Quantum Learning (K - 12)

Accepted for Inclusion 11/1/2003
Description Updated 1/1/2004

Type of Model		Entire School
Founder		Quantum Learning, Bobbi DePorter, President; Atlas Curriculum Mapping, Rosa Davis, Partner
Current Service Provider		Quantum Learning, Bobbi DePorter, President; Atlas Curriculum Mapping, Rosa Davis, Partner
Year Established		1981 Quantum Learning 1989 Atlas Curriculum Mapping
# of Schools Served (1/1/2004)		80
Level		K - 12
Primary Goal		Creating an optimum schoolwide environment for learning
Main Features		Integrating best practices into a unified whole Learning and life skills curriculum Planning and collaborative software
Impact on Instruction		Teachers capture student's attention by making content more relevant and engaging.
Impact on Organization/Staffing		A leadership team is formed, including a lead teacher who is trained as a site facilitator.
Impact on Schedule		A designated lead teacher, and one or more site facilitators spend allocated time on training, coaching, and facilitating.
Subject-Area Programs Provided by Developer		School staff, with assistance of a coach, create collaborative lesson designs in core content areas, as well as student learning/life skills courses focused on literacy.
Parental Involvement		Parents are invited to observe a portion of the student program and to attend a parent meeting; schools have the option to open Curriculum Maps to parents and the broader school community.
Technology		For Atlas Curriculum Mapping, schools require a computer with a browser to gain access to the Internet.
Materials		Quantum Learning for Teachers participant manuals; facilitator scripts; Learning and Life Skills lesson scripts and handouts; Learning and Life Skills CDs; classroom signs; evaluation forms; Atlas software.

Origin/Scope
Quantum Learning's origins began in 1982 when Learning Forum started an academic and life skills youth program called SuperCamp. SuperCamp's instructional methodology serves as the foundation for the Quantum Learning schoolwide model. The first Quantum Learning program began in 1991, and now more than 80 schools in 11 states have adopted the model schoolwide. Over 40,000 teachers have been trained in Quantum Learning through schoolwide, districtwide, regional, and public trainings in well over 30 states.

General Approach
Quantum Learning is an integrated school model designed to initiate change, enhance teacher capacity, and increase student achievement. A primary goal of the model is to create school environments that are engaging and dynamic. Components of the model focus on leadership, researched-based teaching methods, cognitive psychology, learning and life skills, parent and community involvement, and school improvement through evaluation. The model seeks to make content more meaningful and relevant to student's lives. Quantum Learning is based on three core beliefs: (1) all people can learn; (2) people learn differently; and (3) learning is effective when it is engaging and challenging. Quantum Learning is based on Eight Keys of Excellence and the Tenets of Learning. The Tenets include: Everything Speaks, Everything is On Purpose, Experience Before Label, Acknowledge Every Effort, and If It's Worth Learning, It's Worth Celebrating. A set of policies, agreements, procedures, and rules guide school governance and support QL practice.

QL for Teachers includes 40 hours of training, delivered as a five-day summer program or spread throughout the year. These initial sessions are followed by approximately 40 hours of training including reinforcement sessions, lesson design, facilitated collaborations, and classroom coaching. QL trains teachers in effective presentation and facilitation that supports classroom management. QL facilitators at the school provide classroom coaching classroom observations, coaching in the moment, modeling QL methodologies, and providing end-of-day debriefing.

Learning Forum created an alliance with Rubicon, creators of Atlas, a curriculum mapping web application. Schools implementing Quantum Learning take part in the mapping process. This process is designed to help teachers and administrators align curriculum with school and state standards, track and implement educational goals, highlight best practices, facilitate benchmark assessment planning and testing, and evaluate test results as they relate to curriculum plans.

Results
In 2003, an independent evaluator (Benn and Associates) contracted by the developer studied Quantum Learning's impact in 18 schools in four states: three schools in California, six in Illinois, six in Wyoming, and three in Texas. Evaluators compared student achievement scores to schools with similar data on state performance indexes, other matched comparison schools, or statewide averages. The number of years of implementation varied from two to four years. The study found that students who attended schools with Quantum Learning trained teachers demonstrated greater gains in achievement than comparison sample students not participating in the model.

