Personalized Learning Solution for Students with GAGE

The GAGE personalized learning program is available to selected school districts this fall for the 2014-2015 school year. 

Our personalized learning solution GAGE is now scalable across any school or system. GAGE provides everything needed to transform a traditional school or district into a personalized learning environment and gives districts the ability to provide personalized, mastery-based learning along with real-time professional development resources for educators combined into a single system.

"True personalized learning has the potential to revolutionize education by allowing educators to meet the precise and unique needs of 100 percent of students, but has never before been possible because educators have not had the tools and resources to implement a sustainable model," said Chet D. Linton, CEO and president of School Improvement Network. "Now, the personalized learning transformation powered by GAGE provides the technology and curriculum students need bundled with the training, support, and reporting educators need to engage students in a higher level of thinking and learning, making personalized learning a scalable reality for any school or system."

Personalized learning with GAGE shifts pedagogical practice to help students take ownership of their learning experience, including ho, when, and where they learn. Beginning at their current level of understanding, students are able to use a range of activities based on their personal interests, learning styles, and goals, ultimately leading them to subject mastery at their individual pace. By teaching students "how to learn," this personalized learning system transforms education into a lifelong learning experience by equipping students with the skills they need to compete in a modern global economy and continue learning and finding solutions to problems independently.

GAGE is delivered on the Agilix xLi platform, a proven and scalable learning platform and was field tested and proven in multiple schools and districts before becoming available to all districts and systems.

"Education is moving to personalized learning because it has been shown to be a more effective model," said Curt Allen, CEO of Agilix. "School districts need the platforms, tools, and professional development support required to provide these new opportunities for their students. School Improvement Network's personalized learning solution GAGE pulls all these elements together in an integrated, scalable, and sustainable way. We are pleased to provide the platform for the delivery of this solution."

GAGE includes content from multiple curriculum partners, including Compass Learning®, Blended Schools Network, The NROC Project, and Qlovi. These resources, combined with School Improvement Network's tools, give districts and school systems everything they need to launch and sustain a personalized learning environment, including an engaging K-12 centric user experience, a digital library of K-12 curriculum aligned to the Common Core or any states standards, data-driven dashboards and analytics, and the most robust professional development resources and educator community available.

The new solution also provides the flexibility for districts to customize and supplement the digital curriculum library with their own resources, OER, or content from other publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pearson, Compass Learning, and others.

The GAGE personalized learning program is available to selected school districts this fall for the 2014-2015 school year. District administrators interested in being considered for inclusion in this program should contact School Improvement Network at gage@schoolimprovement.com.

The Teacher as a Resource

Personalized Learning in the Common Core

By Amy Esselman

When I think about classrooms--classrooms in which I had been taught years ago or the college classes where I find myself lately, there seems to be a reoccurring pattern:

Desks in a row. White board at the front. Teacher talking.

But, as I’m sure some of you are already aware, classrooms don’t look like this anymore. The old model is out, and we are on to bigger and better things.

When I was in elementary school and then high school, teachers were at the center of any learning. They told the class which lessons we were learning and helped lay the framework for our objectives. Essentially, teachers held the key to classroom. In my mind, it made sense—that’s why they stood at the front of the room, right? But now, the keeper of the keys has changed.

Personalized learning, switching from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered classrooms, is on the rise. With the Common Core Standards finally being implemented into schools, it’s time to imagine what more and more classrooms are starting to look like. The scenery is changing and students and teachers alike like what they see.

The autonomy of the Common Core Standards means that teachers will have a greater flexibility of how to teach and how to help students improve in certain skill areas. The Standards only call for certain skills to be learned, instead of the specifics of how to learn them, and that’s a good thing. Now, with the help of the Standards and the dedication of teachers, education can—finally—be tailored to the unique needs of students. Teachers will become even more of a resource. Instead of standing at the front of the room all the time, the teachers will become mentors, helping steer students in the right direction on their course of learning.

Imagine more small groups, innovative individual projects, increased peer-to-peer conferences, exploratory research with technology and new applications, outside experiments, portfolio construction, blog assignments, enhanced computer usage integrated with lessons, one-on-one instruction—the list goes on. Until now these things have existed, but not altogether, and they were not regularly utilized.

A “special” project was a once in a while occurrence, or a breath of fresh air from regular instruction. These concepts are a reality and they are happening right now in classrooms all over the country. Personalized learning combines the interests and skill levels of individual students and lets them have an active role in how they approach learning objectives. Students will have more time to work with teachers on how to understand concepts that they may have missed in a regular class setting.

More learning can take place when you explore the possibility of trying something new. The kids that weren’t motivated by group learning might flourish. The students who weren’t challenged can create projects and test themselves. I don’t know about you, but that’s something I would have craved in school—the chance to showcase my strengths and think outside the box. I would have given anything to integrate what I loved with what I was learning.

When we give students, and not the teacher, the key to achievement and success, the stakes change. Classrooms will never look the same, but maybe that’s a good thing.

Let’s Get Personal: Teaching Away from the Middle

Personalized Teaching in the Common Core

By Amy Esselman



In school, I dreaded being the last to finish or “the one who didn’t understand.” It was risky raising your hand, because you weren’t sure if you’d be ridiculed for asking questions, or would possibly hold up the class. And yet I was afraid to stay silent if I didn’t understand something, just in case I got left to figure it out on my own.

Times may have changed, but I bet the same insecurities continue to exist for students. How many times do you think students in either the top of the class, or those on the lower end, feel neglected as a result of the teaching style? Too often teaching is viewed as a “one size fits all” operation. But, whether we like it or not, it’s far from the truth.

Gone are the days when you can teach one lesson, one way, and expect every student to catch on.

Of course teachers know that they need to differentiate education. A select few do it with aplomb, most of us are up to our eyes in everything else, and on the other end of the spectrum are the frustrated teachers who can do nothing more than throw their hands in the air. It’s a problem. But it is a problem with a solution.

The Common Core State Standards help to address part of the problem—you may have seen that line coming, but what you don’t know is how much the Common Core can actually help a teacher. The Standards help teachers focus on necessary skills that students should develop, rather than dictating exactly “how” students should learn them. As the Common Core Standards begin a more widely spread implementation phase, personalized learning has moved to the forefront of many classroom agendas.

The Standards will integrate perfectly with the idea of personalized instruction. Sure, it’s easy to teach to the middle of the class, focus on what the “typical” student should understand. But, this presents a problem. It’s just not the reality. Some students are bored and unchallenged waiting for others to catch up. Then, there are the students struggling to keep their heads above water. Something has to give, and overtime, with the implementation of the Common Core, I think it will.

Teachers will work on ways to customize and hone in on individual student needs. Students who don’t feel challenged can work with their teacher to set different goals and vary their lessons. Students at the bottom of the class will be able to seek guidance and one-on-one time to improve. Teachers are spending time figuring out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to their students. But, is that enough?

Let’s get as far away from teaching to the middle as we can. If teaching styles and instruction become more aligned with the individual needs and interests of each student, we will see a shift in all areas of the classroom. Students will feel engaged and productive at every level and will work to improve at their own pace.