25 Feb
We are proud of our schools’ continuing efforts to transform education. At our Fusion schools, all classes are taught one-to-one. This allows each class to be tailored to the student’s learning style and to ensure that mastery is achieved. Each child has a unique schedule, developed to accommodate the individual’s needs.
Check out our original Solana Beach location in the video below. And be sure to visit us at www.FusionAcademy.com to learn more.
18 Feb
The Open High School of Utah is charting new territory as a completely virtual charter school using a huge range of open education resources. The school follows the same principles as our Fusion schools in California – offering one-to-one education, so that each child can move at his or her own pace, with flexible scheduling – but lacks the physical presence and therefore the in-person social aspects of a school. How does it work? Check out these Classroom Overviews to experience an online lesson; English 9 and Earth Systems together give a nice example of the different types of technology utilized for varying subjects.
You can also learn more about the instructional tools and culture of this online-only school in EdReformer’s Open High Blazing New Path.
This raises the question, does school “socialization” require a physical presence? Or are people living so online now that a virtual school for 14-18 year-olds can successfully prepare them for life?
4 Oct
Understanding that age is not always the best predictor of ability, a new classroom “grading” is being implemented in some schools across the country. This methodology groups students by ability in a subject; they move “up” to the next level within that subject once they’ve mastered the level they are currently on. Teachers continue to provide group instruction, if needed, but most work is done individually or in small groups. Mostly the teacher is serving as a mentor and guide – working with the student to determine which part of the curriculum he or she should be working on.
This method, called the RISC Approach to Schooling, is a comprehensive, performance-based schooling system developed by the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition. As stated on the RISC website:
At the core of the RISC approach is a deep commitment to children—that every child will learn, that every child can meet high standards, and that every child can succeed in life. This learner-centered approach, driven by moral purpose and a system that unleashes students’ potential, gives every child, in any community, in any part of the globe, the best opportunity for success in life.
Utilizing a shared community vision, a standards-based design, effective leadership, and continuous improvement, the RISC approach engages children fully in the learning process, while teachers become mentors and partners in learning, similar to the Reggio Emilia approach. Children also must achieve a mastery level in each subject, similar to the approach taken by Fusion Academy and Learning Center, a group of AEG partner schools.
The RISC Approach to Schooling has so far been implemented in the Kansas City, Missouri school district; in the Denver, Colorado school district; in the Bering Strait School District in Alaska; and across six school districts in Maine. According to the article Some Schools Grouping Students by Skill, Not Grade Level in USAToday, all participants have found this to be an overwhelming success.
2 Jul
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Children with learning differences can fall into many broad categories. One of those is gifted. Adults often look at a gifted child and see the vast array of possibilities and abilities not available to other children. But the gifted children themselves often struggle with the consequences of being “different”.
Tamara Fisher, a K-12 gifted education specialist, asked her students to respond to the topic “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so smart because…” In I Don’t Want To Be A Smarty Anymore at EdWeek, Fisher shares the anonymous responses of her students. Here is just a sampling:
“I feel like I am different from other kids and sometimes I feel that they think I should be treated specially. Sometimes people point out my intelligence and make a big deal of it. I try to be humble about it because I don’t like the idea of being different from others.” Olive, 9th grade
“Ignorance is bliss. Being smart has allowed me the ability to watch the world. This isn’t a horrible situation. My regret arises whenever I want to experience the world without watching, to have flares of emotion without questioning ‘why’ or ‘how’, to experience life to the ‘fullest’ without asking why the rain makes people sad or happy.” Zim, 12th grade
“Because I focus more on school than my social life, I am an outcast. I rarely go over to my ‘friends” houses, or go anywhere for that matter. Sometimes I have to ask myself if I really even have any friends. I never talk to any of these people except for the somewhat off-topic comments exchanged in class or a light conversation at lunch, and nearly all of that ‘conversation’ I am the listener not the talker. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so smart because I want to be included, accepted by a group of people who I can call friends not ‘friends’.” Jane, 12th grade
“The teachers stop calling on me because they know that I know all the answers.” Chang, 7th grade
“Sometimes it’s hard to talk to people. My vocabulary is a bit bigger than others. I get the ‘what?’ look all the time. I also get teased and questioned and poked and picked by teachers and kids!” Lillian, 5th grade
“I get scared for the world. Being smart allows me to see the world and what trouble we’re really in.” Alexander, 8th grade
Fisher also writes about the many myths associated with gifted children. In Dispelling Myths about Gifted Students and Gifted Education, Fisher lists several myths with links to research about each one.
