{"id":4419,"date":"2017-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/loving-learning-at-lovett-elementary\/"},"modified":"2020-02-05T13:01:31","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:01:31","slug":"loving-learning-at-lovett-elementary","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/loving-learning-at-lovett-elementary\/","title":{"rendered":"Loving Learning at Lovett Elementary"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dr. Haney from Chicago Public Education Fund<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the third post in a series covering my recent trip to Chicago. Begin with CBE in Chicago<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

During my visit to Chicago, I joined a tour hosted by LEAP<\/a> to Lovett Elementary School<\/a>. It was a group tour, so I didn\u2019t have the opportunity to dig in as deeply as I do with other school visits. Lovett is starting with personalized learning as their entry point. They have some of the things one would expect to see in a competency-based school but not all.<\/p>\n

These are just a few highlights:<\/p>\n

Lovett Elementary School vibrates with energy. Dr. LeViis Haney, principal of Lovett, explained, \u201cA few years back, we came up with the tagline, \u2018Love it at Lovett.\u2019 The problem was the kids didn\u2019t really love it at Lovett. So we asked ourselves, \u2018How can we transform the environment so that kids really would love learning?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, the school was very traditional, with thirty students \u201cjammed\u201d into classrooms with one teacher. Many of our students come \u201cfrom down the hill,\u201d referring to the income levels of the community. Nearly all students are on Free or Reduced Lunch. Many of our parents didn\u2019t do well in school themselves and their opinions of schools and teachers were informed by their own less-than-positive experiences.<\/p>\n

Haney described their previous top-down, compliance based-culture: \u201cEveryone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. Teachers were teaching the curriculum and kids were listening and receiving knowledge. Students went from one worksheet or workbook to the next. The problem was that all the instruction was just one-way without consideration of students\u2019 needs.\u201d The results were manifold: a high percentage of disciplinary office referrals and high suspension rates; teachers were isolated and only felt responsibility for their classrooms; technology integration was almost nonexistent and didn\u2019t come with teacher training; and there were low rates of parent satisfaction and high rates of student apathy.<\/p>\n

Introducing Design Thinking<\/h3>\n

Dr. Haney, who has been principal at Lovett for five years, demonstrated his commitment to a new direction by cancelling the workbook order for the year. Teachers would have to find another way to engage students in learning. One of the important steps was site visits. Assistant Principal Latoya Lyons explained that \u201cthe best recipe to get staff on board with personalization is visits to other schools; otherwise, you (administration) have to sell it.\u201d Once they see personalization in action they start to realize how to do it and what is possible.<\/p>\n

Soon after this, Lovett teachers participated in the the\u00a0Summer Design Program<\/a> sponsored by the Chicago Public Education to learn to use design thinking to approach school improvement. (See video about Design Program<\/a>.) Haney explained, \u201cWe were designing lots of different things, and through that process, we began to shift how we approached problem-solving.\u201d The big problem facing Lovett (and the problem facing most of American schools) is, Why are kids not as successful as we want them to be and think they should be? <\/em>The number one issue they identified is that there is little to no differentiation, even though students are all over the place in terms of their skills. Haney explained, \u201cThe problem is we needed to define what a successful student looks like. We asked ourselves, \u2018If you had the perfect student, what would his\/her disposition look like?\u2019 The answer was motivated, engaged, and prepared for the next step.\u201d They then moved on to the question, How might we rethink the way we provide instruction if we wanted to develop the perfect student?<\/em><\/p>\n

This process led to the birth of a new vision: for students to love learning.<\/p>\n

Our vision at Joseph Lovett Elementary School is for our students to Love it at Lovett: As a result of engaged, personalized instruction, coupled with strong school\/family collaboration, our students leave us not only meeting or exceeding state academic standards, but also motivated, hungry, and excited about learning, with the skills, habits, and dispositions necessary for college and career success in the 21st century.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

To achieve our vision, our mission at Joseph Lovett Elementary is to\u00a0engage our students in a personalized learning environment that is learner led, learner focused, and learner paced. We will help students develop a lifetime love for learning in our technologically integrated, anytime-anywhere project-based learning curriculum, where students are in the driver’s seat of their own learning.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lovett has used this vision as the foundation for a new, school-wide approach to learning. Lovett piloted changes to their model, along with edtech, through the LEAP Innovations Pilot Network, which works with school teams to test out innovation across specific grades and subject areas. In 2015, Lovett was selected for LEAP Innovations<\/a>\u2019 Breakthrough Schools program, which supports schools with $30,000 in planning funding, regular workshops, and access to experts as they design innovative models rooted in personalized learning<\/a> for their entire school. Based on their strong blueprint for transformation, Lovett was one of just seven schools awarded an additional $280,000 and continued expert support for implementation. Lovett is now midway through their implementation year.<\/p>\n

Design Anchors<\/h3>\n

In order to begin the process of transforming their school, Lovett identified three design anchors:<\/p>\n