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Aurora Institute

#MasteryWeek

CompetencyWorks Blog

Author(s): Chris Sturgis

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


Building on last year’s Mastery Week, Springpoint Schools and their partners are launching Mastery Assessment Week (#masteryweek)from August 27 – 31. This is a chance to focus in on what it means to have a mastery assessment system (including transparency about where students are in their learning based on specific learning objectives; opportunity to apply and demonstrate learning with common assessment criteria and performance-based assessment; multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning when a student is “not yet” there; and multiple ways to demonstrate learning).  You can hear from your colleagues around the country and share your ideas as well.According to Springpoint the week will unfold with the following activities:

Monday – What can assessment look like in a mastery-based system?

Springpoint will open the week with a welcome post that explains the mechanics of the week and highlights resources and examples around creating and refining mastery assessment practices.

Tuesday – How are assessments designed in a mastery-based system?

reDesign will discuss approaches to designing individual student assessments. You’ll hear about strategies for providing students with rich, actionable feedback and ways to align assessment touchpoints to high-quality rubrics.

Mastery Assessment Partners

Wednesday – How do you design a system of assessments in a mastery-based environment?

Center for Collaborative Education will explain how to build a system of assessments that gives a full picture of student learning. You’ll learn how collaborative structures can create robust assessment systems at the classroom, school, and even system level. Virgel Hammonds from KnowledgeWorks will host a twitter chat on mastery assessment at 7pmET / 4pm PT using the hashtag #masteryweek.

Thursday – What changes with mastery grading and reporting?

Check out a wide range of perspectives and resources on the topic of grading policies–including norming practices, pacing and progress, and strategically structuring opportunities for assessment. And be sure to share your own tips, ideas, and questions on mastery-based grading.

Friday – Share out your ideas, resources, tips, and tools!

The week culminates in a massive resource sharing event, featuring content from all across the education field. Prepare your favorite resource or write a short thought piece to get involved in the conversation! Please reach out if you need ideas or have any questions: [email protected]