Find more resources from NASSP on the topic of Personalizing The School Experience.

  • What Kids Can Do (WKCD) website — Using digital, print, and broadcast media, WKCD presses before the broadest audience possible a dual message: the power of what young people can accomplish when given the opportunities and supports they need and what they can contribute when people take their voices and ideas seriously. The youth who WKCD are most concerned with are between 12 and 22 years old and marginalized by poverty, race, and language.WKCD website

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  • Transitions — Planning and implementing strategies to facilitate students’ transitions as they move along the continuum is essential to helping insure their success. If communities begin to treat education as a continuum in which the needs of each student must be addressed, the potentially unsettling transitions from grade to grade and school to school will be far less traumatic for students as well as for those who guide their learning and development. Another important consideration when planning for smooth transitions is the movement of students in special education programs from formal schooling to work or further education.NASSP website
  • Personalizing the School Environment — If high achievement for all students is the goal of reform, leaders seeking to maximize each student’s learning potential must collaboratively establish structures and practices that create an environment supportive of learning. Personalization may mean different things to different people; however, definitions from the Breaking Ranks framework converge on a few common principles: developing students’ sense of belonging to the school community, building students’ sense of ownership of and responsibility for the direction of their learning, and increasing students’ ability to recognize choices for their futures and to make choices based on their individual experience and understanding of the choices.NASSP website

Additional Resources Available to NASSP Members

  • Carter, Alex & Healey, Tim. (February 2011). Professional Development for Parents. Principal Leadership, v11 n6 p26–31. Help parents develop “school sense” so that they can be partners with teachers and advocates for their children.Download the article: Professional Development for Parents
  • Champeau, Ryan. (March 2006). Doing Advisories. Principal Leadership, v6 n7 p22–26. When a solid school began to stagnate academically, advisories became key to the reform efforts inspired by Breaking Ranks II.Download the article: Doing Advisories
  • Clark, Carrie & Hunley, Allen. (March 2007). Freshman Academies on a Shoestring. Principal Leadership, v7 n7 p41, 43, 45. A freshman academy uses a middle school model for core subjects and a regular block schedule for electives to help freshman adjust gradually.Download the article: Freshman Academies on a Shoestring
  • Davenport, Roy F.; Tolbert, Marsha; Myers-Oliver, Donna; Brissett, Julia M. & Roland, Annissa J. (March 2007). Hope out of Poverty. Principal Leadership, v7 n7 p36–39. Articulation between a district’s elementary, middle and high schools helps prepare students for the next level.Download the article: Hope out of Poverty
  • Dedmond, Rebecca M. (November 2005). A Personalized Plan for Life. Principal Leadership, v6 n3 p16–21. A freshman transition initiative begins with standards for the curriculum and includes personalized 10-year graduation plans.Download the article: A Personalized Plan for Life
  • Dreis, Janice & Rehage, Larry. (December 2010). Senior Seminars: Focus on the Future. Principal Leadership, v11 n4 p24–28. The senior year can be meaningful when seniors engage in college-like seminars on things they care about.Download the article: Senior Seminars: Focus on the Future
  • Drels, Janice & Rehage, Larry. (February 2008). Recasting the Senior Year. Principal Leadership, v8 n6 p16–20. Four voluntary initiatives that focus on life skills, leadership, projects and service learning make the senior year more relevant.Download the article: Recasting the Senior Year
  • George, Marshall A.; Breslin, Mary Claire & Evans, William. (March 2007). Change is Hard: Easing into the Middle Grades. Principal Leadership, v7 n7 p32–35. Fifth grade visits, a summer academy, and a multi-day orientation period help alleviate stress of starting middle school.Download the article: Change is Hard
  • Grier, Terry B. & Peterson, Kent D. (December 2007). High School with a College Twist. Principal Leadership, v8 n4 p32–36. Small high schools on college campuses help rekindle the interest of disengaged students.Download the article: High School with a College Twist
  • Jacobson, Reuben; Hodges, Rita A. & Blank, Martin J. (October 2011). Mutual Support: The Community Schools Strategy. Principal Leadership, v12 n2 p18–22. Strategic partnerships provide integrated academic and social supports for students and families — and benefits to the community as well.Download the article: Mutual Support
  • Kinney, Patti. (May 2006). Meeting Special Challenges in Transitions. Principal Leadership, v6 n9 p28–30. Transition meetings ease anxiety for students with disabilities and their parents by preparing students to move to middle school.Download the article: Meeting Special Challenges in Transitions
  • Rehage, Larry & Dreis, Janice. (February 2009). Beyond Academics: Conquering Senioritis. Principal Leadership, v9 n6 p34–37. Seniors are at the top of their school careers, so maximize their strengths on their own behalf.Download the article: Beyond Academics: Conquering Senioritis
  • Worsley, Dale; Landzberg, Joan & Papagiotas, Ann. (December 2004). On the Path to Personalized Teaching. Principal Leadership, v5 n4 p28–34. Imagine what a school with fully realized personalized teaching would look like.Download the article: On the Path to Personalized Teaching
  • Young, Anne. (March 2007). Horizontal Transitions: A Commonly Overlooked Opportunity for Student Empowerment. Principal Leadership, v7 n7 p31–33. A protocol for alternative placement eases the transition for students and teachers.Download the article: Horizontal Transitions

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