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Aurora Institute

What’s New in K-12 Competency-Based Education?

CompetencyWorks Blog

Author(s): Natalie Slocum

Issue(s): Issues in Practice, Learn Lessons from the Field


What's new! star graphicSchool Designs

  • Pittsfield School District shares their story of transformation toward student-centered learning in this video.
  • Chicago’s CICS West Belden embarked on a journey to implement personalized, competency-based learning. Learn more about their model here.
  • Navin Elementary School in Marysville Exempted Village School District is committed to personalized learning and doing what’s best for kids. Read an article and watch a video explaining their model.
  • Amidst opioid addiction and plummeting morale, learn how this one elementary school reinvented itself.
  • Some schools use changes in grading to begin shifting the focus on helping all students reach proficiency. Here is a story from North Carolina.

Assessments

Teacher Perspectives

  • When first learning about competency education, teachers often have a host of questions: “Do I plan a different lesson plan for each child?” “How do I manage all the levels?” This article addresses these questions about the practicalities of teaching in competency-based learning systems.
  • A D.C. teacher laid out a bold vision to improve poor student performance in this article. Educators and readers of Washington City Paper have since agreed and believe personalized learning should replace traditional schooling.
  • A high school English teacher penned a response to a recent article in The Federalist which warns against competency education.

Thought Leadership

Case Studies

  • Education Reimagined shared a two-blog case study on Colorado’s Mesa County Valley School District 51. Blog one introduces their model and journey, and blog two offers a Q&A with Superintendent Steve Schultz.
  • Education Reimagined also published a two-blog case study on Georgia’s Henry County Schools. Blog one introduces their school, and blog two shares a Q&A with Special Projects Coordinator Karen Perry.

Student Voice

State Policy Updates

Resources

High Reliability Schools

  • Marzano Research Labs has a program to certify where schools are in terms of the five levels of High Reliability Schools with competency-based education as the fifth and highest level.
  • Here is an article on Decatur County Schools and their efforts to improve schools.

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Author(s)