Personalized Learning Empowers Students to Go Farther than Before

The Challenge

LCPS serves a rapidly growing community, as the county’s population has doubled since 2000. Additionally, LCPS consistently ranks near the top of all Virginia districts on traditional measures of school performance. Despite these successes, LCPS wanted to go beyond state assessments and empower all students to make meaningful contributions to the world.  The school division’s goal is to  ensure that students graduate as knowledgeable critical thinkers, communicators, collaborators, creators and contributors. LCPS believes that solving authentic, challenging problems is at the heart of student learning.

How We Helped

In Spring 2016, Education Elements worked with LCPS to create an application process for schools interested in personalized learning. As a result, 15 elementary and middle schools shifted to a personalized approach, as well as 12 secondary teachers. The response from schools was so positive that in fall 2017, 10 more schools will launch personalized learning. Additionally, Education Elements facilitated a meeting with LCPS and a graphic artist to articulate how personalized learning, project-based learning, and the district’s instructional vision called One to the World all fit together.

The Results

While LCPS is early in their implementation, they are already seeing shifts in student engagement. After only a few months of using personalized learning instructional models, 68% of teachers report that students are more engaged in class and 72% of teachers feel more effective since starting personalized learning.

Additionally, spring classroom visits indicated that:

• 98% of classrooms had routines and procedures in place to promote positive and productive engagement;
• 93% of teachers leading small groups were using the group to facilitate a discussion, conference with students, or assist students;
• 92% of the classrooms had established clear routines for students to troubleshoot technology without needing to ask the teacher for help;
• 80% of classrooms had clear and observable use of data;
• 68% of classrooms were either actively reflecting on their learning or had clear plans for students to reflect that day.