Still Growing
Danville currently has 30 pilot classes in grades K-8 in mathematics and K-2 in reading. Next year Danville will add additional teachers based upon student and parent interest. For the 2014-2015 school year the entire fourth grade will be "Customized Learning Classrooms." Administrators will continue to make adjustments based on student, teacher, and parent input and will work to align each grade level's process. Professional development will be given to pilot teachers on assessment writing with rigor and higher order thinking during three days this summer (2014).
Garrett plans to continue down the path of personalized learning; however, the path looks different at each building. J.E. Ober Elementary School will continue as a Personalized Learning Academy--personalizing the learning for all students in grades K-5. For the 2014-2015 school year, the LLC (GMS Personalized Learning Program) is committed to expanding and utilizing a more flexible schedule model in which students will sign up for interest-based seminars. There will be more multi-age grouping and greater variety in instructional methods. For high school students, The Garrett Innovation Academy will be known as the ILC next year. They are expanding to serve almost 100 students in this personalized learning environment.
Plymouth plans to come together during the 2014 summer to begin building a curriculum that will better support their vision of personalizing learning for ALL students. Stakeholders plan to create learning progressions that will lead to deeper learning. These progressions will start with the basics a student needs to know and will build up to deeper learning within a unit. The goal is to create clear learning outcomes that are flexible enough to incorporate students interests in a very personal way. This means giving up much of the control surrounding the details of the assignments, projects, and assessments. The results of this summer work will be housed in Canvas, Plymouth's newly adopted learning management system, which will be available to students 24/7. Additionally, personalized learning environments will be expanded into three more grade levels at Webster Elementary and the number of SOLE classes being offered will increase as well.