What Is Personalized Learning? Personalized Learning puts the needs of students FIRST! Personalized Learning honors each student as an individual learner, recognizes that each student has his or her own learning style, unique gifts, interests, aspirations, and challenges to learning, and supports each student to learn in his or her own unique way. Personalized Learning is a blended approach to learning that combines the delivery of education both within and beyond the traditional classroom environment. The Personalized Learning model fosters a collaborative partnership between the teacher, parent, student and school that designs a tailored learning program for each student according to the needs and interests of each individual student. Personalized Learning is truly a 21st century approach to education that, in practice, through flexibility and choice, honors and recognizes the unique gifts, skills, passions, and attributes of each child, as well as each child's challenges and obstacles to learning. The key attributes that comprise the Personalized Learning model are based upon a solid foundation of the latest educational research findings as to how students learn most successfully. These attributes include a strong emphasis on parental involvement, smaller class sizes, more one-on-one teacher and student interaction, attention to differences in learning styles, student-driven participation in developing the learning process, technology access, varied learning environments, teacher and parent development programs, and choices in curriculum programs. No other educational model offered in today's public education system has integrated these proven educational research results in such an in-depth and comprehensive manner to serve the diverse needs of today's public education students. Why is the Personalized Learning model of vital importance for our public education system today? Our public education system is experiencing student drop out rates at an unprecedented and alarming pace. These students have become disenchanted by the educational system for a variety of reasons. Yes, our class sizes are too big. Yes, we are experiencing teacher shortages, a budget crisis, overregulation of education codes, a shortage of facilities, safety issues, and more. However, even if we solve all these problems will we then be able to ensure the learning success of all students? Unfortunately, NO! Why? Because education research confirms that not all students are able to learn successfully at the same pace, with the same teaching approach, in the same learning environment, and in the same learning style and manner. Research confirms that every individual assimilates information according to their own unique learning style, need, and interest. Learning styles vary. Some people are visual learners, others learn by auditory means, others kinesthetically. Some students learn at a faster pace; others need more time. Some students are distracted when trying to learn in a noisy environment with 30+ other kids. Some students feel intimidated or unsafe in a large classroom environment. Motivation to learn varies significantly from student to student. Interests and passions vary. And there are numerous other reasons and differences... The underlying problem is that today's public education system continues to insist that a "one size fits all", full time classroom-based model can and shall effectively serve all students, in spite of the overwhelming research to the contrary. More and more students are not able to achieve learning successfully in this single model approach. Tragically, those that are not are instead labeled with some abnormality. They are labeled "at risk", "ADD", "ADHA", "special needs", "disabled", "disruptive", "disengaged", and every other "dis" imaginable. The public education paradigm continues to try to force every student into learning one way through one model, despite the increasing diversity and complexity of today's world that demands choice, opportunities, and more individualized and specialized solutions. It is time to recognize and acknowledge that a one size fits all classroom-only model can no longer effectively serve the needs of all public education students. The real solution for our public education system must be founded upon a paradigm shift toward greater flexibility and choice. Rather than trying to force-fit every student into one model, the answer is to provide, in addition to the traditional model, alternatives that offer flexibility to fit the needs of the student. The Personalized Learning model is such a model to serve the growing percentage of students who are yearning for an alternative to the full-time classroom-based, traditional approach. The Federal No Child Left Behind program is intended to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn all core subject areas successfully. This goal cannot be achieved, however, as long as the public education system insists on offering only one model for all students. No amount of money or resources will ensure that goal. The answer is, particularly for those students at both the high end and low end of the "bell curve" who tend to be more susceptible to becoming disengaged from the learning process in a traditional classroom environment, to provide a model that is tailored to their individual needs. The Personalized Learning model is a leading-edge solution for those students whose need an alternative approach in order to learn successfully. The Personalized Learning model is a promising solution to turn the tide of our public education system from increasing failure rates to one of success for all students, one that will truly ensure that "no child is left behind". What Makes Personalized Learning A Distinct Educational Model? The Personalized Learning approach embodies a unique combination of key components that qualify it as a distinct education model within the public school system. As a model that embodies flexibility, innovation, and individualized student learning, Personalized Learning offers positive and encouraging hope as an alternative choice for a growing segment of public school children who need or desire