Being a gifted child comes with its own unique rewards and struggles. Listening to gifted children to hear how they are experiencing their giftedness is an important part of providing them with the personal and emotional support they need.
26 Jun
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Every college student understands the pressure associated with timed exams. This is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the high stakes situation of the ACT and SAT. With so much riding on a few tests, students are under tremendous pressure to perform well and to do it as quickly as possible. But an increasing number of people are asking if timing these exams is in the best interest of the students and if such rapid-paced test-taking is truly an accurate reflection of a student’s academic ability.
Valerie Strauss writes in Stop timing the ACT and SAT for The Washington Post that part of the challenge lies with the companies who administer the tests:
Why, exactly, are these tests timed the way they are? Why, for
example, do students have exactly 60 minutes to take the ACT math section but 25 minutes to write an SAT essay?It’s not because extensive research has shown that subjecting
students to exactly this amount of time to complete these academic problems reveals something important about a teenager.It’s because the entities behind the tests, ACT Inc., and the College Board, say so. The big thinking is that high school students need to be tested under pressure to see how they will fare in the pressure-filled environments in college. The other problems cited is the problem of securing and paying proctors and test sites for unspecified amounts of time.
Strauss is not the first person to suggest that timing should be eliminated. In 2002, Howard Gardner, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard Graduate School of Education, suggested that tightly timed, high-stakes testing proves very little in terms of future success in college and beyond. Gardner wrote in The New York Times op-ed, Test for Aptitude, Nor for Speed:
Nothing of consequence would be lost by getting rid of timed tests
by the College Board or, indeed, by universities in general. Few tasks in life — and very few tasks in scholarship — actually depend on being able to read passages or solve math problems rapidly. As a teacher, I want my students to read, write and think well; I don’t care how much time they spend on their assignments. For those few jobs where speed is important, timed tests may be useful. But getting into college, or doing satisfactorily once there, is not in that category.
Indeed, by eliminating the timed component, the College Board would signal that background knowledge, seriousness of purpose and effort — not speed and glibness — are the essentials of good scholarship. What matters is not what you have at the starting point, but whether and how well you finish.
Strauss further explains that it is challenging for students who truly need more time to qualify for it. There are numerous hoops to jump through, many of which involve expensive testing to prove a true need and cooperation with already overburdened high school guidance counselors. She suggests that many students who do need extra time in order to successfully take the tests never get it because they do not have access to the additional expensive advocacy they need.
It is a widely acknowledged fact that many students need individualized instruction or accommodations in order to be successful in school. Their struggles are not due to a lack of intelligence or desire. Some students simply learn differently and can be very successful when given the opportunity to approach school in a different way. Eliminating the timed aspect of the ACT and SAT would give all students the opportunity to perform to the best of their ability and demonstrate their true knowledge and aptitude.
7 May
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Children who are both gifted and learning disabled (known as 2e or twice-exceptional) face unique challenges as do their parents and teachers. Correctly identifying 2e students is the first step in meeting their specific academic, personal, and social needs. The 2e Newsletter offers a helpful overview in Twice-exceptional Students: Who Are They and What Do They Need? by Micaela Bracamonte.
Specifically identifying students has become somewhat easier as researchers have uncovered some distinct tendencies among 2e children. Bracamonte writes:
By analyzing the records of students currently in 2e programs, researchers have developed a profile of twice-exceptionality. 2e students typically perform at very high levels on some, but not all, of the gifted screening tests used by public schools. On the other hand, they tend to simultaneously perform very poorly on one or more of the local, state, or national standardized assessments used to measure individual student progress. One of the hallmarks of twice-exceptionality, then, is inconsistency in performance and, in particular, in test results.
