Ed°Expo 2018 Twin Cities Promises to be the Most Student-Centered Conference of the Year!

Inside The Issue:

Students will truly be at the center of this event as they share how learner-centered approaches have impacted their school experience and their lives. Throughout the

day, students will share stories, projects and insights on how personalized learning has enhanced and energized their school experiences.

The morning keynote presentation will share the incredible transformation of Jemar Lee, a senior at Iowa BIG. Iowa BIG is a learner-centered environment that makes learners into mak-ers, designers, storytellers, and social entrepreneurs with ex-posure and interactions with organizations, business partners, and the community. Jemar who recently spoke at iNACOL and Education Reimagined’s national conferences is a firm believer that education needs to be restructured for the benefit of all learners, to make sure they enjoy their learning and reach their highest potential.

In addition to this powerful keynote, students from throughout the metro area from both traditional and charter schools will share their stories in 5-7 minute Ed°x presentations and answer key questions during a student panel. Examples include stu-dents from Minnetonka’s Vantage and Prior Lake’s MNCAPS programs who will share how their junior and senior year in high school has been transformed through profession-based learn-ing and real world-projects. Students from highly personalized schools like Avalon Charter School and Northwest Passage will explain what it is like to have the autonomy to drive your own learning based on passions, goals and interests. Elementary students from Minnesota New Country School (MNCS) and Im-pact Academy in Lakeville will join the others for a dynamic panel.

In addition to the student perspective, participants will also hear from the educators who make personalized learning expe-riences possible. Teachers from traditional and charter schools will be on hand to share their stories and insights on creating and facilitating personalized learning. At lunch time, partic-ipants will choose from three dynamic Power Up! Discussion groups or have a chance to visit the student project gallery and

EdVisions To Host Powerful Day of Transformation

EdVisions’ Long History of Student-Directed PBL

Fuel up on PD at the Ed°Expo!

The EdVisions Comprehensive Assessment PlanPower-Up Discussion at Ed°Expo 2018

Our mission is to help create and transform schools. Our vision is to work with public and private partners to help create schools that prepare students for college, careers and global citizenship using the most student-centered teaching and learning.

January 2018Newsletter

Dr. Lisa Snyder | Executive Director

Introducing...Ed°Talks!

Hope Survey, The Next Generation

The PLP Gap: Perhaps It’s Time to Rethink Our Process?

talk to students about the projects they have accom-plished to meet standards and goals.

Explore this newsletter to read more about sessions on the essentials that power personalization, student-di-rected PBL and assessing social/emotional learning with the Hope Survey. The event will be held at the TIES Conference Center in St. Paul, MN on January 26, 2018. For the full agenda, visit edvisions.org/events

Hope Survey Coffee Talks

Bringing student voice into our collective work

Newsletter Newsletter

ED°ESSENTIALS: WHAT POWERS PERSONALIZATION?Have you ever wondered how you can create a highly per-sonalized learning community where every student is treat-ed as an individual, empowered to be self-directed produc-ers and learners and utilize practices that result in improved deliverables and quality outcomes? If so, get ready to take a closer look at our morning session about the EdEssentials framework at the EdExpo.

We will talk about how to build strong relationships between adults, students and community through advisories and how this affects social-emotional learning and skill development. We will also take a look at some elements of personalized learning and assessment that will equip students with the knowledge and skills for an engaged post-secondary life. Teachers, we did not forget about you! We will discuss how to empower you to model ownership and democratic lead-ership through professional development plans that are in-formed by evaluations by peers, students and parents. As well as coaching and mentoring plans for new staff and con-tinuous improvement.

PBL 101: A STUDENT-DIRECTED APPROACH TO PROJ-ECT-BASED LEARNING

Want to take a closer look at Project Based Learning? Join me in the afternoon for PBL 101. We will look at the project process, project management and assessment. Come to the session with project ideas and we can “tune” one or two to experience a project tuning protocol and highlight that proj-ects can fall on a continuum of teacher led to student driven.Hope to see you at the Ed°Expo, but if you cannot make it, you can always contact me at krissywright@edvisions.org with any questions.

