One Size Does Not Fit All: Embracing Individualized Learning for Every Student

Students deserve a choice — a choice in how they learn, what they learn, and where they take their future. Education should reflect the reality that one size does not fit all when it comes to education.

For decades, students haven’t had that choice. They’ve been pushed into a narrow pipeline that requires all of them to learn the same subjects, take the same standardized assessments, and aim for the same results — which, usually, is college. But not all students are the same. Not all pathways to success are the same. And the way we teach each child shouldn’t be the same, either. Thankfully, schools are starting to get it.

Why One Size Does Not Fit All in Traditional Learning

Americans are outgrowing the education system’s universal approach, the one that demanded all students pass the same set of tests and meet a nearly identical set of requirements to graduate.

What do Americans want? Competency-based education, which Education Week describes as a model “in which students make choices about how they learn and demonstrate their knowledge, learn at a pace that might differ from their classmates’, receive individualized support based on their needs, and progress based on their mastery of course material instead of seat time.”¹

Models of this individualized, real-world learning are emerging around the country and beyond. Big Picture Learning, which promotes a student-driven approach, has a network of more than 275 schools.²

Finding a Path Post-Highschool

While many students will continue along the traditional college path, the growing number of students pursuing other options reflects the reality that one size does not fit all when it comes to post-secondary success. A 2023 Gallup poll found that only one in three Americans have high confidence in the higher education system, down from 57% in 2015.³ A survey conducted by YPulse in 2022 showed that two in three middle schoolers don’t feel a college degree is key to their success.⁴ And a January 2024 headline in the Wall Street Journal read: “Why Americans Have Lost Faith in the Value of College: Three generations of ‘college for all’ in the U.S. has left most families looking for alternatives.”⁵

It’s important to note that a significant digital divide can impact students’ abilities to access information. This disparity hinders their ability to research career paths and develop essential digital skills needed for various post-secondary options. Addressing this digital divide is critical to ensure that all students can explore all possible path options effectively—from college to vocational training, apprenticeships, and direct workforce entry.

Implementing Individualized Learning

Mechanisms for competency-based education exist in all states, a recognition that one size does not fit all for learning. But implementation remains challenging due to the traditional system’s deep-rooted structure. As Rita Fennelly-Atkinson, the senior director of credentials at the nonprofit Digital Promise, told Education Week, “It’s really hard to create competency-based education when you’ve never experienced it yourself.”⁶

That’s because generations of students — many of whom are now teachers, administrators, and policymakers — have been raised in what one writer calls America’s “winner takes all” approach to schooling.

The organizational psychologist Adam Grant challenges the effectiveness of the U.S. educational system in his 2023 book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. “The U.S. education system is built around a culture of winner take all,” Grant writes. “We assume that potential is rooted primarily in innate ability that shines through early.”⁷

As Grant points out, that assumption is flawed. The American educational system has long focused on the value of measurable achievement: Who performs the strongest on standardized tests? Who scores highest on SATs? Who gains admission to Ivy League schools?

There’s nothing wrong with aiming high academically, and it’s a commendable achievement for students who reach that lofty bar. But most students don’t reach those high levels, which leaves an overwhelmingly large number of them somewhere in the middle. This cohort gets little attention on critical aspects of their future: career exploration, communication and life skills, goal-setting and teamwork. While those students and their teachers are busy trying to catch up to a system that expects everyone to pass the same tests and head to the same post-graduate destination — college — they could be working on skills that will equip them for reality. Skills that will help them build an interesting, fulfilling life and career.

Is There a Solution Out There?

Grant contrasts U.S. schools with Finland’s, schools widely regarded as some of the world’s best for both students and teachers. The Finnish system, he writes, isn’t about “winner take all.” Rather, it’s about opportunity for all.

“The underlying assumption is that intelligence comes in many forms and every child has the potential to excel,” writes Grant. He points out that Finnish student each have a personalized plan for growth, which can include early tutoring when needed and a strong focus on developing each child’s personal interests. While American schools chase excellence — often meaning a high percentage of students scoring well on tests – Finnish schools pursue equity. That means every student gets not only a great education, but an individualized one. (This customized approach is also key to the core of holistic education, which some American educational institutions are implementing regularly.)

What Can We Do?

The impact of the American achievement culture is profound, especially combined with intense social media pressures and lingering pandemic implications. Teens are reporting higher rates of feeling anxious, depressed or hopeless, according to a report from the United Hospital Fund, a trend that began a decade ago and accelerated during the pandemic.⁸

The journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace chronicled this problem in her 2023 book Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — and What We Can Do About It.⁹ Wallace profiles several students who have chased success at a deep personal cost, and she offers a menu of suggestions for how parents, educators, colleges and communities can improve this. Among her suggestions for schools:

• Institute a “mattering framework” that helps students both feel valued and learn how they can contribute value.
• Emphasize the importance of mental health, both on an individual and community level.
• Connect every student with an adult “that they feel they matter to,” Wallace writes.
• Manage expectations on hard work, including coaching some students that it’s OK to slow down.
• Focus on service and problem solving.
• Create an environment in which students can verbalize stress and get support in managing it.

“Protecting our students from the excessive pressure to achieve will require all stakeholders — parents, teachers, coaches, and other trusted adults in the community — to work together,” Wallace writes.

Conclusion

Thankfully, the trend is moving in a positive direction. One size clearly does not fit all when it comes to education. Rather than clinging to this dated approach, more schools and educators are moving toward customizing students’ educational experiences. Students deserve a choice, and giving them options promotes their ability to explore their full individual potential.

We’re supporting and building on those efforts at the Education Revolution Association. Contact us to join our efforts to make school work for every child.

References

1. Stone, M. (2024, October 1). Students Want to Learn More About Careers. will High Schools Step Up?. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/students-want-to-learn-more-about-careers-will-high-schools-step-up/2024/10 ↩︎
2. Our Approach: Big Picture Learning. New BPL. (n.d.). https://bigpicture.org/approach ↩︎
3. Brenan, M. (2024, February 7). Americans’ Confidence in Higher Education Down Sharply. Gallup.com. https://news.gallup.com/poll/508352/americans-confidence-higher-education-down-sharply.aspx ↩︎
4. Gen Z Might be Changing their Mind About Going to College. YPulse. (2023, November 9). https://www.ypulse.com/article/2023/05/11/gen-z-might-be-changing-their-mind-about-going-to-college/ ↩︎
5. Why Americans have Lost Faith in the Value of College. (n.d.). https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/why-americans-have-lost-faith-in-the-value-of-college-b6b635f2 ↩︎
6. Stone, M. (2024a, September 25). Teachers Need PD to Make Competency-Based Learning Work. What that Looks Like. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/teachers-need-pd-to-make-competency-based-learning-work-what-that-looks-like/2024/09 ↩︎
7. Grant, A. (2024). Hidden potential: The science of achieving greater things. Virgin Digital. ↩︎
8. WebMD. (2024, May 7). Teen Mental Health Crisis Deepens: What to Know. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/teens/news/20240507/teen-mental-health-crisis-deepens-what-to-know ↩︎
9. Wallace, J. B. (2023). Never enough: When achievement culture becomes toxic–and what we can do about it. Portfolio/Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. ↩︎