Micro Approach, Major Impact

As a classroom teacher for 29 years before becoming an instructional coach, I have been on the receiving end of many well-intentioned school initiatives and professional learning experiences that have gone nowhere in terms of creating lasting, meaningful change.

One of the reasons is that schools are complex systems, and we often try to do too many things at once. Often, the result is a lack of clarity that leaves people feeling confused, overwhelmed, and unsupported.

The antidote to this confusion is to be thoughtful and specific about your goal, and then go after it with great intensity and focus. This can be done at the school level, but it can also be done at the individual level through microcredentials — personalized, topic-specific opportunities for learning and credentialing.

Full article published by Donna Spangler in The Learning Professional (Learning Forward) in August 2019.

Through a district-created microcredential pilot, this article demonstrates how personalized, competency-based learning can transform teacher growth and build sustainable professional learning systems.

Click on the button below to read the full article.