Partnership with Alverno Helps Develop Customized Learning in Greendale Schools

This school year the Greendale School District and Alverno College established a partnership, in which Greendale teachers and Alverno representatives and students work together to enhance education programs while at the same time providing teaching experience for Alverno students.

The partnership has been developed under the leadership of Alverno Dean of the College of Education Mary Deiz, Alverno Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education Dr. Nancy Athanasiou, Greendale Director of Assessment and Learning Kim Amidzich, and superintendent Bill Hughes. A committee made of school principals, teacher leaders, administration and those mentioned will oversee the partnership, provide updates, and develop strategies that will enhance the educational program.

According to Amidzich’s report to the school board, the goal is to provide a customized learning environment for students.

Public relations representative Anna Madden said that the Greendale Schools are known to be great, but are working to be better than great.

“Over the next two years, teachers will be exploring new and emerging practices that provide students a more personalized learning experience,” Amidzich said.

Teachers will no longer be restricted to the old style of teaching. They now have the opportunity to expand the teaching scope by customized and personalized learning. On a Nov. 21 school board meeting principals and teachers from all five schools gave some examples of what teachers are doing different in their classrooms to provide customized and innovative learning.

Canterbury has third graders who everyday after lunch log onto ALEK, a customized online learning program that has Canterbury students focusing on math according to the child’s learning level.

College Park has project learning, in which a unit is presented to students and  misconceptions are cleared and questions from students are invited. Students can then partner up to explore the answers and create a project out of the research.

Highland View has a project called WIN. Students are able to address what they believe they need most work on, whether it is working with iPods or math.

Greendale Middle School has implemented literacy conferencing.

Greendale High School has inquiry based science practices. Instead of teachers giving students the answers students are given enough content and tools to use critical thinking to solve their own problems.

In the report Amidzich says that participation of the Alverno representatives in the “steering committee work allows them to identify learning needs in the Greendale Schools, make recommendations for resources that may support our growth, and provide people to support this growth.”

In a committee meeting Diez and Athanasiou helped identify the need to capture teaching practices on video.

“Alverno, however, offers us a greater level of theoretical insight and we offer Alverno a lab environment in which to explore the theory with high quality practitioners,” Amidzich said in the report.

Amidzich says all the faculty are involved by using different methods and projects.

The partnership is still fairly new and will continue to progress over the year. The team will come back in January or February with a new update to the school board.

Click here for examples of other personalized learning being done in Greendale Schools.