Page 2

2 0 1 8

Page 3

2 0 1 8

EdVisions’ Long History of Student-Directed PBL Benefits Schools Seeking Transformative,

Student-Centered Learning

We feel it’s important to get project learning right and not just incorporate projects in classes in order to join the latest educational movement. First of all, projects must have a pur-pose, reason and outcome useful to the student or the au-dience beyond. Second, projects have a structure; the what, how and when that gives organization to the work and drives an effort to a sensible completion. Third, the outcomes of project work must be clear, assessable and reportable. And fourth, there must be a feedback loop allowing for informing and improving.

EdVisions came about nearly twenty years ago to help folks implement the self-directed project learning model devel-oped at the New Country School. We are still dedicated to that same assistance and we have developed additional tools for innovating in schools and motivating students and teachers. Check us out and let us know if we can help.

Doug Thomas | Director of DevelopmentDr. Walter Enloe | EdVisions Board Member

There is much talk these days about project-based learning and there are a plethora of models out there in schools. It’s all good because they engage kids to

a greater degree and give young people skills they other-wise might not acquire. We can argue about which models are best or what projects are more useful than others but in the long run the movement to learn from real experiences is long overdue and is finally being taken seriously.

Projects have always been around; a matter of good teach-ing for centuries in and out of school. There were a couple of short-lived movements over the past century but mostly teacher-led efforts that changed the structure of schooling and not as much the practice of helping students lead their own learning. The project learning approach of Dewey col-league William Kilpatrick (1918) and the “Topic” approach found in British commonwealth schools are generally whole classroom endeavors and usually teacher directed. But the modern day era of project learning really came about with the development of the Minnesota New Country School in 1994. New Country was the first to implement a full time advisory, self-directed project system that guided each in-dividual student to rigorous outcomes in a way that not only depended on the students’ own initiative but caused each to organize her/his work and to consider how each stu-dent learns best. It was a learning process within a learning system, not easily understood by most adults at first and certainly not by most students. Still today at MNCS, each student learns as much about her/himself as they learn par-ticular content or skills.

Even though project learning is still a strong part of its pro-gram, there is much more that takes place at MNCS, Ava-lon and other EdVisions schools than just learning through projects. According to staff, about half the day is spent on project work and the rest of the day highlights other great, progressive learning activities. Field experiences, service learning, student government, tutoring, mentoring, indi-vidual skill development, and even some traditional looking classes or seminars, make up a vibrant array of learning strat-egies. The key is personalizing or customizing the learning program for each student in order to meet her/his needs and interests.

EdVisions staff recently toured Impact Academy - a personalized learning elementary school in Lakeville, MN doing excellent work within the structure of a district and utilizing those resources to meet students where they are. More information at isd194.org/im-pact-academy/

Fuel up on PD at the Ed°Expo!

Krissy Wright | Director of Professional Development

Come join me at Ed°Expo 2018 where I will be hosting these sessions:

ALSO AT ED°EXPO: EdioJoin the staff from Edio for their Pow-er-Up Discussion over lunch to learn how teachers can manage PBL and standard attainment through a robust digital platform.Visit getedio.com for more info.

Newsletter NewsletterPage 5

2 0 1 8

Page 4

2 0 1 8

Hope Survey, The Next Generation

The Hope Survey team has been busy evolving the Hope Survey to meet the needs of the next generation of our schools. We have developed reports that are personalized to the needs of each school that range from the basic re-port, to an advanced report created with the school staff that includes practical interventions and support with im-plementation. We have also developed an adult version of the Hope Survey. We are currently Beta testing this re-source and will have it available for schools to utilize by the spring of 2018. If you have any interest in the Hope Survey, social-emotional growth and/or creating your ideal school culture, we encourage you to attend one of our sessions or to contact us directly for a personalized conversation.

Over the last 18 months we have met with students and staff from around the United States that utilize the Hope Survey and asked for their input on what would make the Hope Survey better. We were told that the Hope Survey is an important tool for documenting successful growth in social-emotional learning and that schools count on us for valid and reliable data that goes beyond high stakes testing as the single indicator of academic performance. We also learned that schools would value a more robust report, that includes resources for interventions and when needed, help facilitating practical interventions that can be measured and evaluated over time.

Dr. Steven Rippe | Director of Organization Development & Hope SurveyDr. Ron Newell | Director of Assessment

The EdVisions Comprehensive Assessment Plan:Power-Up Discussion at Ed°Expo 2018

skills that our EdVisions Schools espouse and assess; becom-ing a self-directed learner, and collaboration/interaction. A self-directed learner is characterized by: goal setting, use of resources, self-management, internal motivation, self-eval-uation, and adaptability. Collaboration/interaction is char-acterized by: good communication skills, good social skills, interacts well with both peers and adults, good presentation skills, and being an organizer and leader.

