Our 2017-2018 Annual Report is Here! Expanded support for Texas, badging at Lakota Local Schools, Fresno's #AsYetImagined Futures
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SEPTEMBER 2018
FEATURED NEWS
Focus on School, District, and Regional Transformation: The 2017-2018 Annual Reportis Here! This report marks eight years since Education Elements was founded, and our fifth such report. The goal of this report is to highlight the incredible work of our district partners, and to share how our work is evolving to continue to build and support dynamic school systems that meet the needs of every learner, today and tomorrow.
ON OUR MINDS
All Across Texas
We are excited to expand our support for students, schools, and districts across the state of Texas. In the 2018-2019 school year we are engaged in a number of exciting projects.
In Temple ISD we're training and coaching for teachers and principals across thirteen K-12 schools to design and implement blended learning models.
In Dallas ISD we're supporting two elementary schools to deeply implement personalized learning. This work builds off of a personalized learning principal bootcamp we led for 25 school administrators across 15 schools.
We're also working with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and Dallas ISD to support a seven-school math innovation zone in Dallas through strategy and coaching at the district and school level.
We are continuing the build the capacity of CAST Tech High which opened last year in San Antonio.
Finally, we've partnered up with the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) to provide resources and professional development.
Lakota Local Schools, Ohio
Education Elements is working with Lakota to design and launch a successful program that effectively engages, informs, and involves parents in the launch of 1:1 devices at the junior high schools.
Lakota's 1:1 program puts devices in the hands of students, setting the foundation for students to become designers and drivers of their own learning journey.
The devices also open up new channels for communication between teachers/administrators and parents, families, and the communities of support around students.
Badging will help to ensure that students and their families have the knowledge necessary to use the tools at their fingertips.
Parents, teachers, and district leaders participated in a half-day strategy session where they experienced design thinking to develop and prioritize the badges for the engagement program. They were divided up into design teams. Each design team had a Lakota student persona which was developed based on the empathy interviews with students and parents in June. They followed the student’s journey throughout the year and identified how badging would support the needs of the students. Then, the district leadership and Education Elements spent the afternoon at each junior high school testing out the prototypes with students and actively engaging them in how they could effectively roll out these badges to the student population. The students in Lakota are excited to own this process of their learning and begin sharing with their family the learning that’s happening inside and outside of school.
Unlocking Time Coalition
We are proud to be a member of the Unlocking Time coalition, a hub for free resources such as a visual encyclopedia of bell schedules, case studies from schools across the country, and practical strategies for implementation. The core resource of the Unlocking Time initiative is the free School Time Assessment, which helps schools explore how changes to the school calendar, schedule, academic programming, and staff time can fuel student-centered learning. We encourage you to take the School Time Assessment for your schools, and explore the other resources at Unlocking Time.
DESIGN SPOTLIGHT
Fresno Unified School District - Student-Centered Learning for #AsYetImagined Futures
Each student comes with a different story, unique strengths, and their own set of challenges. Districts are no different and therefore it is our first priority to work with each district to gather the history and context that will shape the work that we set out to do together.
We have partnered with Fresno Unified School District to help deepen its Personalized Learning Initiative (PLI) as it moves into its third year. The goal of PLI is greater personalized learning in and beyond the classroom through high-quality instruction where technology is used with intentionality, collaboration is the norm, and student voice is activated.
PLI began at Fresno Unified in 2016 when 220 teachers opted in to the first cohort that would work towards instructional shifts that personalized learning for students. In year two they supported 10 partner sites and a second cohort of another 165 teachers for a total of 360+ PLI teachers who were committed to these instructional shifts. In 2018-19, we’ll be supporting 26 partner site across the district. These 26 sites will receive professional learning offered by the district focused on the intentional integration of technology within instruction, while Education Elements provides an additional layer of support as we guide them through the design and implementation of blended models that foster a personalized learning environment.
Seeing as Fresno Unified had a solid foundation for PLI at the start of the Education Elements partnership, our team conducted a great amount of knowledge building in order to be able to provide support that is tailored to their unique needs. We worked with the district project team to better understand the PLI goals, the work that has already been in place, their Instructional Practice Guides that would serve as the foundational pillars of our work, and the Fresno Graduate Profile that serves as the vision for Fresno students.
In May, we conducted Readiness Assessments at each of the 26 sites in order to gather school specific context, strengths, and uncover opportunities for growth. As a district team, we will leverage findings from these visits to set design expectations that will act as guardrails as schools dive into our design process. While the work with schools has just begun, it is important to highlight the behind the scenes work that goes into planning for support - in classrooms, schools, and districts alike.
RESOURCES
Teacher Retention: 8 Design Elements
FEATURED BLOG
New Bedfellows: the Marriage of Personalized Learning and High-Quality Curriculum
By Noah Dougherty Unexpected pairings are a common feature throughout history and culture; Dharma and Greg, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia, Frog and Toad, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg. Opposites attract when they have a shared purpose and their strengths complement one another.
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