Located in Richmond, VA, Lynnhaven School is a pioneer in innovative teaching and learning. As the city’s first micro high school, serving grades 9 through 12, Lynnhaven champions a mastery-based, student-centered learning approach.
Read on to discover the challenges that the school faced with putting this approach to practice. To put it in their own words, “Toddle showed how seamless student-centered learning could be, with the right technology in place.”
CHALLENGE: Restrictive assessment formats and oversimplified grading system
Adopting a student-centered approach required flexible and customizable technology tools, which posed a challenge for Lynnhaven. Dr. Casey Hitchcock, the Head of School, shared, “We’ve tried four different learning management systems over the past six years, never finding one that completely met our unique needs.”
Discussing the limitations of conventional learning management systems, Casey explained, “Most tools we tried were designed for traditional tests and lacked flexibility for customization. The question types were too restrictive to authentically measure student learning, and the grading system was too simplistic, making it difficult for teachers to evaluate students beyond just grades and scores. This missed the whole purpose of student-centered learning, that is, focusing on the depth of understanding. Progress reports were also limited, relying only on grade point averages and not being easily accessible for parents. This fragmented experience kept us from staying true to our instructional philosophy.”
SOLUTION & IMPACT: Multimodal and flexible assessments with visual reporting systems on Toddle have better engaged students and involved parents more effectively.
With Toddle, Lynnhaven’s teachers can now create interactive assessments with diverse, multimodal question types, assign custom assessments to different groups, and generate tailored evaluation rubrics. Dr. Casey Hitchcock explained, “Toddle has been the best solution we’ve ever used in terms of meeting our needs.”
She continues, “Teachers can now design assessments in any format and evaluate different students on different rubrics. Students have a wide range of ways to present learning — from elaborate video tours to PDF-based storyboards, they can submit it all directly within Toddle. The best part is that all this work is then automatically added to portfolios, tagged with relevant learning goals, and shared with families in real-time.
It is incredible to see how beautifully Toddle made student learning visible to the entire community!”
Keeping the learner at the center requires the teachers to focus on their holistic growth and not judge their progress solely by grades or scores. Toddle made a significant difference for Lynnhaven in this regard as well.
Dr. Hitchcock explained, “Most reporting systems use a boxed approach with just providing average grades and overview comments. With Toddle, we are able to demonstrate real growth, not just assumed progress based on grade point averages.
We can customize the reporting criteria for each student, showing their individual progress against specific learning targets. This gives us clear insights into their strengths, interests, and areas for improvement. Plus, we can embed photos and videos from student portfolios right alongside their grades, making the reports more immersive and holistic for families.”
As a closing remark, Dr. Hitchcock shared, “I am a champion of Toddle. We are able to implement student-centered assessments more effectively than ever before. Students are participating more actively and parents are certainly more engaged. In fact, one of my teachers, in his 26th year of education, pointed out that Toddle is exactly what we’ve been looking for. It’s validating to hear such high praise from experienced educators.”
