What do you think?
Rate this book
Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning: A Roadmap for School Leaders
In this powerful new book, James Rickabaugh, former superintendent and current director of the Institute for Personalized Learning (IPL), presents the groundbreaking results of the Institute's half-decade of research, development, and a simple but powerful model for personalizing students' learning experiences by building their levels of commitment, ownership, and independence.
Tried and rigorously tested in urban, suburban, and rural districts—and in different academic and economic settings—the IPL model has been proven to enhance student engagement and achievement at all levels. Rickabaugh provides principals and other top-level leaders with
* Step-by-step guidance for implementing the model;
* A detailed overview of the research and work behind the model's development;
* A complete introduction to the heart of the model—a comprehensive, multi-layered framework centered on the three core components of learner profiles, customized learning paths, and proficiency-based progress;
* Tools and activities for assessing and adjusting the model to meet the specific needs of students and staff;
* Strategies for increasing and reinforcing enthusiasm for the change process among everyone involved, from the classroom to the greater community; and
* An abundance of real-life examples and reflections from students, teachers, principals, and superintendents whose schools have flourished in record time and with minimal additional funding or resources.
Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning offers a blueprint that dramatically improves student outcomes and prepares today's learners to meet life's challenges in college and beyond.
Tried and rigorously tested in urban, suburban, and rural districts—and in different academic and economic settings—the IPL model has been proven to enhance student engagement and achievement at all levels. Rickabaugh provides principals and other top-level leaders with
* Step-by-step guidance for implementing the model;
* A detailed overview of the research and work behind the model's development;
* A complete introduction to the heart of the model—a comprehensive, multi-layered framework centered on the three core components of learner profiles, customized learning paths, and proficiency-based progress;
* Tools and activities for assessing and adjusting the model to meet the specific needs of students and staff;
* Strategies for increasing and reinforcing enthusiasm for the change process among everyone involved, from the classroom to the greater community; and
* An abundance of real-life examples and reflections from students, teachers, principals, and superintendents whose schools have flourished in record time and with minimal additional funding or resources.
Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning offers a blueprint that dramatically improves student outcomes and prepares today's learners to meet life's challenges in college and beyond.
- GenresEducationNonfiction
148 pages, Paperback
Published February 24, 2016
8 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 11, 2020
This is a must read if you plan to implement Personalized Learning in your classroom or school. The book outlines how to go about making the changes, with the understanding that teachers will have to feel comfortable "jumping in", as well! The definition of Personalized Learning is well-stated: "An approach to learning and instruction that is designed around individual learner readiness, strengths, needs, and interests. Learners are active participants in setting goals, planning learning paths, tracking progress, and determining how learning will be demonstrated. At any given time, learning objectives, content, methods, and pacing are likely to vary from learner to learner as they pursue proficiency aligned to established standards. A fully personalized environment moves beyond both differentiation and individualization."
In order to make the switch, schools will have to evaluate the assumptions for the routines that have been established. Looking at current practices and deciding why those have been chosen and then deciding if they are the best strategies. Then, schools will have to employ the right "levers" which are: Structures, Samples, Standards, Strategies and Self (page 25). Self is the single most important lever for improving outcomes. It requires students and teachers changing their ideas of the learning roles.
The Honeycomb model with help educators guide students along their personalized learning journey. This process requires a detailed learning profile of the learner, set and clear proficiencies each learner is progressing towards, an collaboration plan for the learning path.
The rest of the book helps teachers set this personalized learning approach into action. This book is for the school leader to use to guide the school. However, a teacher could use the book as well for his or her own personalized learning transition.
In order to make the switch, schools will have to evaluate the assumptions for the routines that have been established. Looking at current practices and deciding why those have been chosen and then deciding if they are the best strategies. Then, schools will have to employ the right "levers" which are: Structures, Samples, Standards, Strategies and Self (page 25). Self is the single most important lever for improving outcomes. It requires students and teachers changing their ideas of the learning roles.