Bracomonte provides four profiles of “typical” 2e students. These short overviews give a glimpse of the complexity of identifying 2e students in the school setting. She then offers five strategies for working with twice-exceptional students:
Bracomonte clearly recognizes the need to provide these twice-exceptional students with an appropriate education. She writes in closing:
The ideal classroom environment for the twice-exceptional student is very far from what exists… With a handful of exceptions, highly promising, creative students with learning differences continue to be systematically denied what they need in school – a flexible combination of acceleration, remediation, and social/emotional supports – whether the context is general, gifted, or special education.
To meet the needs of these children, there must be a paradigm shift from a remediation or deficit model to a strength-based model of education. This is particularly true as a growing body of research demonstrates that learning disabilities also appear to afford and coexist with unique learning strengths. These children need programs and schools that transform the research on twice-exceptionality into a daily commitment to combine academic rigor with individualized accommodations and adaptations.
One million of our nation’s most promising, most innovative thinkers – bright children who learn differently, not “deficiently” – constitute a neglected national resource. Twice-exceptional children need an education that fits, and it’s in all of our interests to give it to them.
24 Apr
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Groups based on ability have been a fixture of American schools for decades. Whether it is reading groups or another area of education, schools frequently divide children into groups for both the ease of the teacher and the perceived betterment of the students. One teacher discovered that grouping by ability has unexpected consequences. Put in her own lower level group, the teacher realized the implications of these choices.
Cris Tovani wrote in I Got Grouped for Educational Leadership that her own experience with ability grouping for technology training made her realize some of the challenges faced by her struggling readers. She writes of the four insights she had as a result of this troubling experience:
When reflecting upon the first insight, Tovani wrote:
I started to wonder whether our beliefs about struggling readers had inadvertently given students permission to give up. I know from experience that when people believe in my abilities, I work harder to prove them right. When colleagues ask me for help with reading instruction, I know they trust me to know what I’m doing. This belief encourages me to produce and perform.
Expressing belief in someone’s ability is powerful—especially if the person dishing out the belief is in a position of authority. As a result of being grouped, I realized that people I respected didn’t have a lot of confidence in my computer abilities. This public declaration almost forced me to give up my goal of becoming proficient with technology. My initial reaction was, why try? Because no one believed in my abilities, there was no pressure to perform. I was off the hook.
We have inadvertently given many struggling readers the message that no one believes they can or will read in school. Our low expectations give students an excuse to opt out of improving. Struggling readers, like all struggling learners, need confidence, or they won’t take risks. And if they don’t take risks, they won’t improve. Of course, just saying to struggling readers, “I think you’re the best reader in the world!” isn’t going to magically make them so. But there is a valuable middle ground. Having reasonable expectations and providing scaffolding with strategy instruction may not be flashy, but it’s effective.
Success begets success and students who are struggling are in even greater need of experiencing success. Quite often the first step toward success is to simply have someone cheering them on, encouraging them that they can do it and believing they have the ability to grow and learn. Tovani explains in the rest of the article how she has refocused her own teaching as a result of the experience.
6 Apr
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Was the promise of efficiency and a uniform product a la the assembly line perhaps a siren’s song for schools and educational leaders over the past several decades? Ryan Oliver, a social studies teacher at City Charter High School in Pittsburgh, believes this to be true. Rather than providing students with a solid education that will prepare them for the world they will face upon graduation, the current assembly-line model produces students lacking critical skills.
In Assembly-line schools from a bygone era from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oliver writes:
The traditional high school structure emerged as a parallel to the factory model that saw a division of labor, mechanical routines, and large-scale production as the most efficient way to make things — whether the products were steel beams, automobiles, or productive citizens.
Consider the origins of seven classes a day, 45 minutes each, in rooms filled with students sitting in orderly rows writing down notes and completing repetitive exercises in preparation for multiple-choice exams. This is an efficient method of material production, but it’s no way to educate human beings.
Under such conditions, it should not be surprising that the “products” these industrial-era schools release into our communities often lack the ability to collaborate with others and engage in the critical analysis necessary for success in a complex society. Many of our young people are set adrift in a world they don’t fully understand and have few skills to influence.
Oliver further observes:
What is desperately needed is a change in the understanding of the high school teacher’s role and a dramatic shift in school design. Instead of demanding that high school teachers be subject experts alone, we should expect them to be experts in student development, capable of forming strong academic relationships and constructing bridges to the wisdom and knowledge that lie beyond school walls.
