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Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:


The Past Lives on in the Present: Customized Learning then and Now

Pupils are working on their own. The second and third grade reading class of 63 pupils … is using a learning center and two adjoining rooms. Two teachers and  the school librarian act as coordinators and tutors as the pupils proceed with the various materials prepared by the school’s teachers and … developer, The Learning and Research Development Center at the U. of Pittsburgh. Each pupil sets his own pace. He is listening to records and completing workbooks. When he has completed a unit of work, he is tested, the test is corrected immediately, and if he gets a grade of 85% or better he moves on. if not, the teacher offers a series of alternative activities to correct the weakness, including individual tutoring, There are no textbooks. There is virtually no lecturing by the teacher to the class as a whole. Instead, she is busy observing the child’s progress, evaluating his tests, writing prescriptions, and instructing individually or in small groups of pupils who need help.*
The school is Oakleaf elementary near Pittsburgh (PA) and the time is 1965. Implemented across all grades, the