About The Rodel Teacher Council

The Rodel Teacher Council is a group of teacher-leaders from across the state of Delaware. We’re thinking bold, we’re thinking big, and we’re thinking about the next five years—looking at opportunities from the school, district, and state levels. We represent all three counties in the state (New Castle, Kent and Sussex); we teach in traditional pre-K – 12 schools, charter schools, and vocational schools. And we represent all core academic content areas and grade bands, special education, and early learning.

The Rodel Teacher Council was formed in September 2013. As a venue to elevate the voices of Delaware’s teachers, the Council of sixteen champion teachers has focused its attention on personalized learning. By meeting with national leaders, visiting exemplary schools in the US, and piloting personalized learning in their own classrooms, the council hopes to scale personalized learning across the state. The Rodel Teacher Council’s Blueprint offers teachers, school leaders, and policymakers action steps to expand the use of personalized learning in the First State.

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Back row, left to right: Kacie Versaci, Kathleen Olenderski, John Strong, Corryn Nikodemski, Paul Ramirez, Michelle Cotter Morton, Peter Demyan, Sharon Hardnett, Paul Herdman (CEO, Rodel Foundation of Delaware), Jennifer Hollstein, Tim Brewer, and Matt Korobkin (zenior program officer, Rodel Foundation of Delaware); Front row, left to right: Michelle Wilson, Patricia Dallas, Michele Johnson, Jennifer Lougheed, Robyn Howton, and Melissa Tracy

Learn more about us

Click here to view individual photos, profiles and short biographies.

our process & what we learned

This blueprint is the product of extensive, handson research. We met with education leaders— both locally and nationally—to understand what it would take to enable greater personalization in Delaware’s education system. We sought to understand the educational context through our observations and interviews of students, fellow teachers, administrators, and policymakers. And, after surveying hundreds of Delaware teachers, one issue became startlingly clear:

Our state’s educators see a clear need to change the way we presently prepare our students for college and career by personalizing learning to help improve student outcomes, but there is not a clear consensus on how to make these changes.

On a trip to three of New York City’s Innovation Zone (iZone) schools, we observed innovative school models that have adopted personalized learning and we learned that innovation, and results can occur regardless of a school’s ZIP code or student population. Some schools used a lot of technology, and some schools used less—but they all used technology in some capacity. We also learned that it can be done in a manner that is cost neutral in the long term, relative to the present model of instruction.
Rodel Teacher Council

Rodel Teacher Council members observed classes at the School of the Future in New York City’s iZone.

View this video to learn more about New York City’s iZone.

three perspectives

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The Rodel Teacher Council organizes our recommendations around three perspectives:

  1. Personalized learning and the student experience;
  2. personalized learning and the teacher experience; and
  3. systems to support personalized learning.

In order to truly personalize learning, we must address each of these three perspectives, as they are all connected and intertwined. The recommendations that follow can each be attributed to these perspectives and enacting them will create a system that will support teachers and students in the advancement of personalized learning. While we examined personalized learning through these three lenses, our ultimate interest is in student outcomes.
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