By: Education Elements on November 18th, 2016
LELA Fellowship Graduates Its Third Cohort of Personalized Learning Leaders
District Partners in the News | Ed Elements in the News | Press Release
The 10 district leaders selected as the third cohort of the prestigious Lexington Education Leadership Award Fellowship completed their personalized learning fellowship with a celebration in Washington DC on November 9, 2016.
The morning after the 2016 presidential election results came in ten school district leaders from across the country came together with their district teams in Washington DC as the final component of a six month personalized learning fellowship. The 60 educators worked together, with mentors and graphic facilitators, to define and illustrate their visions for preparing students for college and career.
The Lexington Education Leadership Award Fellowship was designed to support districts in their efforts to personalize learning. Launched in April 2015, this celebration marked the graduation of its 3rd cohort, bringing the total number of districts to 30.
“I have enjoyed working with each cohort,” said Don Soifer, Executive Director of the Lexington Institute. “We learned a tremendous amount from the first two groups that helped us to even better support the 10 leaders who just graduated.”
The two day Washington DC event included workshops with facilitation by Education Elements and Graphic Footprints to help each district define their reasons for shifting to personalized learning, the impact it would have on students and the next steps in their journey. Participants also worked with the mentors, a set of district leaders from across the country who have been recognized as pioneers in the space. This year’s mentors included: Suzie Alka and Rindy Ward from Yuma District One (AZ), Dr. James Bailey from Leading Learners Institute (WY), Matt Akin from Piedmont City School District (AL), Dena Cushenberry and Ryan Russell from Warren Township (IN), Cindy Ambrose from Loudoun County Public Schools (VA) and Amy Creeden from Enlarged City School District of Middletown (NY).
Selected through a highly competitive application process, the district leaders were from across the country and districts varied by size, percentage of student qualified for free and reduced lunch, and stage in their personalized learning journey. The 10 fellowship graduates are: Donald R Bavis (Marion Central School District, NY), Scott Todd Feder (Millstone Township School District, NJ), Jill Gildea (Fremont School District 79, IL), Alicia Henderson (Bellevue Union School District, CA), Dr. Brian Lane (Mehlville School District, MO), Dan Lawson (Tullahoma City Schools, TN), Irene Parisi (Greenwich Public Schools, CT), Tara Paul (Estherville Lincoln Central CSD, IA), Quiauna Scott, Ed.D (New Haven Unified School District, CA) and Chris Summers (West Oso ISD, TX).
The Lexington Institute selected California-based Education Elements to manage the fellowship and provide support to the district leaders. Through a combination of virtual working sessions, on-site strategy sessions, webinars and the graphic facilitation, LELA fellows worked with their teams to codify their vision and their plan.
“The LELA Fellowship has been one of the best professional learning experiences I have participated in during my 22 years in education. As a district leader, the LELA program has allowed me to develop the competency and confidence levels of all my district leaders and teacher leaders around personalized learning,” said Chris Summers, Director of Curriculum and Instruction in West Oso ISD. “We were challenged along the way to think deeply and critically about personalized learning and how it will allow us to meet the unique needs of all of our students and our staff. Education Elements provided stellar support in this process and demonstrated why they are national leaders in helping district leaders implement personalized learning essentials.”
The Lexington Institute will launch its fourth cohort soon. Email lela@lexingtoninstitute.org to be added to a notification list.
About Lexington Institute: The Lexington Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy think headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 1998, its major areas of focus include education, national security, energy and logistics. Please visit lexingtoninstitute.org/category/education/ to learn more.
About Education Elements: Education Elements works with districts to build and support dynamic school systems that meet the needs of every learner, today and tomorrow. They take the time to understand the unique challenges school leaders face, and then customize the Education Elements approach for each district. Ed Elements has worked with hundreds of districts across the country. They bring deep expertise, design thinking, expert facilitation and the spirit of collaboration, along with their extensive toolkit of resources and technology, to deliver sustainable results. Please visit http://www.edelements.com to learn more.
###
