ERIC Number: EJ766971
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Nov
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1529-8957
EISSN: N/A
A Personalized Plan for Life
Dedmond, Rebecca M.
Principal Leadership, v6 n3 p16-21 Nov 2005
Personalized learning: Everyone knows it needs to happen, but how? It is one thing to believe in the importance of high school reform. It is quite another to embrace a system that helps every student leave high school with a diploma and plans for postsecondary education or training that lead to productive and self-sufficient adulthoods. This article talks about a personalized plan for students to be lifelong learners. It discusses a freshman transition initiative that begins with standards for the curriculum and includes personalized 10-year graduation plans. By providing the necessary resources, vision and leadership for a freshman transition initiative, principals can cultivate their students' sense of belonging, ownership of learning, and ability to make good choices during their coming decade of challenges and changes. Helping all students envision a positive future that transitions into productive adulthood is imperative to drop-out prevention, academic achievement, and postsecondary matriculation. Students armed with the insight and information that a comprehensive freshman transition course provides will be eager to master the rigorous course work required to make it in today's work world. They will be motivated to sit in the classroom and tune in to content that is newly relevant. Their motivation will be intrinsic--the very best kind--and they will become the lifelong learners that the society requires in the 21st century.
Descriptors: Educational Change, Lifelong Learning, Transitional Programs, High Schools, Individualized Instruction, Principals, Student Motivation, Academic Achievement, Postsecondary Education, Academic Standards, Grade 9, Program Descriptions, Curriculum Development, Teacher Role, Administrator Role, Dropout Prevention, High School Freshmen, Secondary School Curriculum, Student Educational Objectives, Long Range Planning, Academic Persistence, Courses
National Association of Secondary School Principals. 1904 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1537. Tel: 800-253-7746; Tel: 703-860-0200; Fax: 703-620-6534; Web site: http://www.principals.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 9; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California; Illinois; Indiana; Maine; Tennessee; Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A