The Honeycomb model with help educators guide students along their personalized learning journey. This process requires a detailed learning profile of the learner, set and clear proficiencies each learner is progressing towards, an collaboration plan for the learning path.
The rest of the book helps teachers set this personalized learning approach into action. This book is for the school leader to use to guide the school. However, a teacher could use the book as well for his or her own personalized learning transition.
November 25, 2017
I have a lot of opinions here... good and bad
August 13, 2017
There are so many amazing reasons to implement this approach and I look forward to discussing options with my team. I will be teaching 120 students this year and I need to find a way to manage personalized learning for so many students. However, I am hopeful that my team and I will work towards this goal throughout the year.
August 7, 2016
Full of great thought provoking lists and readings to get teachers thinking about the next risk to take and to reflect on why they do what they do on a daily basis -- all with STUDENTS at the center. Bravo to James Rickabaugh and the Wisconsin consortium that took on the challenge of figuring out specific practices and ideas to make personalized learning work for kids AND teachers.
April 19, 2016
In the Introduction, James Rickabaugh states the purpose of Tapping The Power of Personalized Learning: “This book is about transforming the learning ecosystem we have inherited from our parents and grandparents to better prepare learners for their future.” (4) For him, the classroom of the future will be one in which personalized learning is the norm.
He defines personalized learning as instruction “…designed around individual learner readiness, strengths, needs, and interests. Learners are active participants in setting goals, planning learning paths, tracking progress, and determining how learning will be demonstrated.” (6) His vision of personalized learning “diverges” from traditional learning in several ways:
• Students are empowered to share decision making with teachers
• The foci are Individual learning goals and action plans;
• Variations in how and at what pace students learn are honoured;
• Collaborative learning is an important dimension;
• Technology is leveraged – that is, has a supporting role;
• It accommodates many learning approaches; and,
• Its ultimate goal is learner autonomy.
Some of the ways that technology is leveraged to support personalized learning include:
- Providing a means for “immediate, specific, objective feedback on learning” (9);
- Motivating students by providing access to a rich variety of content;
- Capturing data and learning artifacts that track student learning;
- Enabling student self-reflection on learning;
- Enabling student collaboration with others; and,
- Broadening the boundaries for learning beyond the classroom.
In Chapter 1, Rickabaugh examines some “misguided” key practices of the traditional school system and the assumptions underlying them. (19) The first such assumption is that all students learn at the same rate, which has led to the practice of grouping students by age. Instead, the pace of learning should be determined by individual learner readiness. Another such practice is to use the same instructional approaches for all learners, based on the assumption that learner aptitude can be determined by students’ ability to learn from these approaches. In fact, students learn in different ways. A third practice is waiting to provide a learner with remediation until the learner has repeatedly failed. It is based on the assumption that “Failure is inevitable” for some learners, so teachers should just accept a certain number of failures. (19) Lastly, there is the practice of encouraging students to learn via extrinsic rewards and sanctions. The assumption behind this practice is that ‘carrots and sticks’ provide sufficient motivation for students to learn. Instead, intrinsic factors such as autonomy in learning and purpose will better motivate students to learn.
Chapter 2 provides a description of the author’s Honeycomb Model for personalized learning. It places the learner at the centre and features 3 core components:
- Learner profiles – which are co-created by learners and educators and have 4 dimensions:
demographic data (such as potential barriers to learning), academic status, learner skill sets,
and potential learning drivers (such as the learner’s interests and career plans).
- Proficiency-Based Progress – “Student progress toward the standards is based on growing
mastery, not seat time.” (39)
- Customized Learning Paths – Learners co-design their learning goals, select learning
opportunities and resources, identify progress markers, and determine how their learning
will be demonstrated in partnership with educators.
