In recent years, universities have been developing more robust competency-based classes for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Competency-based education (CBE) is based on outcomes and is student-centred, creating a better learning experience. This paper provides context for competency-based education over a…

Personalized educational interventions have been shown to facilitate successful and inclusive statistics, mathematics, and data science (SMDS) in higher education through timely and targeted reduction of heterogeneous training disparities caused by years of cumulative, structural challenges in contemporary educational systems. However, the burden…

Countries worldwide have imposed restrictions on social life and education to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous interventions have been made in every country to ensure continued learning by utilizing distance education (DE) tools. Infrastructure and institutions have made arrangements to curtail the spread of infection while…

The Short-Term Programs department at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) offers week-long and weekend classes during the school year for students with visual impairments who are on or close to grade level. Students primarily come to these programs for direct instruction in specific areas of the expanded core curriculum…

Educational practices that prove effective often involve a substantial investment of training and support time. Unfortunately, that is the very characteristic that makes it difficult and costly to expand the programs on a large scale. A key challenge when scaling up is to maintain high levels of effectiveness at an affordable cost.…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision-makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It begins with an at-a-glance view of an effective voluntary academic summer learning program structure (duration, class…

Microcredentials create opportunities for continuing growth of all teachers based on specific needs. They provide ways for teachers to lead their own learning while allowing administrators to identify and address teachers' needs as well as the expertise teachers have to share with their colleagues. Microcredentials are different from traditional…

Personalized learning is defined as "tailoring learning for each student's strengths, needs, and interests--including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn-- to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible". Personalized learning offers school librarians a way to…

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) has implemented a 60-hour "Pathway to Success" course for inmates who wish to enroll in vocational coursework. The purpose of this course is two-fold: to ensure that PADOC inmates are enrolling in vocational courses for which they have both the aptitude and the interest to excel, and to…

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students' college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students' career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented…

In this report, Every Learner Everywhere & Lighthouse Institutions share first-year experiences of 2- and 4-year colleges piloting new versions of gateway courses incorporating adaptive learning in an effort to address achievement gaps for first-generation students, low-income students, and students of color by improving teaching and learning…

As reading is vital to success in life and opens the door to nearly all other learning opportunities, it is essential that educators understand why students with learning how to read. Therefore, it is key for both professionals and researchers to establish their own approaches to assist those with reading difficulties. "Developing Effective…

The concept of personalization in learning appeals to many K-12 teachers and students weary of regimented, one-size-fits-all instruction. The in-vogue term personalization is used to refer to many different learning strategies and structures--from personal learning plans to greater student voice. Differentiation expert Carol Ann Tomlinson is…

Amidst calls to personalize learning and blend K-12 classrooms, all too often we stop short of specifics. When the Highlander Institute and the Clayton Christensen Institute came together last year to plan the 2016 Blended and Personalized Learning Conference, their goal was to organize an event that put practitioners at the center of the…

Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have specialized interests and passions that are highly reinforcing. Such special interest areas (SIAs) are more than mere hobbies or simple curiosities. Rather, the SIAs of an individual with autism may be characterized by (a) significant depth and breadth of knowledge about the area, (b)…