Redefining Classrooms: Concord’s Journey to Personalized Learning and Team-Based Teaching

Looking at our district data year over year, we know we’re making forward progress across many areas, but it’s also clear our kids need something more. We believe our students could achieve greater academic success and overall well-being with a more personalized classroom experience– one that allows staff to better support students in mastering grade-level standards, developing critical skills, and fostering positive relationships. 

Once they understand what makes each student unique - their personalities, interests, and academic strengths and challenges - they can design instruction to fit.

Over the last several months, we've researched ways to make learning more personal for our kids, and it starts with our staff really getting to know our students and their families. Once they understand what makes each student unique - their personalities, interests, and academic strengths and challenges - they can design instruction to fit. This way, we're meeting students where they are and helping them build the skills they need to succeed. Our goal? To have our students be so engaged in school that they take charge and drive their own futures. 

Another critical need in our district is improving our ability to retain and recruit new teachers. Concord Community Schools is a rural district with just over 600 students, and attracting teachers to our small community is challenging. In the next three to five years, roughly 50% of our teaching workforce will be eligible for retirement. This alarming reality was a wake-up call for action. 

Building and Retaining Talent with a Team-Based Approach

Our quest for personalized instruction and teacher recruitment and retention led us toward a model of teaching that involves a team of educators teaching a cohort of students, rather than the traditional one teacher/one classroom model. This concept took shape in Arizona schools, as part of an idea developed by Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. The goal of what ASU is calling the Next Education Workforce is to improve outcomes for both teachers and students. The idea is that students need more educators, not fewer.

In the next three to five years, roughly 50% of our teaching workforce will be eligible for retirement. This alarming reality was a wake-up call for action.

With support from the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, we researched team teaching models by attending sessions, visiting schools, and talking with teachers and leaders in Arizona. Each school is unique, so the way team-based models were executed depended on the school.

We were impressed with what we learned, so we introduced the model to our teachers. With high interest and data showing our students need more support, we've decided to try different versions of team teaching this upcoming school year for grades 4-9 and a special intervention team for grades 2-3. Each team model will vary, but we believe that multiple educators working together will give teachers more flexibility. We’re also hoping that a team-teaching model will allow our district to utilize our more experienced teachers to mentor the next generation of teachers, building the capacity needed for continued student success. For our veteran teachers, the team-teaching model is also a path to leadership roles.

A new school year brings renewed energy, and we’re looking forward to introducing these new teaching models to help us achieve our goal of an engaging and personalized learning experience for our students and staff.