Think of Personalized Learning in many ways like a college or university model for grades K-12. Personalized Learning schools have mini-campuses that are generally called learning centers or resource centers. But, like a college campus, each of these centers provide a wide variety of learning programs, activities, and functions that are critical to each student’s learning success.

Like college, students can sign up for small group classes in a wide variety of core or elective subjects that are offered for one, two, or three hours per day over one, two, or three days per week. Students can use computer labs for research or online courses; science labs for fulfilling lab requirements; participate in individual or small group project-based activities; take advantage of the school’s resource library; get tutoring assistance from credentialed teachers or teaching assistants; meet with their parents and assigned teacher to go over their completed work or learning assignments; receive special education or special needs services; and of course, take periodic assessments to determine their learning progress in core subject areas required for graduation. 

So how does Personalized Learning work? While each Personalized Learning charter school has its own unique attributes and personalities, there are several basic similarities.

•  Each student is assigned a credentialed teacher to be his or her resource advisor.
•  A credentialed teacher will help guide the student and parent to determine the best curriculum, classes, resources, and tools available through the school to help the student master each subject area.
• The credentialed teacher will provide assignments to the student that must be completed by the end of each learning period. (Typically 20 days) At the end of each learning period, the student, parent, and teacher will meet again to review the work completed and determine the next set of assignments for the next learning period.

Parents, students, and teachers can be highly creative, imaginative, and innovative in their approaches to completing learning requirements in each subject area. In summary, the Personalized Learning model is the best model available in education today to individualize the learning process for students and to effectively address the critical three R’s; that of Respect, Relationship, and Relevance.

The best way to understand Personalized Learning is that it combines the best practices of homeschooling, independent study, the university model, small group onsite classes and labs, online courses, and one-on-one teaching and tutoring into one comprehensive, flexible, adaptable 21st century learning model for each student.