I recently saw a post in a professional development flier that read:
“Research is clear: Young people learn best when schools afford them key experiences, like a sense of belonging, schoolwork that feels meaningful and personally relevant, and the sense that adults in the building believe in them.” (EdWeb)
Spectrum has been offering this kind of schooling for almost six decades. Student choice and voice are common themes in how Spectrum teachers plan instruction and assessment. We still rely on multiple pathways to access, process, and demonstrate learning. This means a child can choose to participate in a fairy tale drama center, design and develop an art installation, produce a short video clip, or create a math board game, not as the exception to the rule of learning tasks, but simply as par for the course.
The rest of the education world is still coming to realize that authentic student engagement deeply involves the learner in every phase of the learning process, providing the learner context and choice. In the meantime, Spectrum continues to do that at which we are the very best at our very core: student ownership of learning (with a lot of fun thrown in for good measure).
No wonder kids love coming to school here.
Dr. Mary Beth Cunat
Principal – Spectrum Progressive School of Rockford
