PLE - The Personalized Learning Environments Program

PLE info flyer

Interested in Incorporating Technology in Your Classroom? Join Us for PLE!

The Digital Learning Team is kicking off the 6th year of the Personalized Learning Environments (PLE) Program. Join us for virtual meetings where teams of classroom educators learn about SFUSD digital learning tools and share best practices around how to incorporate them in your instruction. The first meeting of the year will be hosted virtually on Tuesday September 26, 2023 from 4:30-6 PM! We encourage you to attend with colleagues from your school site.

SIgn Up to Join PLE Today!

Welcome to PLE 23-24!

PLE Meeting Dates

Check out the dates to join us!

Join the PLE Google Classroom

Join the PLE Google Classroom to get started!

Program Overview

Read the Program Overview to learn more about PLE, including requirements responsibilities, benefits, and compensation.
Click here for more!

Why Personalized Learning ?

In SFUSD, we believe that personalized learning provides student-centered learning opportunities that are scaffolded, student-paced, adaptive, engaging, and flexible so that all students meet rigorous academic standards and effectively communicate, collaborate, create, and think critically as global citizens in preparation for college and career. Through personalized learning, students have agency, choice, and voice in their learning pathway.

Program Mission

 Our cohort of K-5 Personalized Learning Environment Schools seeks to create models for technology-enabled, personalized learning environments that transform student learning across SFUSD  that will benefit our African American/focal students and can eventually be scaled districtwide so that each and every SFUSD student can achieve the competencies of the Graduate Profile.

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Program Goals
  • To deepen understanding of innovative and effective teaching strategies for technology-enabled personalized learning, deeper learning and the graduate profile.
  • To share examples and build capacity for technology-enabled learning within and across school sites.
  • To explore  the implementation of practices learning in the PLE PD and study the relationship between implementing PLE practices and student growth in literacy.
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Program History

The Personalized Learning Environments Program started as a pilot program in 2018 with a cohort of 14 elementary schools and 48 teachers. Now entering our fifth year, we are continuing to add schools, teachers, literacy coaches, IRFs (Instructional Reform Facilitators), administrators to the program each year. Each school has a Digital Learning Cohort partner as a coach to better enable deeper learning using technology. 

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PLE Theory of Action

Implementation

If we... create the conditions and culture to empower educators as designers of technology-enabled personalized learning environments

Immediate Impact

Then.. educators will frequently implement lessons designed with personalized learning guiding principles

Short-term Impact

Thereby... changing conditions for learning and shifting mindsets of educators and students through reflective practice

Medium-term Impact

So that... educators and students have increased agency and ownership in their teaching & learning

Longer-term Impact

So that ultimately... every day we provide each and every student the quality instruction and equitable support required to thrive in the 21st century.

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Personalized Learning Environments in Action

PLE Educator Reflections

Four SFUSD teachers describe what they've learned in the Personalized Learning Environment Pilot Program and how that connects to developing SFUSD's Graduate Profile skills with their students. Check out these PLE Educator Reflections here. 

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PLE in Action

Take a look at some PLE classrooms in action!

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2022-23 PLE Meeting Objectives, Recording and Slides

Slidedeck and recordings from the 2022-2023 school year

PLE Meeting - October 6, 2022

Meeting #1 Objectives:

  • Explore the interrelatedness of the Deeper Learning Framework and the Personalized Learning Environments Program  
  • Understand the scope of the PLE program, research and next steps 
  • Collaborate and share ideas with fellow PLE Educators 
  • Develop strategies to bring PLE practices into your classroom/school site.
  • Connect with school site/cohort PLE team to foster site capacity around PLE practices

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Recording

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PLE Meeting- December 6, 2022

Meeting #2 Objectives 

  • Explore and make meaning around empathy interviews to be able to inform teaching practices 
  • Understand how digital learning resources can support a learning environment that honors the student experience
  • Collaborate and Connect with grade level/ job alike educators to foster alignment across sites around PLE practices
  • Develop resources to bring PLE practices into your classroom/school site.

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Recording

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PLE Meeting - February 6, 2023

Meeting # 3 Objectives: 

  • Explore digital learning resources to use in your classroom/school site.
  • Collaborate and Connect with grade level/ job alike educators to foster alignment across sites around PLE practices
  • Develop understanding on how digital learning resources can support a learning environment that honors the student experience

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Recording

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PLE Meeting- April 6, 2023

Coming Soon !