a more tailored approach to learning to succeed academically. Personalized Learning is a leading, "21st Century" educational approach that incorporates the results from the most recent leading education research studies. In congruence with these research results, the Personalized Learning model recognizes that every student is an individual, with a distinct learning style, learning pace, learning path, and learning aspiration. Research confirms that children look to their parents as their primary role models for learning. Parents, in turn, are ultimately responsible for guiding their child's learning and education. The Personalized Learning model recognizes the value of parent involvement and participation in their children's education and learning process, and the value of ongoing teacher development training. Personalized Learning supports a collaborative relationship between parent, student, teacher, and school in creating an optimal learning process. Personalized Learning supports a variety of learning choices and opportunities, both within and beyond the classroom, to address each student's individual learning needs and optimize each student's learning potential. The key components that, when utilized together, distinguish the Personalized Learning approach as a unique educational model within the California public school system are as follows: • Personalized Learning schools follow a university-type model with a "hybrid' or "multi-strand" approach. Schools provide a wide variety of curriculum choices, attention to individual learning styles, technology learning access, and a variety of learning environments and opportunities both within and beyond the classroom so that learning programs may be tailored according to the individual needs and preferences of each student. • Parents are strongly encouraged and supported to be actively involved in their children’s education and to take personal responsibility for ensuring that their children are learning successfully. • Personalized Learning schools support and facilitate learning program development and oversight through an ongoing collaborative relationship between parents, students, teachers, the school, the greater community, and the state. • Personalized Learning schools are committed to reduced class sizes, generally limiting attendance to no more than 15-20 students per class. • Personalized Learning schools combine multiple assessment levels of student academic achievement. Certificated teachers oversee student progress toward satisfying state academic standards through the regular recording of detailed learning records, compiling extensive student work portfolios, and conducting annual state mandated testing programs. • Personalized Learning schools devote the majority of their budget for the instructional benefit of their students. This includes providing students with certificated teaching expertise and oversight, technology access, and a wide variety of learning choices and environments that students need to be successful academically. • Personalized Learning schools emphasize dynamic teaching staff development programs that help teachers learn how to tailor learning according to their student’s learning styles, needs, and aspirations.

What Programs Use A Personalized Learning Approach? The Personalized Learning education model is embraced by dozens of charter schools throughout California. Many of these programs provide educational services to students from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Some specialize in educational programs only for students at the high school level, while others specialize in educational programs only for students in the kindergarten through eighth or ninth grade levels. These distinguished charter schools fall under the Independent Study guidelines in California, which enables these schools to serve students in a broader geographical region than either traditional public schools or charter schools that only offer a strict classroom learning option. Personalized Learning schools may serve students who reside within the county of the school's sponsoring district, as well as students who reside in all counties that are contiguous (adjacent) to the county in which the school is sponsored. Beyond the basic key components listed above that define this unique education model, Personalized Learning schools are afforded flexibility and latitude in the administration of their programs, so that each school can optimize their processes and procedures according to specific or unique educational needs within their individual communities. Personalized Learning schools can range in size from around 100 students to as large as several thousand students. Each school develops its own "charter", which determines the school's basic education philosophy and approach. Each school is then managed by a team of education and business administrators and a governance committee consisting of parents and community representatives who ensure that the charter is being followed in accordance with its stated goals and in accordance with state regulations and guidelines. How Did The Personalized Learning Model Evolve? Personalized Learning has its roots in the homeschool movement, where, for decades, parents have privately tailored learning for their children according to their individual needs and preferences. Prior to the 1990s in California, parents had few choices for their children’s education: the public school system, a private school, or private homeschooling. In 1992, California’s elected officials enacted California’s Charter School Act, which established public charter schools as an option for parents, students, teachers, and community members to design self-governing schools within the public school system to meet the needs of their community. Charter schools were envisioned to provide new, better, and more flexible and innovative opportunities for California students within the public school system as an alternative solution to a voucher system. The Personalized Learning approach to education emerged within the public charter school system in California, in a growing segment of schools that have