These two major life skills will be assessed each year using a sliding scale of 1-8. Each advisor will mark growth within each year (marking beginning of the year level, and end of year level). This skill growth will then be matched with stu-dent growth in hope and reading/math skills (also measured twice within each year). The hypothesis is that there will be significant correlations in growth patterns for all three. This pattern of correlations will be linked to the student Accu-placer, ACT, or SAT scores and post-secondary institution acceptance.

From this plan we will derive data that will exhibit innova-tive schools that utilize the Ed Essentials, or schools that are intentional about developing adolescent engaging environ-ments, do create experiences that lead to the success we all want from our children; being happy, mentally healthy, engaged, capable, and motivated to succeed. We are ex-cited about the possibilities this kind of data will tell us, and would welcome any schools interested in becoming part of the study.

Dr. Ron Newell | Director of AssessmentDr. Steven Rippe | Director of Organization Development & Hope Survey

The EdVisions Assessment plan is designed to strengthen already existing partner schools in the network, provide a coherent plan for developing new

sites, and guide transitioning school sites in establishing new parameters for evaluation. We feel that the methods used by State Departments and regulating agencies are not compre-hensive enough. Many newly developed schools, charters, alternative schools, and innovative programs are assessed on test scores and graduation rates, although the students often came to them behind in reading and math and were credit deficient. They are not assessed on their engagement, human development potential, nor on their dispositions.

Adolescents have specific socio-emotional needs that re-search shows schools do not foster; i.e., autonomy, mastery goal orientations, and belonging. When those needs are met in a learning environment, young people respond with higher levels of both behavioral and emotional engagement. Engagement is correlated to higher levels of hope. Hope reflects an individual’s perceptions regarding their ability to clearly conceptualize their goals, develop the specific strat-egies to reach those goals (i.e., pathways thinking), and ini-tiate and sustain activity based upon those strategies (i.e., agency thinking). Hope is equated to resilience and per-sistence. This much we have found with previous research.

We intend to measure dispositional hope growth and emo-tional engagement and correlate it with skill development. We will track reading and math scores on a growth chart, using NWEA’s Measure of Academic Progress and utilizing their RIT scores. It is our hypothesis that there will be cor-relations, as a small study done in 2008 indicated. We also expect to follow student college entrance exams and col-lege acceptance.

We will also track life skill attainment. Life skills vary in defini-tion and are difficult for educators to assess; therefore, they rarely are. Many educators assume life skills are attained as courses are completed, good grades are attained, and state tests are passed. We do not concur. Life skills must be inten-tional in design, and assessed according to the purpose for those skills in real life.

For our purposes we have defined two very important life

ALSO AT ED°EXPO: Center for School ChangeWith college costs constantly increasing, Minnesota offers more opportunities than any other state to earn free college credit. Join Director Joe Nathan for the Power-Up Discussion at lunch to review the options to take such courses in a high school, taught by high school or college faculty, on-line, and on a campus.Visit centerforschoolchange.org for more info.

Introducing...Ed°Talks!Ed°Talks are an opportunity to interact with experts in the educational field on dynamic topics related to personalized learning. Tune in once a month for tips and insights from our trainers and special guests. Bring your questions and ideas!

Next Ed°Talk:January 17, 2:30-3:30pm CST: PLP’s with Nikki Luedtke (Valley New School) and EdVisions coaches Steven Rippe and Krissy WrightTo join, visit https://zoom.us/j/231296248 at the time of the talk.

February 21March 21April 18May 16June 20

Future Topics:WellnessInterdisciplinary seminarsDeeper LearningStudent exchangeService LearningCommunity PartnershipExpeditionsProject Management/Alternatives to time logsDigital Accessibility modelsACES and trauma informed programming

Newsletter NewsletterPage 6

2 0 1 8

Page 7

2 0 1 8

Bringing student voice into our collective work: Introducing Student Ed°x talks!

Democratic learning and leading is a foundational process within our EdVisions work. What this means is that we need to make sure we have the voice of

everyone within our work and that we foster the opportunity to engage people in meaningful dialogue on our collective challenges, solutions and successes.

During the Ed°Expo 2018, on January 26th we have invited four students, from four different schools to share their expe-

rience as learners through what we are calling an Ed°x talks.

Come join us and hear these students share their journey. You will also be able to meet these students afterwards and discuss with them their experience as a learner in a stu-dent-centered school and explore different projects they are working on during the Lunch and Learn. We look forward to seeing you at the Ed°Expo 2018!

Dr. Steven Rippe | Director of Organization Development & Hope Survey

The PLP Gap: Perhaps It’s Time to Rethink Our Process?

ing schools accountable for student outcomes, with harsh consequences for not meeting “Adequate yearly Prog-ress”. As I traveled throughout the United States working with schools, students and teachers frequently reported that personal learning plans had devolved into an assignment and for some, it felt like another control device to get them to achieve on high stakes tests. Fortunately, we did have a network of schools and committed educators that contin-ued the work and are producing amazing personal learning plans. NCLB was replaced in 2015 with Every Student Suc-ceeds Act (ESSA), which sets the stage for a new mindset around data collection, including socio-emotional growth and the role of personal learning plans.

Perhaps it is time we challenge our epistemology and prac-tice on how we are engaging in personal learning plans with our students, staff and ourselves. We are teaching and learn-ing in a time that encourages authentic personalization. I am currently involved in a book project on the next generation of student-led personal learning plans with students from Valley New School in Appleton Wisconsin, along with Niki Luedtke (Advisor at Valley New) and Dr. Walter Enloe. If you would like to be involved in our learning community, includ-ing our yearly gatherings and /or would like to contribute to our writing project, please join us at the 2018 Ed°Expo.

Dr. Steven Rippe | Director of Organization Development & Hope Survey

I have been part of a wonderful community of educators that has been studying personal learning plans for over a decade. The idea of a true personal learning plan, one

that inspires and guides us to become our best, has been a goal worth pursuing. Reflecting on the work of Chris Argyris, I am forced to realize that what we have in our heads around the purpose and process of personal learning plans and what we practice, are often fundamentally different. In this article I will describe the PLP gap, how we arrived there and the new opportunity we have to actualize our original intent.

Working collaboratively with students and educators across the United States we were able to identify elements that facilitated authentic, engaging and transformative person-al learning plans. Each year we met and shared our best practices and offered workshops to educators and schools interested in using our process. We do know that our work spread throughout the United States and has taken on a life of its own. We also knew that we still had work to do to make this process work for everyone.

As we were gaining momentum with our personal learning plans, the effects of the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB, 2002) began to take hold. According to Education Week (2017), NCLB effectively added a new federal role in hold-

After a visit to the MNCAPS program, EdVisions staff were very impressed by both the learning experiences they’re creating and the students themselves. Corporate projects, professional mentorship, college credit, and contextual learning help create real future-ready young adults. Visit mncaps.org for more information.

Please join us on January 18 at 2:30 pm CST with your questions and comments for the next Hope Survey Coffee Talk via video conference at https://zoom.us/j/470188947. This is a great opportunity for anyone that is interested in administering the Hope Survey to their students in the future. Ask questions or just listen to the discussion held by educators currently administering the Hope Survey in their schools. Discussions range from setting up the students, to actually adminis-tering the survey to students, and then working with the results. If there are questions very specific to a school, a specialist can also work with educators one-on-one outside of the video conference.

Please direct your questions to our Office Manager, Mary Moening at marymoening@edvisions.org or 612-601-1073.

Future Coffee Talk dates (2:30-4:00 PM CST):

January 18February 15

March 15

April 19May 17June 21

facebook.com/edvisionsinc

twitter.com/edvisions

instagram.com/edvisionsinc

Let’s Keep In Touch

Address

1667 Snelling Ave NSt. Paul, MN 55108

Phone

612-601-1032

Web

info@edvisions.orgedvisions.org

Social Media

Check OutOur Approach

EdVisions’ approach focuses on highly

personalized learning. Through the training,

teachers learn to create dynamic, student-

centered learning experiences where they can

achieve curriculum standards through rigorous,

engaging projects that are driven by student

interest and community/global connections. In

schools that have embraced the EdVisions approach,

educators experience a new level of professionalism

by empowering them to develop systems of teacher

governance and shared leadership.

EdVisions staff recently toured Impact Academy - a personalized learning elementary school in Lakeville, MN doing excellent work within the structure of a district and utilizing those resources to meet students where they are. More information at isd194.org/impact-academy/