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What schools already participate in PLE?

Don't see your school and want to get involved? Email Devalin Jackson, PLE Program Lead at jacksond1@sfusd.edu for more details.

 

  

Cohort 1
Cohort 2
Cohort 3 
Cohort 4 
Cohort 5
  • Chávez ES
  • McCoppin ES
  • Sanchez ES
  • Flynn ES
  • Lau ES
  • Tenderloin ES
  • Muir ES
  • Carver (George Washington) ES
  • Drew(Charles) ES
  • Bessie Carmichael ES
  • Visitacion Valley ES
  • Clarendon ES
  • Francis Scott Key ES
  • Jose Ortega ES
  • Sloat ES

Personalized learning Environments Program Leaders

headshot of devalin
Devalin Jackson Personalized Learning Environments Program Lead. Devalin facilitates and coordinates the many voices and experts who contribute to the design and implement the program. She connects and documents the experience from the program to lead PLCs and working groups.
headshot of Dan
Dan Frost Interim Digital Learning Program Manager . He leads the Digital Learning Facilitator (DLeaF) program, and co-coordinates the Digital Agency Initiative for SFUSD.
Headshot of Rebecca D
Rebecca Deutscher Stanford Research Partner. Rebecca is a Senior Research Associate at Stanford University. Her research focuses on research and evaluation projects in math and science education related to performance assessments, project-based learning, teacher professional development, and curriculum development.
Headshot of Rebecca
Rebecca Silverman Stanford Research Partner. Rebecca is an Associate Professor of Early Literacy at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Dr. Silverman’s research focuses on language and literacy development in early childhood and elementary school. Dr. Silverman leads the Language to Literacy Research Lab (https://langlitlab.stanford.edu/) and is engaged in research-practice partnerships in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Headshot of Dr. E'Leva
Dr. E’Leva Hughes-Gibson LEAD Thought Partner. Dr. E'Leva Hughes-Gibson, Assistant Superintendent of SFUSD Cohort 5, serves as an ongoing thought partner on design to promote equity. She brings the perspective of the SFUSD Leadership, Equity, Achievement, and Design (LEAD) team to ensure alignment with district programs, such as PITCH.
Headshot of Zareen
Zareen Poonen Levien Director of Digital Learning, Zareen leads digital learning for San Francisco Unified School District. She develops systems and processes to leverage technology and learning environment design to promote academic and socio-emotional growth for all students, with an emphasis in reaching historically underserved student populations. Zareen designs for scale and sustainability, moving innovation beyond pockets to create systemic change.
headshot of devalin
Devalin Jackson Personalized Learning Environments Program Lead. Devalin facilitates and coordinates the many voices and experts who contribute to the design and implement the program. She connects and documents the experience from the program to lead PLCs and working groups.
headshot of Dan
Dan Frost Interim Digital Learning Program Manager . He leads the Digital Learning Facilitator (DLeaF) program, and co-coordinates the Digital Agency Initiative for SFUSD.
Headshot of Rebecca D
Rebecca Deutscher Stanford Research Partner. Rebecca is a Senior Research Associate at Stanford University. Her research focuses on research and evaluation projects in math and science education related to performance assessments, project-based learning, teacher professional development, and curriculum development.
Headshot of Rebecca
Rebecca Silverman Stanford Research Partner. Rebecca is an Associate Professor of Early Literacy at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Dr. Silverman’s research focuses on language and literacy development in early childhood and elementary school. Dr. Silverman leads the Language to Literacy Research Lab (https://langlitlab.stanford.edu/) and is engaged in research-practice partnerships in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Headshot of Dr. E'Leva
Dr. E’Leva Hughes-Gibson LEAD Thought Partner. Dr. E'Leva Hughes-Gibson, Assistant Superintendent of SFUSD Cohort 5, serves as an ongoing thought partner on design to promote equity. She brings the perspective of the SFUSD Leadership, Equity, Achievement, and Design (LEAD) team to ensure alignment with district programs, such as PITCH.
Headshot of Zareen
Zareen Poonen Levien Director of Digital Learning, Zareen leads digital learning for San Francisco Unified School District. She develops systems and processes to leverage technology and learning environment design to promote academic and socio-emotional growth for all students, with an emphasis in reaching historically underserved student populations. Zareen designs for scale and sustainability, moving innovation beyond pockets to create systemic change.

This page was last updated on September 7, 2023