Implementing Customized Learning can certainly seem like a daunting task! I have written previously about the need to find a way to think of approaching implementation in a manageable way.

In reviewing the work of other schools and organizations further along in the process of implementing Customized Learning than we are, there are lessons for school leaders about effective and less effective approaches to implementation. By looking at the contrasts between the implementation efforts of an initiative that works and those that do not, educators can learn something about what the successful schools have done and what the less successful schools might not have done.

One of the major lessons for leaders has been “not all at once!”

There are many components to the school reform effort, and following a certain sequence seems to lead to successful implementation more often than other processes. Although there is flexibility in how districts implement each phase, successful implementation of Customized Learning moves through these five phases:

• Awareness Phase
• Classroom Culture Phase
• Instructional Design Phase
• Instructional Implementation Phase
• School Structures Phase

Each phase focuses on building the capacity of teachers to implement a system of Customized Learning, but by making the transition manageable by breaking it down into doable steps. Below is an overview (the “deliverables,” if you will) for each phase:

Awareness Phase (In the Current System)

• Overall Goals for this Phase: Examine our collective beliefs about learning and school; Start to build a mental picture of Customized Learning
• Own the Learning Training (Customized Learning Awareness)
• Shared Vision, Burning Platform, Beliefs of Learning Documents Established
• Able to Articulate Beliefs of Learning, Vision, Mission
• Explore How Beliefs Match Practice
• Familiarity with Curriculum Organization
• Start to Make Learning Transparent to Students
• Able to Articulate Basic Information about Customized Learning and a Student Centered Environment

 

Classroom Culture Phase (In the Current System)

• Overall Goals for this Phase: More consistently create a learner-centered classroom culture, including procedural efficiencies; Make the curriculum more transparent and navigable to students
• Classroom Design & Delivery Training
• Create a Learner Centered Culture that Honors Student Voice and Choice
• Create Procedural Efficiency in a Learner Centered Classroom (e.g. Rules, Student Input, Standard Operating Procedures)
• Tracks Student Progress on Specific Learning Goals/Targets vs Activities/Assignments
• Learning is Transparent so Students Can Navigate Their Own Learning (e.g. Student Goal Setting, Use of Curriculum Organization)
• Initial Use of Mission, Vision, etc., as Decision-Making Screen
• Recognize It Is Not About the Tools, But Rather About How the Tools Are Used (Parking Lot, SOPs, PDCAs, Code of Cooperation, Affinity Charts, etc.)

 

Instructional Design Phase (In the Current System)

• Overall Goal for this Phase: Designing lessons and units for Customized Learning that reflect instruction for both lower-level and higher-level thinking
• Instructional Design & Delivery Training
• Balanced Instructional Model
• Unpacking Learning Targets with Students
• Instruction Organized Around Measurement Topics (Curriculum Model)
• Student Self Pacing & Acceleration
• Instruction for Lower Taxonomy Levels (e.g. identifies online resources for Level 2 Goals)
• Instruction for Upper Taxonomy Levels (e.g. Seminars, Projects, etc.)
• Consistent Use of Mission, Vision, etc., as Decision-Making Screen
• Separates Academic Feedback from Non-Academic Feedback

 

Instructional Implementation Phase (In an Evolving System)

• Overall Goal for this Phase: Become skilled at consistently implementing the practices (motivation, interventions, grading and assessment, etc.) to carry out the lessons and units.
• Has and Uses an Explicit Model/Language of Instruction (e.g. The Art & Science of Teaching)
• Uses a System of Recording and Reporting Student Progress
• Use of Individualized Learning Plans
• Applies Assessment for Learning (Formative Feedback)
• Uses Formative Approach to Calculate Progress and Rubrics, Instead of Points and Percentages
• Applies Effective Practices in Student Motivation & Engagement
• Demonstrating Proficiency on Learning Targets Through Different Approaches (Multiple Pathways)

 

Structure Phase (The New System)

• Overall Goal for this Phase: Design and implement the schools systems and structures to support pedagogical practices developed and implemented over the previous phases.
• Grading and Reporting System
• “Rank & Advancement” (Grade Levels)
• Scheduling Students
• Grouping and Regrouping of Students
• Course Organization (Seminars, “Merit Badges,” etc.)
• Understands and Embraces Invention Reasoning

 

We are quick to point out that staff are alway free to “dabble” a phase or two ahead of where they are now. In fact, their explorations often help us figure out how to better implement the coming phases. Using the term “dabble” also helps make clear that, although their explorations are welcome, their task is to get good at the deliverables for the phase they are currently in.

Here is a phases chart you can share with your staff.