Surrounding the 3 core components is a ring of 10 learning and teaching strategies. Learner voice and choice are 2 of these strategies that are particularly important in that “…every time a learner has the opportunity to make a choice, he or she creates a unique pathway.” (43) Cultural responsiveness is also important. Learners’ cultural traditions should be valued, and they should be encouraged to draw on these traditions in order to personalize their learning. Formative assessments are critical. Indeed, “There should be no doubt as to the outcomes of summative assessments if learners and teachers have used formative assessment to inform learning.” (44) Lastly, and most importantly, there should be progression toward deeper learning.
Moving further out in the Honeycomb Model are aspects of relationships and roles. Elements in this ring include learners as co-designers of learning, educator collaboration, and family and community engagement. In the outer ring are structure and policy factors such as flexible time, pace, and learning spaces as well as an integrated data management system that allows teachers “ …to collect, analyze, and organize data easily and quickly.” (55)
Chapter 3 outlines 12 key factors of personalized learning – from the students’ perspective. Although some of these elements (ie. learner choice/voice and flexible pacing and learning spaces) are repeats from the previous chapter, others are worthy of the author’s consideration. For example, purposeful learning is a critical aspect, as a student’s “commitment and learning momentum” are contingent on the student clearly understanding the purpose. (64) Another key component from the standpoint of students is ownership of learning. The author notes that students who experience ownership of their learning “…are easy to spot even in a brief conversation… [as they] tend to talk in the first person …they talk about ‘my’ goals and ‘my’ work rather than ‘the teacher’s assignment’.” (66) Then there are the factors of learners as resources and as collaborators. From the student’s point of view, personalized learning takes an “inside out approach” that makes students “active agents” not only in the designing of their own learning but as well in the constructing of other students’ learning. (69)
Five key instructional shifts in instructional practices associated with personalized learning are presented in Chapter 4. The first shift is from a focus on a uniformed delivery of curriculum to a focus on individualized development of competencies by students. Key questions teachers should ask are How do I ensure balance between what students are ready to learn and the standards? and Are the competencies clear and compelling? With respect to the latter question, competencies should be “presented in student-friendly language”. (83)
Shift 2 is from learning on demand to instruction on demand – that is, from expecting all students to learn in an appointed time/place to beginning “…where students currently are and work from there.” (84) Shift 3 is from learning driven by assumptions and vague reasons to learning driven by clear purpose. Teachers should ask: How can I convey purpose of learning in ways that make sense to students? and What will I do if I can’t convince students of the purpose or value of the learning? States the author, “Teachers need to help students understand how what they’re asked to learn will make their lives better today rather than far in the future.” (86) Moving from a focus on content accumulation to building learning capacity is Shift 4. The final shift is from ensuring access to learning opportunities to ensuring success. Key questions teachers can ask are How will I know when learners are struggling so that I can intervene early? and What intervention strategies and learning supports will I employ when learners encounter barriers to learning?
The key point Rickabaugh makes in Chapter 5, “Building Educator Capacity: Personal Professional Development”, is as follows: “If we want educators to value personalized learning experiences for students, they must experience the benefits of it in their own learning.” (99) By experiencing personalized learning, educators will build their capacity to support both their students and their colleagues in individualized learning. The essential elements of an individual professional learning profile include:
- Self-assessments of current skills
- Learning goals
- An action research project
- A portfolio or collection of evidence of learning and progression toward goals
- Reflections on professional learning experiences
In the final chapter, the author offers some strategies for overcoming the challenge of scaling. He begins the chapter by noting that efforts at scaling or spreading innovations in education often fail because they “…depend excessively on a single person or small group of people to implement and sustain the work.” (111) A better way to accomplish scaling is to take a network approach with many people, at various entry points, involved in spreading the innovation. Another strategy involves strategic planning around scaling from the onset of the process of innovation. Lastly, the author provides several suggestions for dealing with saboteurs – those who resist change. Advice he gives is to listen closely and respectfully to them, provide them with key information related to the innovation, and engage them in private in order to limit their impact on others.
