In April, leading innovators from around the country shared their insights into designing and implementing competency education.
- Working in a Competency Education School: Hiring Tips for Potential Teacher Candidates by Brian Stack
- Counted or Not, Doing What Counts in Competency-based Education by Eduardo Briceño
- The Paradox of Right the First Time: Transform Assessment Practices to Reflect Growth by Justin Ballou
- A Tide of Understanding by Bill Zima
- Chewing on Learning Progressions: Some Food For Thought by Kaili Phillips
- Learning My Lesson by Caroline Messenger
We also highlighted emerging trends and resources:
- New Networks: Competency Education in Higher Education
- Building a Bridge Between Blended Learning and Competency Education
- Who Should Determine What Proficiency Is?
- Light At the End of the Tunnel
- A Tale of Two States
- 10 Principles of Proficiency-based Learning
As always, we took deeper looks at how districts and schools are advancing competency education:
Danville School District and Taylor County School District in Kentucky are developing personalized, performance-based strategies:
- District Transformation in Danville
- How a District Ended Student Dropouts with Personalized Learning by Roger Cook
Making Community Connections Charter School in New Hampshire has a theory of change that emphasizes helping students develop the skills and motivation needed to be successful in college and careers:
In case you missed it, here’s chance to listen to our April webinar:
“Understanding Grading in Competency-based Schools” was a follow-up to the paperProgress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education. Presenters included Brett Grimm (Assistant Principal) and Abbie Forbus (Counselor) from Lindsay Unified High School who described their approach to grading.
Click here to watch the webinar.
And don’t miss these webinars in May:
May 14, 2014 (1:00pm – 3:00pm MST) Regional Educational Laboratory Central at Marzano Research Laboratory is presenting Competency-Based Education Systems: One Colorado School District’s Experience highlighting Adams County School District 50.
May 21, 2014 (3:00pm – 4:00pm ET) Great Schools Partnership is sponsoring Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified: Supporting Students with Disabilities with Angela Hardy, Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership; Jon Ingram, Senior Associate, Great Schools Partnership, and Shannon Shanning, Special Education Teacher, Bruce M. Whittier Middle School, Poland, ME. The webinar will address the role of Individual Educations Plans in a proficiency-based system, including the development of appropriate modifications to ensure that students with disabilities achieve proficiency.
Check out these Briefing Papers and more from CompetencyWorks.
From Policy to Practice
Federal K-12 Policy
Competency Grading
Personalized Learning
State Policy Guide
ET News 