Student-Centered Learning with a POP
Posted on: Tuesday August 5th, 2014
Here's How We Get Student-Centered Learning Right
A Blueprint for Developing "Personal Opportunity Plans"
A Blueprint for Developing "Personal Opportunity Plans"
What if we could design our nation's public education system to meet the individual needs of each and every child?
Personalized learning might be hard to imagine in today's era of high-stakes testing and punitive accountability systems, but a new report shows how we could move our public education system in a new direction.
"Conditions and Considerations for Effective Development and Implementation of Personal Opportunity Plans" was written by Educators for Social Responsibility with support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Schott Foundation. The report evisions "Personal Opportunity Plans" (POPs) as a tool for connecting students to key wraparound services, such as tutoring, healthcare or college counseling, to support their success.
In March, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights released a comprehensive set of data detailing the stark inequalities in our nation's public schools. Across the board, students of color and students from low-income families lack access to key opportunities like pre-k, rigorous coursework and resources for English language learners.
POPs would help educators and professionals connected to schools to identify and address those inequities and many others, both inside and outside the classroom. Though the report was written with Massachusetts in mind, it has wide applicability for other states and cities across the country. It illustrates a vision of what our schools can be – and shows how we can get there.