B.Y.O.T Bring Your Own Thoughts Blog | Janice Vargo

Janice Vargo

Janice is an Associate Partner on the Design and Implementation Team at Education Elements. She has supported a diverse group of districts in their personalized learning journey. Prior to Education Elements, Janice was a Senior Consultant for UPD Consulting where she supported state education agencies, K-12 school districts, and nonprofits on a variety of policy and technology projects. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame.

Classrooms | Personalized Learning | School Districts

Six Examples of What Personalized Learning Looks Like

By: Janice Vargo April 18, 2022

Each year we receive hundreds of questions along the lines of, “Okay…so what does personalized learning actually look like?” We have a few answers to this question. One is that personalized learning always involves these core four elements - targeted instruction, data-driven decisions, flexible content, and student reflection and ownership. Check out our Core Four white paper for a more detailed description of these elements, as well as classroom examples.

Our Approach to Strategic Planning in Education

By: Janice Vargo February 13, 2019

The year 2020 is shaping up to be a record year - Summer Olympics, a World Cup, a presidential election, and in the education world, the year many strategic plans expire. As districts gear up to write their next strategic plan, we have mixed feelings about the process. At best, the process provides an opportunity for district leaders to coalesce around a shared vision. At worst, the process consumes valuable hours and produces a document that does little to change individual behavior.

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Innovative Leadership | Personalized Learning

PL Implementation Framework: 1 Year Later

By: Janice Vargo October 18, 2016

One year ago, my colleague Keara Duggan introduced the concept of a “bingo board” for personalized learning, formally known as our Personalized Learning Implementation Framework. This framework outlines the 25 areas we think are essential for a district to effectively launch, support, sustain, and grow personalized learning. What a difference it made in our work! We’ve found that over and over again, the framework has been so helpful to district leaders at all stages

6 Risks to Avoid When Implementing Personalized Learning: Part 2

By: Janice Vargo February 03, 2016

In our first post of this series, we reviewed the first three risks for districts that move to personalized learning: Risk #1: Lack of Clear Vision, Narrative, and Rationale Risk #2: Curricular and Instructional Misalignment Risk #3: Failure to Build Capacity at District and School Level

6 risks to avoid when implementing personalized learning: Part 1

By: Janice Vargo January 27, 2016

The Education Elements team has the great privilege of working with districts across the country to plan, design, and implement personalized learning. Without fail, one of the first questions district leadership teams ask us is, “What have other districts done that we should avoid?”

Clear Signals… And Other Lessons From a Season of Personalized Learning at Fulton county!

By: Janice Vargo November 04, 2015

Wow! The Royals won the World Series and baseball fans everyone are still recovering from the dramatic 12-inning game that capped off a wild and wonderful season.