A recent independent poll shows overwhelming support by parents for a personalized learning education model. Good4U, a coalition of parents, educators and community members, launched a campaign to advocate for how to best serve vulnerable students with three key elements:
1. Equal and Fair Access to Education and Opportunity – Ensure all students have equal access to academic resources, technology and social-emotional support to succeed in a positive and safe learning environment.
2. Personalized Learning with Trauma-informed Practices – Tailor curriculum and wrap-around services with trauma-informed care, flexible and specific to what the individual student needs.
3. Job and Life Skills Training – To give students a jump-start on their futures with social-emotional learning and job skills training to provide businesses a skilled workforce.
Good4U implemented a statewide opinion survey of California parents with high school-aged children, contacting 800 parents (plus an oversample of African American respondents) to quantify parental receptivity towards these educational approaches. Both potentially positive and negative perspectives were tested to understand resiliency of opinions. The poll revealed:
- 83 percent of parents say that equity in public high school is important.
- 91 percent say it’s important to understand the unique challenges faced by individual students and provide additional support to overcome those barriers.
- 89 percent say it’s important to structure school to serve individual students, rather than forcing a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
- 92 percent say it’s important to ensure students advance from grade to grade based on their competency in subject matter, not how much time they spend in a classroom.
- 83 percent say it’s important to deliver personalized learning with life and job skills to our most vulnerable students.
- 86 percent say it is important to treat behaviors associated with trauma-induced stress and grief as opportunities to teach life skills, not as discipline cases.
- 86 percent say it’s important to address societal inequalities by keeping kids connected to food, counseling and technology, especially in rural areas and for students of color.
The Good4U campaign is rooted in the idea that everyone – whether they have schoolchildren or not – should care about all students having equal opportunity for a quality education. Personalized support, especially for the most vulnerable students, is not only good for students, but also for teachers, communities, economies, neighborhoods, public services, crime rates, mental health and more. It’s good for us all. Join the cause!