The notion that teachers should be highly skilled in developing relationships is commonplace at the elementary level, but discussions of education reform, both locally and nationally, continue to ignore the central role academic relationships play at all levels of education.
Oliver goes on to explain the way his school has tackled the problem. This includes implementing interdisciplinary groups of teachers who work with the same students for four years, a senior year social studies curriculum with extensive discussions on wide-ranging topics with professionals, and an International Service Learning Program. In each case, students are prepared for life after high school through relationship-based learning experiences which translate into significant life preparation. By implementing such changes throughout the country, Oliver argues, high school will not merely be an assembly line of future citizens but instead will produce thoughtful, prepared young men and women.
Photo credit
16 Feb
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Technology impacts the way education is delivered at virtually every grade level. But 
finding ways to make it truly effective in each individual student’s learning process is much more challenging than simply wiring a school and setting up a computer lab.
With the increase of digital tools available, educators are seeking new and creative ways to utilize them and, at the same time, maximize the personal approach to each student’s education.
In Digital Tools Expand Options for Personalized Learning from The Christian Science Monitor, some of these very tools are explored and explained.
Vander Ark says that supplemental-service providers, like private tutoring companies or after-school programs, have taken the lead in offering tailored instruction. The ways those providers use assessment tools to gather and process data and then suggest a roster of activities for each student could pave the way for similar approaches within the school day, he says.
He points to one widely publicized model: New York City’s School of One.
The pilot program at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Middle School in Chinatown provided math lessons that were customized every day to meet the individual needs, and progress, of the 80 incoming 7th graders who volunteered to attend the five-week session this past summer. The School of One combined face-to-face instruction, software-based activities, and online lessons designed to move each new 7th grader through a defined set of math benchmarks at his or her own pace.
As students entered school each morning, they could view their schedules for the day on a computer monitor—similar to the arrival-and-departure monitors at airports—and proceed to the assigned locations. A student’s schedule could include traditional lessons from a certified teacher, small-group work, virtual learning, or specific computer-based activities, most of them offered in converted space in the school library.
After each half-day of instruction, teachers entered data on students’ progress and instructional needs into a computer program that recommended the next day’s tasks.
(snip)
“When we ask ourselves how much instruction during the course of a typical school day does each student get exactly on the skill they’re working on, and in the amount that is right for them, the answer is very little,” says Joel Rose, a former teacher who has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the School of One.
“By leveraging technology to play a role in the delivery of instruction,” he says, “we can help to complement what live teachers do.”
As digital tools become increasingly more accessible, teachers have many options as they plan lessons for their students. The most effective schools and teachers will utilize technology to create individual, personalized learning opportunities for each student based on his or her specific academic needs.
9 Jan
Written by Sallie Borrink.
Some parents may be surprised to discover that their child faces not just one 
exceptionality but two. Students who are both gifted and talented as well as challenged by a learning difference are sometimes called 2e for twice-exceptional.
The 2e Newsletter explains some of the unique challenges faced by twice-exceptional students in The 2e Dilemma: Understanding and Educating the Twice-Exceptional Child.
They suggest:
Twice-exceptional students need a program that is challenging, yet provides structure and strategies to accommodate weaknesses. Some students benefit from one-on-one therapies, social skills training, and other behavioral interventions. When a student’s talents are identified and nurtured, there is an increased willingness on the part of the student to put forth more effort to complete tasks. Students should be encouraged to take pride in their accomplishments and strengths. They especially need enriching and stimulating cognitive experiences where they can use problem-solving abilities and independent research skills.
In setting up a curriculum, engaging learners in activities and projects that reflect their personal interests is key. Learning tasks need to be individualized, developing students’ gifts while also providing them with compensation methods to work around their disability. Likewise, the curriculum should provide remediation in weak areas.
The 2e Newsletter also has a helpful page with resources and links for parents who have just learned their child is twice-exceptional. Where to Turn When You’re New to the 2e World and Feeling Overwhelmed: A Primer for Parents offers a wealth of information for parents beginning to navigate the world of a child who is both gifted and has a learning difference.
