Episode Details

In this bonus episode, originally recorded for Transformative Principal, Jethro Jones speaks with Eric Sheninger and Nicki Slaugh about their book Personalize: Meeting the Needs of All Learners. Hear about:

• The power of Quest Academy
• Retain teachers, retain students - how to keep kids there. 
• Free public school
• Teenagers weren’t engaged. 
• PD time every Friday
• Mastery Minutes
• Beginning of day, tracker system. 
• Choice, voice, tracker data. 
• Curating evidence. 
• Culture 
• Self-pacing route vs. choice boards. 
• Removed points, extra credit, percentages, 
• Emerging, developing, mastering, extending
• Prove-its aligned to proficiency scales.
• Big shifts require big moves. 
• At Quest, we want you to be proficient
• When you remove the traditional structures, you have to add
• The right way is your way, there is no best practice. 
• Performance reviews, students meet with teachers one-on-one. 
• Impersonal approaches to focusing on the “who”
• How can we do it effectively, and what does it look like? 
• Evidence of effective vs. ineffective practices. 
• Practice, practice, practice, prove. 
• Maximizing the time we have with our students.
• How to be a transformative principal? 
• Eric: Show people the value of what you are doing
• Nicki: Get rid of the energy vampires

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.