Alliance for Excellent Education. (2012, May). Culture shift: Teaching in a learnercentered environment powered by digital learning.

Retrieved from
http://all4ed.org/reports-factsheets/culture-shift-teaching-in-a-learnercentered-environment-powered-by-digital-learning/
This report explains why learner-centered education is important and discusses ways that
technology can help make that goal a reality. The report states that the best instruction is
rigorous, personalized, collaborative, relevant, and flexible.
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K.
(2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart
teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossy-Bass.
(Link) This is a discussion of implications that recent cognitive research has for teaching.
The text focuses the following topics, including prior knowledge, motivation, and course
climate. This is also a good resource for research on teaching techniques.
American Psychological Associations Board of Education Affairs (BEA), (1997).
Learner-Centered Psychological Principals: A Framework for School Reform &
Redesign. http://www.apa.org/ed/governance/bea/learner-centered.pdf.
The Board of Education Affairs 14 psychological principals explain in depth learner-centered
education. Supported by research, they show the greatest development in school reform.
The principals reflected include many different methods or themes including psychological
(psycho), scientific (bio), and conventional (social). In order to regulate American education
these principals endorse active learners and reflective learning.
Ayers, W. (2004). Teaching toward freedom: Moral commitment and ethical action
in the classroom. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
(Link) Ayers contrasts teaching practices and philosophies that limit and promote student
freedom. Ayers believes each person must find/create their own place in the world, this
supports learner-centrality. Ayers's vision is of a population that never loses its curiosity or
its moral compass. This is primarily a theoretical book with implications for practice.
Bishop, C. F., Caston, M. I., & King, C. A. (2014). Learner-centered environments:
Creating effective strategies based on student attitudes and faculty reflection.
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 14(3), 46.
doi:10.14434/josotl.v14i3.5065.
(Link) Based on the book by Terry Doyle (2008), Helping Students Learn in a Learner
Centered Environment, faculty discussions and student focus group interviews help provide

a greater comprehension of the effects of a learner-centered environment on long term

learning; one of the cornerstones of HPL.
Boykin, A. W. (2015). Education as Gateway or Gatekeeper: What Must Research
Tell Us About How to Secure Educational Opportunity for All? In Opening the
Doors for Opportunity for All: Setting a Research Agenda for the Future.
Retrieved from http://mc-6051-337390055.us-east1.elb.amazonaws.com/sites/default/files/OpeningTheDoors-EquityProjectJan2015.pdf#page=35
Boykin in this article submitted in the Scholarly Journal: In Opening the Doors for
Opportunity for All suggests that achievement gap reforms should be bottom up, not top
down. This enables each stakeholder to support directly the student in all their interests.
Brown, L. Comparing Preschool Philosophies: Montessori, Waldorf and More.
Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-toschool/choosing/comparing-preschool-philosophies-montessori-waldorf-andmore/
PBS provides short concise summaries of Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia and other
educational philosophies. Brown is exploring the relationship between the educational
philosophy and learning environments.
Carlow University, n.d. (2015, 8 Dec). Cognitive Arcs in High Performance
Learning. (Digital image).
Utilized on my webpage are the Cognitive Arcs in High Performance Learning; though the
image specifically provided by Carlow University is not used. Describing the 4 tenets of HPL:
Learner-centered, Fact-Based Futures, The New Learning Environment, and The ScholarPractitioner.
Cheang, K. (2009). Effect of learner-centered teaching on motivation and learning
strategies in a third-year pharmacotherapy course. American Journal of
Pharmaceutical Education, 73(3), 1-8.
The objective of this study was to develop, implement, and assess a learner-centered
approach to teaching a third-year pharmacotherapy course in a doctor of pharmacy
(PharmD) program. The results showed that students intrinsic goal orientation control of
learning beliefs, self-efficacy, critical thinking, and metacognitive self-regulation improved
after taking the course. What the results also showed is that the learner-centered approach
was valuable in ways that can apply to any discipline. Allowing students to discover for
example, was one of the positive outcomes of adopting the learner-centered approach. This
would be helpful in any course that was moving toward an HPL approach.

Feshbach, N. (1968). Manual of individual difference variables and measures:

Center for the study of evaluation special report no. two. California Univ., Los
Angeles. Center for the Study of Evaluation.
(Link) This article explores the personality and motivational variables and measures
relevant to the evaluation of educational programs and systems. Twenty-nine individual
difference variables are included with a description of each. A few variables described that
are relevant for learners today are: anxiety, attitudes towards school, curiosity, expectation
of success, and need achievement. Understanding the factors that can effect student
learning is extremely important in creating the conditions necessary for a High Performance
Learning environment.
Freed, Huba, (2000). Comparison of teacher-centered and learner-centered
paradigms. Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses.
A comparison of teacher and learner-centered paradigms, a chart that documents the main
differences between the two approaches. The mentioned differences are: Knowledge is
transmitted vs. constructed, involvement of students, emphasis, professors role, teaching
and assessing are separate vs. intertwined, direct vs. indirect assessment, single discipline
vs. interdisciplinary investigation, culture, and whether or not the teacher is viewed as a
learner.
Gatto, J.T. (2003, Sept). Against School. Retrieved from Wes Jones Blog:
http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm#source
Gatto supposes he can bring out the best qualities in children by giving them autonomy to
make decisions and take risks from time to time, rather than confining them to schooling.
Gatto rounds his argument up to conclude that school drills children to be employees and
consumers and their capacities are limited which should not have been.
Geake, J., & Cooper, P. (2003) Cognitive neuroscience: implications for education?
Oxford, UK: Westminster Studies in Education.
(Link) This article is based on research on brain function and how and why this is important
for education. The argument is made that cognitive neuroscience may offer important
insights for all educators that is to vital to ignore. It is from Geake and Cooper that we can
be assured that our students learn in very different ways: no two human brains are, have
ever been, or ever will be identical.
Goldson, E. (2010, Aug 5). Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling [YouTube].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M4tdMsg3ts
Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using
her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers
that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a
valedictorian and the whole educational system.

