The final theme of the document review was data-infused learning, which described the attention to qualitative and quantitative data used in attending to student needs in a PL
classroom. Participant A described the approach to data-infused learning:
We met religiously, we had to. We planned, grouped, talked about things that were successful and things that failed that we needed to go back to the drawing board for. This was so important, and we always made it a priority every day.
Participant D explained, “This method changes from the traditional time-based ways of organizing learning to learning that can take place anytime, anyplace, anyhow, and at any pace.”
According to Participant C, “Focus must be on skills and that the content is malleable and can be changed.” Participant A recalled, “We thought grouping was the way—it wasn’t, it was ability grouping. We looked over math homework from the night before every morning and put kids in groups: get it, sorta get it, and don’t get it.” Participant C recognized the need to “provide timely, relevant feedback to learners.” Teachers used data to plan and replan to develop ideas to support student success.
Participants noted the techniques used to attend to the academic and emotional needs of individual students. Participant B acknowledged, “Building relationships with my students has always been important to me. I see that with personalized learning, I will continue to build even stronger bonds with my students as they dive into interesting topics that are important to them.” Participant D stated, “I want to stress the fact that we are a family, and we need to show respect for all members.” Participant A explained, “We started morning meetings every day with our classes to build trust, community, communication, reflections, and relationships with our students.”
As a means of getting to know students, their abilities, and their aspirations, teachers provided a form (a learning style inventory) for students to describe themselves as learners. Participant C stated, “Learning style inventories have been taken by all students to indicate how they learn best—in a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic manner—so I will bring that information to conferences with the students to aid their work.” Participant A explained, “Students made individual goals, both short and long term, and also assessed the skills they had as learners.” According to Participant D, “This is an extremely important part of PL because learners need to examine their strengths and challenges when it comes to accessing information, engaging with content and concepts, and expressing their knowledge and understanding.” Participant C stated,
“Personalized learning plans will enable teachers and students to set goals to reach mastery and achievement.” The team of teachers worked to ensure every student learned at his or her own pace, no matter whether the pace was fast or slow. Participant A found “one of the components of personalized learning is learning through failure, having it be okay to fail.” Participant D recognized, “Learners learn even when they fail at something.” Participant A described what the team perceived as deep learning and “astonishing” student growth that was occurring because of the focus on “data-infused learning.”
Document review provided the groundwork for understanding how personalized learning was implemented in the study site district. The three themes—laying the groundwork, “more work, but different, more meaningful work,” and data-infused learning—provided a foundational starting point for this qualitative case study. Document review data produced insight into the preparation for making a change to personalized learning and the new and different work involved in the transformation. Data from the document review were also used to triangulate data after individual interview data and focus group data were collected and analyzed.
Individual Interviews
After the document review data analysis, individual interviews of approximately 45 minutes in length were completed with each of the four participants. Each interview was video- recorded and audio-recorded using Rev Voice Recorder. Following the interviews, each recording was submitted to Rev Voice Recorder for transcription. The researcher reviewed the transcriptions with the audio recordings to check for accuracy. Participants approved their transcription without changes prior to data analysis. Table 1 indicates the alignment of interview questions with research questions.
After each interview was conducted, transcribed, and checked for accuracy, the
researcher began manually coding documents. Data were coded by listing keywords from each document and combining similar ideas into codes. The researcher documented the frequency of each code and consolidated data. Codes were consolidated and three themes emerged: (a) all- around support, (b) we don’t know all the answers, and (c) kids come first.
Table 1.
Individual Interview Questions Matrix
Interview Questions Research Questions 1. How would you describe your role in a traditional classroom? 2. What did you do to prepare for the change to personalized learning? 3. How did the leaders in your district support you in the change to personalized learning? 4. How would you describe your role in a personalized learning classroom? 1. How do middle school
teachers experience changes in their instructional roles as the school transitions from a traditional model to a
personalized learning model?
X X X X
2. How do teachers
professionally prepare for the change in instruction from a traditional model of learning to a personalized learning model?
X X
3. How does the transition from a traditional classroom model to a personalized learning model change how teachers interact in the classroom?
X X
Note: Adapted from Completing your qualitative dissertation: A road map from beginning to end, by L. D. Bloomberg & M. Volpe, 2012, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications,