What You Told Us Last Year (and Where We're Headed Next)
Throughout the 2025-26 school year, educators across North Dakota showed up for NDPLN in-person learning opportunities: Learning Workshops, Site Visits, Learning Cycles with a coach, and this summer's Personalized Learning Institute. Afterward, we asked participants to tell us honestly what worked, what stuck, and what we should do differently. Here's what we heard.
The Verdict: It's Landing
Across the board, the feedback was strong. Educators described the sessions as organized, well-run, and packed with "top notch" presenters and keynote speakers. One recurring sentiment said it best: it's always a good day when you learn something new.
But the real win wasn't just enjoyment, it was application. Educators left these experiences with ideas they could use right away, and many are already putting them into practice.
What's Actually Changing in Classrooms
The most powerful feedback wasn't about the events themselves, it was about what happened after. Educators reported:
Standards-based grading taking hold, supported by new learning progressions and proficiency scales
Priority standards shifting how classrooms operate, with students taking more ownership of their own learning
New curriculum redesigns, including one educator who rebuilt an entire ELA curriculum into progressions and scales, complete with classroom activities
New classroom structures that support instruction and performance, often shaped by working alongside a coach through Learning Cycles
Student-friendly tools, like proficiency scales and playlists, making personalized pathways tangible for kids, not just teachers
A Highlight Worth Repeating: Student Voice
Several educators specifically pointed to student perspective sessions as a highlight, hearing directly from learners about how personalized learning has changed their experience. The takeaway was clear: keep making space for students to tell their own stories, especially for schools just starting this work.
Where We Can Grow
Educators didn't hold back on ideas for improvement, and their honesty is exactly what makes this feedback valuable:
More high school focused sessions. Several noted that most content skews toward elementary or administrative audiences. Secondary teachers want their own dedicated space.
Record the breakouts. More than one response asked for session recordings to build an ongoing resource library.
Flexible and virtual options. Not everyone can attend in person for the full event, so flexible formats would widen access.
Wider promotion. A few educators only heard about sessions through word of mouth. Better advertising could grow attendance.
What This Means for What's Next
This feedback is already shaping how we plan ahead, from expanding secondary focused content to exploring recorded sessions and resource libraries on the website. Participants told us they want more classroom examples, student-facing tools like scales and rubrics, and curriculum design support, and that's exactly where we're headed.
Missed one of this year's in-person events?
Here's how to stay connected to what's next.
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