Instructional
Look-Fors Guide
Explore our comprehensive guide to personalized learning, designed to deepen adult education with research-backed strategies. This resource leverages extensive expertise and is focused on student-centric approaches. Empower your educational journey by integrating these transformative practices today!
Personalized education offers the opportunity for learners to achieve success and fulfillment, yet changing educational practices is a considerable challenge. Schools, systems, and their many stakeholders have expressed the need for a clearer understanding of what personalized learning involves at both individual and community levels, the skills and mindsets required for implementing new practices, and assurance that these changes will benefit learners.
The Instructional Look Fors serve as a collection of observable indicators that illustrate how educators can foster desired behaviors and outcomes in personalized learning settings. These guidelines were created through collaboration between Transcend, Summit Public Schools, and Lindsay Unified School District between 2017 and 2019.
The foundation of the Instructional Look Fors is supported by research from Columbia’s Center for Public Research and Leadership, studies on learner-centered instruction, personalized learning, and learning science, as well as ongoing investigations and practical experiences from Lindsay, Summit, and Transcend. The development of the Instructional Look Fors also involved an inclusive approach, gathering insights and feedback from a diverse array of educators, school leaders, and experts in personalized learning. This process was particularly attentive to including voices from historically underrepresented groups, ensuring a wide range of perspectives were incorporated into the framework.
When effectively implemented, personalized learning can promote equitable outcomes for all learners. This resource is designed to help achieve that objective.
The 26 Look Fors, each with their associated educator and learner indicators, define ideal personalized learning environments, organized into the six guiding Principles shown below:
Learners stretch themselves intellectually and personally by engaging with skills, habits, and content in challenging, developmentally appropriate ways.
Learners engage in experiences tailored to their learning needs, preferences for how to learn, and specific developmental levels.
Learners work with effort and energy to accomplish goals that connect to a meaningful purpose, and they are aware of their progress toward achieving these goals at all times.
Learners recognize the significance that learning activities and objectives have to their interests and goals, prior knowledge, and real-world, culturally relevant contexts.
Learners work together to create a joint product, cooperatively solve a problem, or co-construct their understanding of a topic.
Learners are deeply known as individuals and are part of a school that is positive, secure, and open to all backgrounds and perspectives.
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This guide was created by Lindsay Unified School District and The Learning Accelerator, building on the work produced through a previous partnership between Lindsay Unified School District, Summit Public Schools, and Transcend. Learn more about the partnership.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
