The Power to Learn: The Benefits and the Promise of Personalized Instruction

The Power to Learn: The Benefits and the Promise of Personalized Instruction advances the notion that personalized instruction is the direction that schools must take if all students are expected to succeed with difficult learning challenges. Based on the premise that all students are capable, this book offers practical information so that schools can be designed or redesigned to meet individual students where they are academically and to challenge them toward deeper learning. Unlocking their capability is best accomplished by implementing a process labeled DPIE: diagnosis, prescription, implementation, and evaluation. Examples dating back to the early 20th century are described that show the idea is derived from historical antecedents and twenty-two research-based strategies and tactics are offered. Also included are five exemplary schools from preschool to high school.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: Introducing Personalized Instruction Chapter 1. The School Learning Environment Chapter 2. Precursors of Personalized Instruction Chapter 3. Basic Elements of Personalized Instruction Chapter 4. Strategies and Tactics with a Research Base Chapter 5. Authentic Assessment and Progress Reporting Chapter 6. The Leadership Connection Chapter 7. Schools at Different Levels That Exemplify Personalized Instruction Chapter 8. Teaching Students Responsibility: Another Dimension Epilogue References About the Authors

About the Author :
Dr. John M. Jenkins served as principal for over three decades. He was also the director of the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School (1-12) at the University of Florida. He has authored or co-authored eight published books in education, as well as monographs and articles. He was a member of the NASSP-Carnegie Commission on the high school for the 21st century. James W. Keefe is a former high school principal and university professor and the retired director of research for the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He is president emeritus of the Learning Environments Consortium (LEC), a nonprofit forum of educators committed to personalizing learning and instruction.

Review :
Providing personalized instruction to achieve student learning success has never been more crucial. In The Power to Learn: The Benefits and the Promise of Personalized Instruction, 3rd Edition, John M. Jenkins and James W. Keefe share educational research and instructional practices drawn from their combined experience of over 100 years of researching, developing, evaluating, implementing, and leading personalized programs. This is a must-read for educators who wish to develop personalized learning programs in their schools. Highly Recommended! I was pleased to learn that John ‘Jack’ Jenkins and James ‘Jim’ Keefe were writing a new edition of Personalized Instruction: The Key to Student Achievement that provides readers with additional insights on strategies that enhance interaction and thoughtfulness in the classroom. As always, they have their fingers on the pulse of issues of significance in instruction and for decades have provided educators with some of the best insights about how classroom instruction can and should support quality of learning for each child. As a longtime consumer of their work and high-impact instructional practices in the classroom, I am confident The Power to Learn: The Benefits and the Promise of Personalized Instruction, Third Edition will make a difference for countless educators and students. Together, their articulation and insights will expand a much-needed thread of educational practice. It is an honor to recommend another comprehensive educational study by Dr. James W. Keefe and Dr. John M. Jenkins. I write this from the memorable years when Dr. Keefe and I were high school teachers and administrators in the same timeframe and in the same system. His academic work will always be rooted in his extensive classroom years working with a varied student body. Anyone who opens this book will find the highest level of scholarship as well as practical knowledge of the field. I am proud to recommend this book as significant and meaningful in both the educational theory and practice of today’s school environments. All learning is personal. Jenkins and Keefe have led schools committed to working with individual students to help them succeed with challenging academic content. The Power to Learn presents various strategies and tactics to accomplish this end. The authors have spent much of their careers diagnosing, designing, implementing, and evaluating ways to personalize instruction. I have used these concepts throughout my 42-year teaching career including in the classroom and as Director of Training for Information Mapping. Florida will implement a new student progress monitoring system that relies heavily on diagnosing, prescribing, and implementing instructional practices to help all students succeed with challenging academic content. The Power to Learn: The Benefits and the Promise of Personalized Instruction, 3rd Edition,is a resource that district personnel, principals, and teachers will welcome. I look forward to referring to it often as district level administrator in Bradford County, Florida.