At New Lexington Elementary School, for example, students showed greater gains on SAT-9 Reading exams during the 2001-2002 school year compared with similar schools in the district. These gains were statistically significant. At three high schools in Illinois, students made statistically significant improvements on the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) reading and writing assessments from 2001 and 2002 compared with a statewide comparison sample. During the same period, mathematics scores on the PSAE showed a decline compared with the same sample. In Sheridan District #1 in Wyoming, where Quantum Learning was implemented districtwide, students from six schools demonstrated statistically significant improvements on the WyCAS reading and writing assessment from 2001 to 2002 compared with a neighboring comparison district. Mathematics achievement gains on the WyCAS were not statistically significant.


Implementation Assistance

• Project Capacity: Quantum Learning's national headquarters is in Oceanside, California. Regional centers are located in Colorado and Illinois, with contracted trainers around the country. Learning Forum employs 23 full-time staff members, of which 11 members work directly with schools. Quantum Learning also employs 53 part-time trainers, including retired and current teachers and administrators.
• Faculty Buy-In: Initial awareness workshops give staff an introduction and understanding of the program. A substantial majority of the school faculty is required to be in favor of the program prior to adoption.
• Initial Training: All teachers and administrators attend a five-day workshop, held during the summer before implementation, or interspersed throughout the first year. The site facilitator attends an additional two days of training.
• Follow-Up Coaching: Quantum Learning offers five days of initial coaching in the fall. Monthly coaching sessions are available throughout the remainder of the school year. Coaching may include in-class observations, one-on-one feedback, or group sessions for sharing feedback. In years two and three, teachers attend a three-day reinforcement workshop.
• Networking: The continuous support program includes an on-line Quantum Learning Club Bulletin Board providing a site where teachers share ideas and post questions and challenges for response. Quantum Learning trainers are available for phone and email consultations. Quantum Learning programs are accredited by the Commission on International and Tran-Regional Accreditation (CITA) and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Graduate credit is offered by sponsoring universities.
• Implementation Review: Schools agree to complete an evaluation study as a baseline assessment prior to implementing Quantum Learning and to provide the same data each subsequent year. An independent evaluator completes the analysis and writes the evaluation. Teachers assess their skill levels prior to training, at the end of the semester and at year-end. The administrator completes a similar survey about the teacher's performance.

Costs

Year One: A Quantum Learning annual fee of $2000 is required when signing the Site License agreements and Expectations Contract. The initial awareness workshops are $2000 per day. Participation in school leadership/planning is $2000 per day (estimate three days).

The five-day Quantum Learning for Teachers workshop fee is $12,500 plus travel expenses and $100 per teacher for participant manuals and books. Ten days of coaching and reinforcement fee is $2000 per day ($20,000). Four follow-on sessions fees are $2500 per day ($10,000). Teachers receive a two-day training program to prepare them to deliver QL's learning and life skills curriculum ($2500 per day, plus $30 per teacher for scripts). Learning Forum staff facilitate an initial Quantum Learning for Students at $110 a student per day. (Five days for 100 students is $55,000.)

Teachers selected as potential site facilitators participate in six days of train-the-trainer coaching usually held in two-day sequences. ($2500 for six days is $15,000.) Quantum Learning for Teachers facilitator scripts are $1500 per site facilitator. These teachers receive additional coaching during reinforcement and follow-on sessions at $500 per day.

The Atlas annual site license is $100 per teacher, with a minimum of $3000. Faculty training and consulting sessions are $2000 a day per trainer.

The year one total is estimated at $159,565.
The year two total is estimated at $70,000.
The year three total is estimated at $38,000.
Travel expenses are additional in all trainings. (Estimated at $20,000 for year one.)


State Standards and Accountability

Using Atlas Curriculum Mapping, teachers and administrators align curriculum with school and state standards, and evaluate test results as they relate to curriculum plans.

Student Populations
Special Considerations
Selected Evaluations

Developer/Implementer

Benn, W. (2003). New Evaluation Study of Quantum Learning's Impact on Achievement in Multiple Settings . Laguna Hills, CA: Quantum Learning.

Barlas, L., Campbell, A., & Weeks, H. (2002). How Quantum Teaching Strategies Affect Learners . Aurora, IL: Aurora University.


For more information, contact

Bobbi DePorter, President
Quantum Learning Network
1938 Avenida del Oro
Oceanside, CA 92056
Phone: 800.285.3276 or 760.722.0072 (ext. 123)
Fax: 760.305.7766
E-mail: info@QLN.com
Web site: http://www.QLN.com