He defines personalized learning as instruction “…designed around individual learner readiness, strengths, needs, and interests. Learners are active participants in setting goals, planning learning paths, tracking progress, and determining how learning will be demonstrated.” (6) His vision of personalized learning “diverges” from traditional learning in several ways:
• Students are empowered to share decision making with teachers
• The foci are Individual learning goals and action plans;
• Variations in how and at what pace students learn are honoured;
• Collaborative learning is an important dimension;
• Technology is leveraged – that is, has a supporting role;
• It accommodates many learning approaches; and,
• Its ultimate goal is learner autonomy.
Some of the ways that technology is leveraged to support personalized learning include:
- Providing a means for “immediate, specific, objective feedback on learning” (9);
- Motivating students by providing access to a rich variety of content;
- Capturing data and learning artifacts that track student learning;
- Enabling student self-reflection on learning;
- Enabling student collaboration with others; and,
- Broadening the boundaries for learning beyond the classroom.
In Chapter 1, Rickabaugh examines some “misguided” key practices of the traditional school system and the assumptions underlying them. (19) The first such assumption is that all students learn at the same rate, which has led to the practice of grouping students by age. Instead, the pace of learning should be determined by individual learner readiness. Another such practice is to use the same instructional approaches for all learners, based on the assumption that learner aptitude can be determined by students’ ability to learn from these approaches. In fact, students learn in different ways. A third practice is waiting to provide a learner with remediation until the learner has repeatedly failed. It is based on the assumption that “Failure is inevitable” for some learners, so teachers should just accept a certain number of failures. (19) Lastly, there is the practice of encouraging students to learn via extrinsic rewards and sanctions. The assumption behind this practice is that ‘carrots and sticks’ provide sufficient motivation for students to learn. Instead, intrinsic factors such as autonomy in learning and purpose will better motivate students to learn.
Chapter 2 provides a description of the author’s Honeycomb Model for personalized learning. It places the learner at the centre and features 3 core components:
- Learner profiles – which are co-created by learners and educators and have 4 dimensions:
demographic data (such as potential barriers to learning), academic status, learner skill sets,
and potential learning drivers (such as the learner’s interests and career plans).
- Proficiency-Based Progress – “Student progress toward the standards is based on growing
mastery, not seat time.” (39)
- Customized Learning Paths – Learners co-design their learning goals, select learning
opportunities and resources, identify progress markers, and determine how their learning
will be demonstrated in partnership with educators.
Surrounding the 3 core components is a ring of 10 learning and teaching strategies. Learner voice and choice are 2 of these strategies that are particularly important in that “…every time a learner has the opportunity to make a choice, he or she creates a unique pathway.” (43) Cultural responsiveness is also important. Learners’ cultural traditions should be valued, and they should be encouraged to draw on these traditions in order to personalize their learning. Formative assessments are critical. Indeed, “There should be no doubt as to the outcomes of summative assessments if learners and teachers have used formative assessment to inform learning.” (44) Lastly, and most importantly, there should be progression toward deeper learning.
