Personalized Learning Perceptions Study

 

Personalized learning (PL) approaches have become increasingly common across the United States. PL aims to create individual learning experiences and pathways for students. Despite its popularity, little data exists on the prevalence of PL practices and the conditions needed to support high-quality PL implementation, particularly in high schools. This report presents findings from high school teachers taken from RAND's 2018 American Teacher Panel. The findings should be useful to practitioners, professional development and support providers, researchers, and policymakers interested in understanding how high school teachers are using PL practices and which supports and resources they need to use them effectively. Key Findings Teachers reported providing a variety of instructional materials and adapting course content to meet students' needs; student-directed learning was less common. Teachers reported using mastery-based assessment more frequently than other mastery-based practices. Most teachers reported addressing students' social and emotional growth but reported that professional development was less helpful for addressing this area. More teachers reported using student data for tailoring instructional approaches than for adjusting how quickly students advanced through content. Teachers reported infrequently receiving data on individual students' progress and needing better data systems; those who reported access to high-quality data reported more extensive use of PL practices.

Elizabeth D. Steiner, E., Doss, C., & Hamilton, L. (2020). High school teachers' perceptions and use of personalized learning. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA322-1.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NPA:2535:6293:Aug%2011,%202020%205:42:03%20AM%20PDT&utm_campaign=NPA:2535:6293:Aug%2011,%202020%205:42:03%20AM%20PDT