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The majority (73%) of respondents felt the term "learner-centered" applied to their work. Another 23% felt this was partially true. A number of entities noted that their support for innovation and improvement is agnostic of specific models and/or that they play a complementary, rather than driving, role in response to specific community needs.
Looking at specific potential dimensions of learner-centered innovation...
"Personalization" was the highest-rated dimension (61%), followed by "whole child" (57%), "competency-based" (44%), and "mastery-based" (40%)
Entities focused on policy and mindsets and vision change expressed much higher support for competency-based than mastery-based learning, while other entities did not discriminate between terms
Most respondents indicated a long-term focus on learner-centered education, 35% indicated they had increased focus and support over the last two to five years.
This project was specifically interested in identifying and analyzing entities across the ecosystems that are pursuing and supporting "learner-centered" experiences. "Learner-centered" is a term that can be defined in many ways, and entry points and theories of change and action will differ significantly. We were interested in understanding perspectives and how entities related their work on three dimensions:
Personalized: Approaches that acknowledge and are responsive to the unique needs, strengths, interests, identities, and contexts of each child.
Mastery-/Competency-Based: Approaches that organize for and build intentionally towards mastery of key skills, content, and mindsets, supporting students to develop a clear understanding and ownership of their learning to make progress towards their goals.
Whole Child: Approaches that are grounded and provide support for comprehensive human development, accounting for and addressing the many different ways in which young people grow and develop (including social-emotional, cognitive, physical, and mental wellbeing alongside academics).
"I’m not sure I understand what “learner centered” means."
"Promoting learner-centered innovation and improvement is a basic educational equity strategy for us. We view it not only as the best but also as the core strategy for equity upon which all other strategies are built."
"We see these as tools to animate an equitable school system. They are the process not the end point."
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Perceptions on "Learner-Centered:" Applicability and Role
Perceptions on "Learner-Centered:" Applicability and Role
In terms of the overall applicability of "learner-centered" to their purpose and work:
The majority of respondents felt the term applied. This was true across categories with the exception of those focused on research and understanding.
Comments from those that indicated "not true" or "somewhat/partially true" suggested some entities believe their support for innovation and improvement is agnostic of specific models and/or that they play a complementary, rather than driving, role. This was particularly true for those working on system transformation, 50% of whom agreed that while they supported learner-centered innovation, they did not see it as a core part of their purpose and model.
"We support educational innovation for equity. Many though not all of the entrepreneurs we support are developing personalized and whole-child approaches to reach the most marginalized learners."
"Rather than adhering to a prescribed model, we support educators and their communities to define locally what learner-centered means and looks like."
"Our focus is on educational equity, so for some organizations with which we work, we would support them doing the sorts of things listed above with an equity lens."
In terms of how they engage in the broader learner-centered ecosystem, most reported working in partnership with others, with their entities working on key components of learner-centered models, with the exception of system transformers (who may work in an enterprise fashion) and research and understanding entities.
"Our work focuses on helping teachers and leaders develop competencies to pursuant to this type of schooling."
"Our work with IHEs and districts is about advancing the teacher profession and ensuring that every classroom is led by well-prepared educators. We believe that understanding and employing these approaches is part of effective teaching."
"We support the schools and organizations providing online, blended, and hybrid learning. These modalities often but not always have ties to PL, CBL, etc."
Personalization
Personalization
When we dug into each dimension of learner-centered, personalization was the highest-rated dimension, with over 60% of respondents indicating supporting it as a key organizational goal was "very true."
Whole-Child
Whole-Child
The majority of organizations also expressed that supporting whole-child models was central to their purpose and mission. This was lowest for learning supports, which may be due to the fact that some focus only on certain domains of academic skill and instruction (e.g. learning acceleration, reading tutoring).
Mastery-Based and Competency-Based Learning and Education
Mastery-Based and Competency-Based Learning and Education
The most "heat" and disagreement seemed to be around support of mastery-/competency-based learning and education, which roughly 40% of organizations indicated was a core part of their model/mission.
We wanted to test whether or not there would be a difference in support for these terms, so we asked them separately. For most organizations, there was no difference (literally 0 points). However, organizations focused on policy and mindsets and vision change expressed much higher support for competency-based than mastery-based (14 points and 25 points respectively). This indicates that those operating in different positions in the sector likely hold differing definitions relative to their mission and operating horizons.
"The interpretation [...] depend(s) on how we view standards and curriculum relative to personalization/mastery and being learner centered. I could see those in the ecosystem seeing our organization answering not true for all of these questions, but given our perspective that grade level standards mastery is critical to success and that curriculum is a resource meant to be implemented skillfully in service of students, we answered partially true to many of these questions."
"Personalization and "whole child" are, in our work, definitional to "excellent teaching and learning." We didn't check "mastery" and "competency" because [they are] less defintional, and because the vast majority of students are not living in mastery-/competency-based systems. Yet we still need to extend excellent teaching and learning to them!"
Change Over Time
Change Over Time
While most respondents indicated a long-term focus on learner-centered education, 35% indicated they had increased focus and support over the last two to five years.
This was particularly true for research and understanding and system transformation entities (5 years) and adult roles and development respondents (2 years). “N/A” responses appear to be related to perspectives on the centrality of learner-centered innovation to mission and role. "Other" responses related to a change in "how" they perceived their support of the work or the fact that several organizations were early-stage and/or startups.
"Over the past few years, we have shifted slightly to prioritize our work in places that value learner-centered and equity. Our work is to support high-quality practice in classrooms and systems that are more responsive to and ready to grow learner-centered and equitable structures, culture and practice."
"We are engaging in a strategy reset to take into account the impact the pandemic has had on K12 schools and learning. Our operating hypothesis is that learning is happening everywhere, well beyond the classroom and school day. We will be running pilots to explore approaches that support students, families and schools to take a more expansive view on where, when, and how learning takes place. An underlying belief is that learning should be student-centered and assessed in new and authentic ways. "
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