Eighth grader Mercedes Gay loves having choices at school.
But those choices are more meaningful than deciding between a 鈥渇ishwich鈥� sandwich or an Asian chicken salad in the cafeteria at DelSesto Middle School in the . Mercedes sets her own learning targets, works at her own pace, and in classes such as social studies, she has the power to do a podcast or a slide presentation as the finale of a project.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to watch a teacher write stuff on the board and copy it down,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a fast learner, so I don鈥檛 have to wait on everyone else鈥檚 speed.鈥�
Giving students that level of control over their own learning is a high priority in the 24,000-student Providence school system.
Four years ago, the district began gradually adopting a personalized learning approach based on either a model from instructional providers or the . Now, 25 of the district鈥檚 39 schools use one of the two models, said Superintendent Christopher Maher. And though the role of the teacher in those programs has moved from instructor to facilitator, and the curriculum is primarily digital, the success of personalized learning relies on the connection students and teachers forge, he said.
鈥淎 lot of this comes down to relationships,鈥� he said. 鈥淣one of this works without great teaching.鈥�
鈥業 Was Not a Huge Fan鈥�
Before personalized instruction became a priority in the Providence district, classes were extremely scripted and focused mainly on direct instruction. Teachers of the same subject were expected to be on the same chapter in the same textbook on the same day, Maher said. And students had few choices about what they were learning and how they were learning it.
But with stagnating test scores, the district was searching for a better way.
Maher, however, had to be persuaded to try personalized learning.
鈥淚 was not a huge fan,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought it was a technology-based intervention that focused too little on standards and pedagogy and curriculum.鈥�
That is not how it has evolved in the district.
To be sure, technology plays a big role. The district has a 1-to-1 computing initiative, and many students use digital curricula provided by Summit.
But there are also important elements of the program that are not focused on digital devices or software. Probably the biggest one is that students have a lot more control over their learning than in the past. They move through coursework at their own pace and assessments allow them to skip material they already know. They set their own learning goals. A dashboard of sorts allows them to track their progress.
At Providence鈥檚 E-Cubed Academy high school, 9th grade biology teacher Haley Smith has a lot of small-group or one-on-one interaction with students. She emphasizes the 鈥渨hy鈥� behind goal-setting and creates different versions of assignments鈥攐ne for the general group, a scaffolded version with supports for special education students, and a translated or simplified version for English-learners. This level of planning is more deliberate and sophisticated than it was before the district embraced personalized learning.
Through mentoring, Smith helps students consider the type of learner they are and choose educational options accordingly. Students often decide on their own when they think they鈥檝e mastered content and are ready to take a test.
No Victory Laps Yet
On an October day in Smith鈥檚 class, she met with a group of six students who were a bit behind on the concept of evidence for evolution. Smith had given students a choice between studying independently or opting into a 鈥渨orkshop鈥� with her. During the meeting, she reviewed key objectives the students should have grasped, then the six took a content assessment. Four passed.
Freshman Sarah Keith was among those who passed. She said she prefers tracking her own progress and choosing her own path. 鈥淚 like videos instead of reading the text,鈥� she said.
But this learning is linked to state and district standards, said Thomas Flanagan, the district鈥檚 chief academic officer. 鈥淲e emphasize standards first as the core around which we do our work,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are a lot of guardrails.鈥�
Superintendent Maher puts it simply: 鈥淎utonomy does not mean anarchy.鈥�
But too much student autonomy, however, may do them a disservice, said Benjamin Riley, the executive director of Deans for Impact. 鈥淐ognitive thinking is hard. Learning is hard鈥攊t鈥檚 like a muscle you鈥檙e exercising,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ot everyone is self-driven.鈥�
But Flanagan says teacher input and strict adherence to standards can mitigate that issue. 鈥淪tudents still need to be able to write, and they must meet that standard,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut they can choose what they write about.鈥�
While differentiation is possible without technology, personalizing the learning experience the way Providence does would be impossible without ed tech, Maher said. It allows teachers to group students differently on a daily basis, to pinpoint deficits, to respond quickly. It鈥檚 a big change for teachers, which has increased the need for targeted training, he said.
DelSesto Principal Arzinia Gill said she sees those efforts working. Because the school adopted a personalized learning model in its three different academies gradually, she can compare test scores of students using personalized learning and students in traditional programs. Attendance is higher in the academy which dove into personalized learning first, and suspensions there are the lowest of the three. But arguably more important is that reading and math scores doubled compared with the other two academies. 鈥淭hat was huge for us,鈥� she said.
Still, it鈥檚 harder to see across the district as a whole, Maher said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e building the foundation, we believe in it, and we鈥檙e seeing some signs of improvement,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not taking any victory laps yet.鈥�
Student Voices
鈥淲ith my projects I get to make a lot of choices [about how to present information]. I like being self-directed. I don鈥檛 have to watch a teacher write stuff on the board and copy it down.鈥�
鈥�Mercedes Gay, 8th Grade, DelSesto Middle School
鈥淲hen we set our own goal and we reach it, it makes you feel awesome. I鈥檓 pushing myself more to do better and to master it. I know if I set that goal, I have to get it done on time.鈥�
鈥�Sarah Keith, 9th Grade, E-Cubed Academy
