We are facing a substantial challenge in ensuring that we are implementing effective competency-based strategies. Join CompetencyWorks on July 18 2-3 ET for a discussion about Designing for Equity: Leveraging Competency-Based Education to Ensure All Students Succeed. Learn about design principles to pay attention to and red flags that there may be a problem in implementation. Register here.

Is it summer yet? It feels like the rate of districts turning to competency-based education is increasing (I just returned from a meeting in Michigan where I learned of at least eight districts advancing toward a competency-based system), and certainly our rate of learning is. Although I actually hope that everyone disconnect for a few weeks during the summer and not think about competency education, I did promise to provide an updated summer reading list. I’ve organized the list into categories: learning sciences; for newbies seeking to understand what competency education is; building commitment; preparing for implementation; and thinking ahead on the issues and challenges in the field of competency-based education. (more…)

There is more and more attention to the development of high school graduate profiles at the district and state level, which are providing a much more well-rounded idea of what we want for students upon graduation beyond a number of credits. These profiles, such as the one from South Carolina highlighted here, include academic knowledge and a range of different skills. At CompetencyWorks, we think of them in three buckets: academic knowledge; transferable skills needed to apply academic knowledge; and lifelong learning skills that include those important building blocks of learning such as self-regulation, metacognition, growth mindset, and perseverance. (See Levers and Logic Models page 16.)

But how are those graduate profiles being translated into middle and elementary schools? How do we know that students are progressing in ways and at a pace that results in their meeting career and college ready? (more…)

Yes we are just making our way into summer. But it’s not too soon to think about making travel plans to the iNACOL Symposium October 21-24 in Nashville. The competency-based education strand of workshops is very strong – so it’s a great place for people wanting to learn more and for those who have been doing the work to meet other colleagues across the country.

We wanted to let you know that on the morning of October 21, there will be an educator-only Leadership Forum on Competency Education. It’s for people who have been implementing competency education for one year or more to share their insights, get help from others to solve problems, and push all of our thinking toward developing high-quality competency-based systems. That means you’ll have to fly in on the 20th. See you there.

This post originally appeared at Getting Smart on June 19, 2018.

For nearly 60 years, the ACT test has played an essential part in higher education admissions and scholarship decisions. For the last three years, the nonprofit developer of the ACT test has been expanding beyond traditional measurement to new and broader ways to promote education and workplace success. (more…)

This post originally appeared at iNACOL on June 11, 2018.

What are competency-based transcripts, and why are they important?

The New England Secondary School Consortium (NESSC) explains the main issue: “For more than a century, American high school students have earned ‘credits’ for passing courses. When they accumulate enough credits, they receive a diploma. The problem with this approach is that credits do not always equal competency.”

Competency-based transcripts provide colleges and universities with comprehensive information on a high school student’s knowledge, skills and performance upon graduation. They communicate what a student knows and can do in the transition from secondary to postsecondary systems of education based on actual mastery and offer a comprehensive record of achievement in a competency-based learning model. (more…)

Here are the highlights from June 2018 on CompetencyWorks. Happy reading. And let us know if you have questions you want us to delve into!

CASE STUDIES AND SITE VISITS

Da Vinci Schools (CA)

• Part 1 – Innovation in the Air at Da Vinci Schools
• Part 2 – Conversations about Learning at Da Vinci
• Part 3 – RISE (Revolutionary Individualized Student Experience)

(more…)

This post originally appeared at Getting Smart on June 18, 2018.

We’ve been looking into what schools, districts, networks, and impact organizations are doing to accelerate progress toward an effective CBE system, and in July we will release a full publication highlighting our research and analysis. In the meantime, we have assembled a series of initial lists of positive examples. (more…)

CompetencyWorks is dedicated to advancing cutting edge knowledge and informing the field in order to support the expansion of high quality competency-based education. There are thousands of leaders and educators across the country with deep expertise in competency-based education. We believe these practitioners can make valuable contributions to the field and that they should lead national conversations on critical issues. Thus, CompetencyWorks regularly invites practitioners to contribute to the advancement of new knowledge and key issues as volunteer members of Technical Advisory Groups (TAG). TAGs are participatory and transparent opportunities for practitioners to provide input and feedback that inform the development of our research and reporting.

This summer CompetencyWorks will host a Technical Advisory Group to inform an upcoming report on Professional Learning and Development for Competency-Based Education. This TAG is an open opportunity for talented and committed practitioners to share expertise and inform the field.

(more…)

Michael Hurlbutt (Image from Pioneering Magazine)

This blog has been updated and republished.

I recently learned about the development of the Learner Bill of Rights (below). As I understand it, Michael Hurlbutt and Talon Akins worked with other learners at MC2 Charter School to develop the Learner Bill of Rights. Kim Carter explained to me that the conversation began at an Education Reimagined’s Pioneer Lab with the question “How do I [the learner] integrate you [writ large] into my learning in a meaningful way?”.  Carter explained that a group from across the country met online once a month to investigate the question with learners ranging from second grade through high school. The actual Learner Bill of Rights was developed by Hurlbutt and Akins and then presented at Education Reimagined’s Spark House. You can hear about student voice and empowerment directly from Michael Hurlbutt in last July’s issue of Pioneering.

Learner Bill of Rights

1. Everyone is a learner and everyone has the right to learn
2. All learners are different and need options for their work
3. All learners have different learning styles and need opportunities to individualize their work
4. Learners must have voice in their learning environment
5. Learners require structure for their learning
6. Learners have the right to share their opinions in a welcoming environment
7. Learners have the right to be rewarded for making good choices
8. Learners can fail and that’s alright
9. Learners have the right to take initiative and shape their own learning
10. Learners must encourage the learning and respect of other learners

(more…)