McComb School District down in McComb, Mississippi doesn’t just believe in the power of technology when it comes to personalized learning. In fact, for superintendent Dr. Cederick Ellis and Summit Elementary School principal Lakya Taylor-Washington, the bigger asset in going personalized comes down to removing arbitrary grade level assignments and creating “learning labs,” a style of competency-based learning that Summit has been experimenting with since 2015. MORE

Avery Bencal is a fourth grader at Winthrop Elementary School in Melrose, Massachusetts. Her teacher has embraced competency-based learning, which asks students to take more control in the classroom. This cozy suburb just outside of Boston is home to an idyllic New England downtown and schools that are good enough to draw young families in droves. The reform model is known by several different names, including proficiency-based education. MORE

Do you think others could learn from the way you conduct ed-tech pilots to inform product decisions? Digital Promise is crowdsourcing best practices for piloting learning technology tools, and we want to hear from you! Click here to participate: The deadline to be considered for the award is. And, we’ll highlight the best examples from across the country on our website for others to learn from. Click here to share it. MORE

This story is part of a series from EdSurge Research on how schools are redefining student success using MyWays , a framework created by Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC). But at Memorial Elementary School , one of two elementary schools in New Hampshire’s Sanborn Regional School District , administrators and teachers are given the freedom to experiment with cutting-edge ideas not in spite of district and state guidelines, but because of them. MORE

www.getalma.com ) Alma Technologies has announced it is allowing any SQL-based business intelligence tool, such as Tableau and Jaspersoft, to access data from its modern, student information system and learning management system. In addition, Alma will continue to provide its own set of robust reporting tools to meet many needs and budgets. As a result of this partnership, Motion Math’s games will be available as a supplement to i-Ready. MORE

Separate from its Playbook that helps define a vision, Education Elements , a consulting firm, helps schools and districts design next-generation teaching and learning models. It recognizes that districts have different characteristics that need to be addressed in program designs; rural is different than small is different than urban, for instance. Download and examine Ed Elements’ three models for elementary schools and its three models for secondary schools. MORE

Principal Chris Huckans believes that competency-based education (CBE) is one of the keys to the school’s success. Huckans says that Bishop Hall’s use of the Brightspace learning management system provides students with highly personalized learning pathways, which “allow them to innovate and experiment.” He adds, “Kids are allowed to learn at their own pace, and can learn experientially.” D2L's Resources for Teaching and Learning. MORE

Though the flipped class model proved to be an effective strategy in which we saw increases in student achievement and engagement, we only did the traditional flipped classroom for one year. Prior to our second semester of our first year flipping our class, a counselor approached to ask about enrolling a new student into my Chemistry class. Since Chemistry is a subject which builds on itself, I was at first tempted to say no. MORE

This past week, we traveled to the Golden, Colorado to attend the Conference of Online and Blended Learning (COBL), put on by the iLearn Collaborative. There we got the chance to learn what was on the hearts and minds of educators—some who are just beginning their personalized learning journey and others grappling with new challenges that have emerged from years of implementation. He knew they had to do something different. EdSurge is on the road. MORE

to Take On Affirmative Action in College Admissions.” ” And by “take on,” that means “investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants.” ” (It would be pretty great if the DOJ would investigate how legacy admissions and big donations let mediocre white applicants like Donald Trump and Jared Kushner get into Ivy League schools.). These 11 Cases Show How.” MORE

This is a well known geography curriculum that consists of weekly worksheets to teach geography. She could look up all sorts of maps to answer her questions. At that point in her school life, she didn't have easy accessibility to technology. We had a family computer but it wasn't seen as a place to go to help with homework. to which I replied, "You can't just copy the answers." She worked hard to get her answers every week. elementary? MORE

Learn how she uses this tool. FlexPath – only at Capella University – lets teachers work at their own pace to earn their MEd in a competency-based learning format. This subscription-based tuition model doesn’t limit the number of courses you can complete during each 12-week period, enrolling in up to two courses at once, for one flat tuition rate. Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher. Vicki: Well, how did you find out FlipSnack? MORE

The availability of AI technologies, machine learning, robotics and so on is happening much faster than people might expect. We are not talking about some science fiction dream that is going to take 20 years to accomplish; almost all of these technologies are already available to various degrees in various industries, and they’ll go to the next level sometime in the next year, or in the next few years. Educational institutions need to keep up. MORE

When we decided that we’d be giving our sixth-grade students control over their own learning this year, our colleagues told us we were crazy. Middle schoolers, they warned us, are unable to work at their own pace because they lack academic fundamentals, intrinsic motivation and basic time management skills. This is especially true for sixth graders, they said, who are managing a challenging transition to middle school and lack independence. MORE

Does competency-based education hold the key to providing an equitable learning opportunity to every student? As she puts it, competency-based learning “gives students the chance. Allowing students to move on when they’re ready—or revisit something when they need support—is giving everyone a fair chance at being successful.”. In this model, students learn at their level and move on to concepts when they have demonstrated mastery. MORE