Personalized Learning | ��ֱ��

Personalized Learning Pioneer: Julie Hallums

The Fund — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 09:00:45 +0000

Additional Learning Opportunities

wideeyecreative — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 14:00:29 +0000

Barton Dassinger began his teaching career in 1998, as a Teach For America (TFA) teacher in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. In 2000, he moved to ��ֱ��and joined Cesar E. Chávez Multicultural Academic Center’s faculty. A Level 2 school at the time, Chávez was already a relatively good neighborhood school serving a high-need population. Barton saw the potential for greatness.

See for yourself!

Implementing Design-Thinking

wideeyecreative — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 15:00:35 +0000

In 2012, Scott Frauenheim was named Director of , and he enthusiastically led the school��through The Fund’s in 2013.

His��team used the SDP to rethink professional development within the school to include virtual instruction and collaboration for teachers. The professional development addressed teachers’ ability to use technology��to more effectively differentiate instruction for students. It started as a small program, but soon produced much more.

“The SDP has had a major impact on me and the entire CICS West Belden community,” Scott said. “My team has adopted the design-thinking model and we put it into action for every idea we have in our building. Our first question for everything we do is this: Why are we doing this, is there a problem, and how will��it affect students, teachers and families?”

Scott leveraged his experience with the SDP to propose the adoption of a whole-school blended model at CICS West Belden, and��his team submitted a winning application��to .

Thanks to the SDP, Scott is confident as he undertakes this work. “I personally learned so much about transformational leadership and how to implement a school-wide initiative with a full-team approach,” he said. “I learned how to think through the design process, which has helped me focus my leadership on our school needs for overall success.”

Note from The Fund team: We’ll be launching applications for SDP 2016 later this month. Stay tuned for details and more success stories!��

Shared Leadership and Innovative Solutions

wideeyecreative — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 16:11:12 +0000

Ginger Lumpkin has been an urban educator for more than 20 years. As a ��ֱ�� (CPS) graduate, teacher and administrator, and the parent of a CPS student, Ginger possesses a nuanced understanding of the conditions needed to ensure school success.

In 2013, after Ginger’s first year as Principal of , she learned of The Fund’s Under Ginger’s thoughtful leadership, the Haines team used the SDP to design a program to differentiate instruction for its students by employing technology. As a result, teachers delivered targeted instruction in small groups, while other students were able to learn new topics independently and engage in online materials.

After successfully implementing this pilot in 2013, Ginger saw an opportunity to deliver a truly personalized education for every student at Haines. She expanded the pilot created during the SDP and submitted a winning application to .

“I applied to Breakthrough Schools so that, through shared leadership, we might employ innovative ways to address student achievement while making learning more personal and individualized for our students,” Ginger said. “We will make this possible through the use of instructional practices such as the rotational model, small group work, whole-class instruction and interdisciplinary, project-based learning. Above all, I want students to find joy in learning for the sake of learning.”

For Ginger, a focus on excellence, humanity and advocacy for students has been, and remains, at the foundation of her life’s work.

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�Ҿ��Բ�� Ի��.��She also participated on s��at The Fund’s Fall Meeting and School Site Visit on October 7, 2014. The panel��addressed the question: “What supports do principals need to lead their team toward whole-school innovation?”

A Vision for Greatness

wideeyecreative — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:57:59 +0000

In 2000, moved to ��ֱ��and joined teaching faculty. Chávez was already a solid neighborhood school serving a high-need population, but Barton saw the potential for greatness.

Inspired by his vision for Chávez, Barton earned his master’s degree and administrative certification from University of Illinois at ��ֱ��(UIC), and graduated from LAUNCH, a Fund-seeded principal preparation program designed to develop aspiring principals for ��ֱ�� (CPS). Barton was named the principal at Chávez in 2010.

In 2011, Chávez was one of 15 schools in the , which extended the school day by 90 minutes. With this extra time, students used technology to further advance math and reading skills. Even in this small pilot, the results were encouraging; students’ math and reading gains exceeded those of comparable schools.

Since then, Chávez has slowly and deliberately increased the use of technology in its classrooms, with the constant input of its teachers and students.

“We transitioned from just being an after school use of computers to in-school use mainly because the teachers saw how effective it was, and teachers wanted to learn how to begin using this to improve their instruction,” . “More than coming from me, it came from the teachers themselves who saw the power of these programs and what technology can do to advance these students.”

Today, Chávez is a Level 1+ school, among the best neighborhood schools in the city, and every one of its teachers uses technology to personalize learning.

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