evolved through the Independent Study California charter school movement. The California charter school movement was established in 1992 to provide flexibility and innovation within the public school framework, and to enable citizens and communities at the local level to have more control over administering educational approaches that better serve the needs of students in their immediate communities. These more expansive principles of innovation and flexibility through the public charter school movement provided new hope for a dynamic partnership between members of the private community and members of the public education system. As the charter school movement grew in California, so also evolved a partnership between members of the private homeschool community and public educators who saw great educational potential and value in learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Through this specific partnership evolved a new model of education that rose far beyond what had been originally envisioned by many charter school lawmakers. To this day, many lawmakers who voted for the Charter School Act in 1992 admit that they did not envision a model that would evolve into an approach that embraces learning choices and opportunities both within and beyond the classroom. They had simply envisioned the Charter School Act as a vehicle to provide a more flexible, but standard "classroom" environment. However, through the flexibility and innovation provided through Charter School law, teachers, parents, students, and administrators have successfully demonstrated that an effective learning "classroom" goes well beyond the walls of a standard public school building. The "hybrid" or "multi-strand" approach of the Personalized Learning model enables students to pursue learning choices that optimize their learning potential according to their individual needs, particularly where an exclusive classroom-based approach does not serve them effectively. Many lawmakers though, backed by the education establishment and unions, continued to resist the growth and expansion of these "hybrid" charter schools, nor acknowledge or recognize that they were evolving into a distinct and unique education model. In the late 1990s, legislation was enacted that "lumped" these programs into the existing Independent Study model guidelines, because guidelines did not exist that fit this newly evolving model. Thereafter, media reports surfaced that a handful of these programs were misusing public funds and engaging in profiteering activities. Legislation was then enacted to restrict the spending flexibility of all "Independent Study" charter school programs, even though the vast majority of them were doing a very effective job of educating their students. These restrictions, which also included a reduction of funding levels to programs that did not meet strict spending criteria, were also founded upon the misperception that these programs were strictly "non-classroom" based, and therefore did not require an equal amount of funding as traditional classroom based programs. Proponents of this legislation argued that it costs less to administer education in a non-classroom model than in a classroom model because of the high costs of maintaining classroom facilities. The facts presented in response to these misperceptions that these schools offer and fund both classroom and non-classroom learning choices, and that the costs to administer an "individualized" learning approach are in fact higher than the standard "one size fits all" classroom approach went largely ignored. The Personalized Learning movement began in late 2001 as a strategic and more proactive response to these numerous, long-standing public and legislative challenges facing the “non-classroom” or "Independent Study" charter school programs. As described above, these public and legislative misperceptions resulted in a series of restrictive legislative action toward these programs that now threaten their future existence in public education. Many of these misperceptions and responses resulted from misunderstandings and misperceptions as to how these programs administer learning and account for learning progress and results. The term Personalized Learning was created to more accurately define and describe this unique approach to education, and distinguish this approach from others that have been inaccurately associated with this model of education. As described above, Personalized Learning programs have been defined in the past using terms such as non-classroom, homeschooling, Independent Study, distance learning, non-site, and others. While Personalized Learning programs do incorporate as components of learning both classroom and non-classroom learning environments, technology access, home study support, community-based learning, and Independent Study options, none of these terms in and of themselves ever accurately described the foundation of their educational approach, that foundation being that learning is "personalized" according to the needs of each individual student. This grassroots movement culminated in the establishment of APLUS+, the Association of Personalized Learning Services, a network association exclusively dedicated to promoting the value of the Personalized Learning model and to serving the needs of Personalized Learning schools. Personalized Learning is a model that deserves a viable and respected position in the public education system in California. Through its unique approach of individualizing learning, the Personalized Learning model is responsible for bringing tens of thousands of students back into the public school system, students who had left because their needs were not being adequately met through the "one size fits all" strictly classroom based model. The Personalized Learning model is also responsible for providing an effective alternative for thousands of students who were on the verge of failing and dropping out of the standard classroom based public school model. The Personalized Learning opportunity has given these students renewed hope for success in education by offering them an alternative model that better fits their needs.