Green, J. (2015, July) The nerd's guide to learning everything online [Video
podcast]. TED. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_green_the_nerd_s_guide_to_learning_everythin
g_online
Hancock, L. (2011 Sept). Why Are Finland's Schools Successful? Smithsonian,
Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlandsschools-successful-49859555/?no-ist.
This article from Smithsonian focuses on the success of schools in Finland following an
overhaul of the public education system in 1963. It has become an unlikely hot topic in
America after being featured in the 2010 documentary Waiting for Superman
Levinson, M. (2015, 26 Oct). Face-to-Face vs. Online Learning: Why Is It Either/Or?
Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/face-to-face-vs-online-whyeither-or-matt-levinson
This article highlights why schools should adopt a blended learning environment that allows
students to be in a traditional setting while also learning online. Levinson describes 7 stages
of development regarding successful digital learning. Blended learning that can be tied
directly to self-directed learning is found in this article.
Lindgren, H. (1959). Learning Theory and Teaching Practice. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_195903_lindgren.pdf.
Lindgren explores the primary sources from which we have learning theory. He discusses
educational practices built on theories and distinguishes the three main sources that form
our perspectives toward education including tradition, practice, and exploration. He also
addresses the tradition of teachers wielding absolute power, directly opposite HPL, in
addition to the effects of research and the need for change. Despite the year it was written,
Lindgren knew that we must evolve in education to do what is best for the students we
teach.
Mencken, H. (1924). The Aim of American Public Education. American Mercury
Magazine January to April 1924, 504. Retrieved from.
https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Mercury_Magazine_January_to
_Apr.html?id=ObUPmX07AZ0C
Nellie Mae Education Foundation (2015, March 12). Transformation. [YouTube].
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6ieXLVCss4

This video explores a new way of approaching education one that prepares all students to
excel at high levels. Personalizing the education experience, making learning competency
based (the information and skills the students have mastered), recognizing that learning
happens anytime, anywhere, and helping students take ownership over their learning,
engaging with the process describing High Performance Learning environment.
Nellie Mae Education Foundation. (n.d.). Putting students at the center. Nellie
Mae Education Foundation.
(Link) Putting Students at the Center is a reference guide published by the Nellie Mae
Foundation. It explores why the current education system is failing students, and how by
putting the focus on the learner, we can enable students to master what they need to know
and be able to do to succeed in college, careers, and civic life. It explores how studentcentered learning approaches aide in deeper learning, and acknowledges that improvement
is an ongoing, reflective process.
Ofsted (2008, Oct). Curriculum Innovation in Schools
(Link) This survey identified the factors which contribute to successful innovation in
schools. The schools involved in the survey were required to meet the minimum
requirements of the National Curriculum but were at liberty to plan their curriculum
according to what they considered to be best for their learners. Four basic areas were
covered: organizing curriculum, adjusting the school year, meeting the needs of all learners
of all abilities, and developing learning skills. In order to develop curriculum, each school
went through investigation, consultation, planning, and evaluation. There were many
different approaches to developing curriculum.
Ripley, A. (2013) The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. New
York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
(Link) Amanda Ripley followed three American high school exchange students as they spent
a year in Poland, Finland, and South Korea. In her book, she describes the differences that
they notice between their American schools and their foreign ones. One of the themes of the
book is the difference that culture makes in education, especially the degree to which
education is valued by a student's family and peers.
Robinson, K. (2010, Oct). Ken Robinson: Changing Educational Paradigms by.
RSAnimate Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U
Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers,
rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being
cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible
consequences
Weimer, Maryellen (August 2012).Five Characteristics of Learner-Centered
Teaching. Faculty Focus, Higher Ed Teaching Strategies from Magna
Publications
(Link) The 5 characteristics of teaching proposed here are unique to the High Performance
Learning method. Dr. Weimer provides and explores what makes a learner-centered
teacher.Weimer stipulates that learning in different ways is the most important goal of any
educational experience.

Weimer, Maryellen. (2013). Learner-Centered teaching: Five key changes to

practice (2nd ed.). United States: Wiley, John & Sons
(Link) Weimer describes the method to approach the learner-centered approach to the
college classroom. She focuses on the what and the how of learning. She inspires educators
to establish a learner-centered classroom by providing the significance, the preparation, and
the outcomes. This book includes the most up-to-date examples of practice and research on
the approach. Dr. Weimer also explores the developmental concerns of students. This book
will provide pertinent information concerning the learner-centered approach that we see in
HPL; as well as implementing such a plan in your school or district.