RSU #12 Personalized Learning Handbook

Personalized Learning Glossary of Terms

1. All learning expectations are clearly and consistently communicated.

2. All learning will be evaluated based on common standards regardless of program placement.

3. All assessments are based on common standards.

4. Formative assessments measure learning progress and inform instruction.

5. Summative assessments evaluate learning at a specific point in time.

6. Academic progress is reported separately from work habits.

7. Grades communicate learning progress and achievement to students and families.

8. Students are given multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency.

9. Students can demonstrate and transfer learning in multiple ways across content areas.

10. Students are given opportunities to make decisions about how they demonstrate their learning.

Personalized, Proficiency-Based Learning is a system of teaching and learning that includes a clear set of expectations of what students need to learn with clear and specific feedback on whether or not they learned it.

A clear set of expectations of what students need to learn might look like:

• Learning Targets posted on the walls

• Objectives explained to students

• Answers to the question, "Why do we have to know this?"

Clear and specific feedback on whether or not they learned it might look like:

• Comments on a test or quiz

• A separate score/grade for each topic assessed, even if there are several topics covered in one project or test.

• Feedback on a continuum that shows progress towards learning the skill.