Method’s System of Personalization: Identify, Diagnose, and Synthesize

Throughout the years, personalization has taken on many interpretations and implementations within the charter school space and more specifically, within independent study schools and programs. Most often, it simply translates into students taking online courses at their own pace (to some degree) either at home or at a school site or center.

At Method we have discovered that in order to deliver a truly personalized experience, deliberate processes need to be determined and implemented. Method’s steps of personalization are broken down into the following three critical steps:

Step 1: Identify

In order to begin a student’s personalized, each student completes a diagnostic assessment upon enrollment that generates a report of his performance in both Reading and Math. Highly Qualified Teachers utilize this data to move on to Step 2 of the Personalization process.

Step 2: Diagnose

Upon completion of the diagnostic assessment, a rigorous curriculum path is generated that is aligned to each individual student’s mastery level and aims at to things: 1) providing content that address any concept that was not yet mastered, and 2) provide further content that reflects their instructional level so that they are not addressing either content that they already know or that is too advanced for their capabilities. From here, each student re-takes the diagnostic assessment four times a year to refresh the intervention content and to continue working through instructional level content.

Step 3: Synthesize

The final step of Method’s personalization process is synthesizing all information available on each student and creating an overall personalized experience that encompasses a variety of modalities so that all students are engaged and genuinely retain the content they have studies. We supplement the intervention and instructional content with direct instruction in small groups and provide extension activities through hands-on, collaborative projects and extension activities.

By implementing these three steps to personalize, Method creates a unique educational option that not only delivers results, but allows for truly engaged students.