When we ran our personalized learning lab school over 10 years ago now, we didn’t separate our special education learners into a separate group like most traditional schools do. Since every young learner possessed their own learning plan, including special learning accommodations specific to each learner, the difference between special education kids and the rest was minimal. Approximately 10% (5 out of 50) of our learning cohort would have been identified as special education inside the traditional K-12 system, but inside the personalized learning lab setting they all worked to define, plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning. When it came time for summative testing, 3 out of 5 of those kids who would have been identified as special education demonstrated 4 ½ years of growth in reading, writing, and problem solving over 3 years. The other two demonstrated 3 years of growth over their 3 years at the lab school.
Except for profound special needs kids, there really isn’t any reason a kid with learning disabilities or minor emotional needs has to receive a label from a special education ARD (admission, review, dismissal) committee to receive the proper support and encouragement to exhibit deep learning in the areas of reading, writing, and problem solving.
Recently Education Reimagined released a report titled “A Collaborative Multi-Case Study of Learner-Centered Education and Learning Differences.” The research team studied three learning organizations known especially for their learner-centered modeling – the Avalon School, a public charter in St. Paul, Minnesota; Lafayette, New York’s Big Picture School, and Norris School District, a public school district in Mulwonago, Wisconsin.
Here are the preliminary outcomes from ER’s study:
“Youth with learning differences experience outcomes ranging form personal wellness to community transformation in the learner-centered environments. As learners build trust and confidence, educators observe fewer behavioral incidents and signs of reduced stress, while learners discover new areas of interest. These shifts ripple outward, positively impacting families and community partners who work with these learners.”
“Rather than viewing federal, state, and local policies as constraints, the learner-centered environments navigate them as a floor – not a ceiling – for innovation. While ensuring compliance, they expand opportunities through learner-centered practices such as flexible credentialing, competency-based recognition, creative staffing, and transportation solutions. These approaches demonstrate how system-wide policy and conditions can be leveraged to increase access for and responsiveness to learners.”
“In the learner-centered environments, differences are recognized as part of human diversity while attending to the distinct needs each learner requires to thrive. Accommodations and resources are woven into the environment, culture, and learning journeys through collaboration with each learner’s network of support.”
“Learning is viewed as something that is personal, relational, and real in the studied sites. Learner-centered practices engender wellness, social capital, and exposure to various perspectives. In addition, relationships with families, communities, and other learners guide the development of skills like self-advocacy, executive functioning, and self-regulation that contribute in positive ways to each learner’s life pathway.”
It would be a rare traditional K-12 campus that could exhibit similar outcomes to the three systems involved in the ER research. It seems that, to arrive at these outcomes, the learning organization must be personalized so that relationships, empowerment, and individual learning plans carry the learning day.
If done correctly, for most kids who would receive a “label” in our traditional public school system, a learner-centered approach can ensure those young learners are equipped with the skills to make them smarter and stronger in the areas of reading, writing, problem solving, and character development.
I’ll be away the rest of the week. Til Monday, November 17th. SVB
A Better Path to Learning 
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