\u201d according to new research by the RAND Corporation.\u00a0 The report, entitled Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning, is an important contribution to understanding whether personalized learning is producing results and how it is being implemented. With the advent of new technology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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