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Yuma District Plans Massive Personalized Learning Campaign

Following the successful passage of a $4.8-million bond issue in November, the Yuma Elementary School District 1 in Yuma, AZ, is planning a personalized learning program that the district hopes will enhance educational opportunities for all of its 9,000 K-8 students.

Working with Education Elements, a company that is helping the Yuma district plan how to spend the money it now has available for technology, the district has a number of programs it is beginning to implement:

  • Straight Curve Math focuses on math concepts for K-6 students;
  • Education City is a Web-based intervention tool aligned with state and Common Core standards in pre-K through sixth-grade language arts, math, science and ESL;
  • Reading Eggs provides online reading games and activities tied to the five pillars of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension;
  • Reading Eggspress is intended to improve spelling skills and build reading comprehension;
  • LearnZillion is an individualized set of lessons all aligned with the Common Core State Standards;
  • Learning A-Z is a set of downloadable reading, writing, science and vocabulary resources;
  • RAZ Kids delivers interactive, leveled e-books and quizzes spanning 27 levels of difficulty, covering a wide range of subjects;
  • LiveBinders allows teachers and students to organize digital content and provides new opportunities for collaborating and sharing; and
  • Edmodo is an educational Web site that takes the ideas of a social network and filters them and makes it appropriate for the educational setting.

"Our initiative for personalized learning will be the catalyst that catapults our student learning to a whole new level," said District Superintendent Darwin Stiffler. "Personalized learning will marshal increased student engagement, bolster differentiated instruction and foster an environment of increased communication between students, educators and parents."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

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