Moving further out in the Honeycomb Model are aspects of relationships and roles. Elements in this ring include learners as co-designers of learning, educator collaboration, and family and community engagement. In the outer ring are structure and policy factors such as flexible time, pace, and learning spaces as well as an integrated data management system that allows teachers “ …to collect, analyze, and organize data easily and quickly.” (55)
Chapter 3 outlines 12 key factors of personalized learning – from the students’ perspective. Although some of these elements (ie. learner choice/voice and flexible pacing and learning spaces) are repeats from the previous chapter, others are worthy of the author’s consideration. For example, purposeful learning is a critical aspect, as a student’s “commitment and learning momentum” are contingent on the student clearly understanding the purpose. (64) Another key component from the standpoint of students is ownership of learning. The author notes that students who experience ownership of their learning “…are easy to spot even in a brief conversation… [as they] tend to talk in the first person …they talk about ‘my’ goals and ‘my’ work rather than ‘the teacher’s assignment’.” (66) Then there are the factors of learners as resources and as collaborators. From the student’s point of view, personalized learning takes an “inside out approach” that makes students “active agents” not only in the designing of their own learning but as well in the constructing of other students’ learning. (69)
Five key instructional shifts in instructional practices associated with personalized learning are presented in Chapter 4. The first shift is from a focus on a uniformed delivery of curriculum to a focus on individualized development of competencies by students. Key questions teachers should ask are How do I ensure balance between what students are ready to learn and the standards? and Are the competencies clear and compelling? With respect to the latter question, competencies should be “presented in student-friendly language”. (83)
Shift 2 is from learning on demand to instruction on demand – that is, from expecting all students to learn in an appointed time/place to beginning “…where students currently are and work from there.” (84) Shift 3 is from learning driven by assumptions and vague reasons to learning driven by clear purpose. Teachers should ask: How can I convey purpose of learning in ways that make sense to students? and What will I do if I can’t convince students of the purpose or value of the learning? States the author, “Teachers need to help students understand how what they’re asked to learn will make their lives better today rather than far in the future.” (86) Moving from a focus on content accumulation to building learning capacity is Shift 4. The final shift is from ensuring access to learning opportunities to ensuring success. Key questions teachers can ask are How will I know when learners are struggling so that I can intervene early? and What intervention strategies and learning supports will I employ when learners encounter barriers to learning?
The key point Rickabaugh makes in Chapter 5, “Building Educator Capacity: Personal Professional Development”, is as follows: “If we want educators to value personalized learning experiences for students, they must experience the benefits of it in their own learning.” (99) By experiencing personalized learning, educators will build their capacity to support both their students and their colleagues in individualized learning. The essential elements of an individual professional learning profile include:
- Self-assessments of current skills
- Learning goals
- An action research project
- A portfolio or collection of evidence of learning and progression toward goals
- Reflections on professional learning experiences
In the final chapter, the author offers some strategies for overcoming the challenge of scaling. He begins the chapter by noting that efforts at scaling or spreading innovations in education often fail because they “…depend excessively on a single person or small group of people to implement and sustain the work.” (111) A better way to accomplish scaling is to take a network approach with many people, at various entry points, involved in spreading the innovation. Another strategy involves strategic planning around scaling from the onset of the process of innovation. Lastly, the author provides several suggestions for dealing with saboteurs – those who resist change. Advice he gives is to listen closely and respectfully to them, provide them with key information related to the innovation, and engage them in private in order to limit their impact on others.
July 23, 2018
Do your students know why they are learning what they’re learning? Do they have a clear picture of where their current skills are in relation to the learning goals? Have they had choices (within boundaries) to pursue the content that interests them as they demonstrate the target skill? If yes to any of these, then pat yourself on the back— you’re moving your students toward commitment to learning rather than simply compliance to instructions. This book gives lots of suggestions, breaking down personalized learning into easy to digest chunks.
May 31, 2024
I’d do 3.5 stars if I could. This book has some 5 star segments (Appendix A, for example) and some 2-3 star segments (some of the suggested activities and discussion questions). Overall though, I think this is a worthwhile book and a quick (about 4 hours for me) read for anyone working on implementing personalized learning.
October 29, 2018
Great introduction to get groups talking and discussing changes for their students. Can’t wait to debrief with my team and continue to gather more knowledge and ideas. With each new step comes more questions propelling is forward.
July 24, 2019
Interesting way to teach.
Personalizing Learning for each student by allowing voice and choice.
Personalizing Learning for each student by allowing voice and choice.
March 8, 2016
Students deserve to learn at their own level and their own pace. In the beginning, this book provides a great quantity of research on why individualized learning is ideal for school environments. As the book progresses, it gives examples and case studies to identify how others have created personalized learning experiences at their schools. Though it is written for an administrator, it is a helpful book in understand the basics of personalized training; a good introductory book to the subject.
June 22, 2016
Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews