Resources from the Strategic Reflection on the Field of Competency-Based Education

The Aurora Institute carries out an annual reflection process on growth, change, and needs in the field of competency-based education. One product of that process was a webinar, A Strategic Reflection on the Field of Competency-Based Education. The webinar recording and slide deck are available here. This blog post provides links to the many new equity, practice, and research resources we shared, interspersed with some of the webinar slides.

Equity and CBE Resources (Webinar Slides 7-11)

• Building for Equity: A Guide for Inclusive School Redesign. Center for Collaborative Education.
• Building for Equity School Self-Assessment Tool. Center for Collaborative Education.
• Common Data Project Excerpt: Race/Ethnicity. New England Secondary Schools Consortium.
• Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework. New York State Education Department.
• Culturally Responsive Walkthrough Tool. Karla Vigil and Emily Abedon. Equity Institute.
• Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms. Joe Feldman. Corwin.
• GSP Monthly Dispatch, March 2021. Great Schools Partnership.
• Increasing the Racial, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity of the Educator Workforce: A Call to Action for Leaders. Great Schools Partnership.
• Invitation to a New Path Forward: Seeking Equity Together Through Assessment and Accountability. Jennifer Poon, Gene Wilhoit, Paul Leather, Linda Pittenger. Center for Innovation in Education.
• New England States Poll: Key Findings. Rennie Center.

Practice Resources (Webinar Slides 12 and 29-34)

• A Framework for Competency Roadmap. reDesign.
• A Phased Approach to the Implementation of Competency-based Education. Springpoint.
• A Promise for Equitable Futures: Enabling Systems Change to Scale Educational and Economic Mobility Pathways. Katherine Casey and Susan Patrick. Aurora Institute.
• BEST Self-Direction Toolkit. BEST Research-Practice Partnership.
• Deeper Competency-Based Learning: Making Equitable, Student-Centered, Sustainable Shifts. Karin Hess, Rose Colby, and Daniel Joseph. Corwin.
• Deeper Learning Networks: Taking Student-Centered Learning and Equity to Scale. Laura Hernández, Linda Darling-Hammond, Julie Adams, Kathryn Bradley, DeAnna Duncan Grand, Martens Roc, and Peter Ross. Learning Policy Institute.
• Developing a Student-Centered Workforce through Micro-credentials. Heather Staker, Thomas Arnett, and Allison Powell. Christensen Institute.
• Determining Attendance and Alternatives to Seat-Time. Susan Patrick and Alexis Chambers. Aurora Institute.
• Education Policy Issues for the COVID-19 Era: Policy Actions and Responses to Leverage the Moment for Future Readiness. Susan Patrick and Alexis Chambers. Aurora Institute.
• Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Environments. CCSSO and KnowledgeWorks.
• The Future of Education: Leapfrogging in a Time of Crisis (remarks begin at 9:55). Rebecca Winthrop. The Brookings Institution.
• How Systems of Assessments Aligned with Competency-Based Education Can Support Equity. Scott Marion, Maria Worthen, and Carla Evans. Aurora Institute and Center for Assessment.
• Maximizing Student Engagement & Learning: A Guide to High School Planning During COVID-19.
• Mere Engagement: Reflections about the Connections Between Online Learning, Student Agency, and Student Engagement. Laureen Avery, Marsha Jones, Sara Marr, and Derek Wenmoth. Aurora Institute.
• The Power of Student Agency. Anindya Kundu. Teachers College Press.
• Reinventing Crediting for Competency-Based Education: The Mastery Transcript Consortium Model and Beyond. Jonathan Martin. Routledge.
• Scheduling for Personalized Competency-Based Education. Doug Finn and Michelle Finn. Marzano Resources.
• Strategic Leadership Plan, 2018-22. Shelby County Public Schools.
• Strengthening Local Assessment Systems for Personalized, Proficiency-Based Education: Strategies and Tools for Professional Learning. Pat Fitzsimmons. Aurora Institute.
• 10 Drivers of Engagement You Can Use Right Now. Eric Toshalis. KnowledgeWorks.
• Virtual Portfolio Defense Toolkit. Envision Learning Partners.
• Vision and Action: Reinventing Schools Through Personalized Competency-Based Education. Charles Reigeluth and Jennifer Karnopp. Marzano Resources.
• We Are Crew: A Teamwork Approach to School Culture. Ron Berger, Anne Vilen, and Libby Woodfin. EL Education.

Research Resources (Webinar Slides 37-39)

• A First Look at Instructional Look Fors at LUSD: Reliability and Validity of Instructional Look For Educator Actions. Sarojani Mohammed, Beth Rabbitt, Daniel Stanhope, Mary Styers, Amalia Lopez, and Abinwi Nchise. The Learning Accelerator.
• Building Solid Evidence – It’s Working at Lindsay Unified. Barry Sommer and Abinwi Nchise. Lindsay Unified School District.
• Effects of Personalized Professional Learning Opportunities on Learner Growth: Executive Summary. Beth Holland, Ling Zhang, Beth Rabbitt, Daniel Stanhope, Amalia Lopez, and Abinwi Nchise. The Learning Accelerator.
• The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Social Studies and Literacy Learning in Low-Income Schools. Based on study by Nell Duke, Anne-Lise Halvorsen, Stephanie Strachan, Jihyun Kim, Spyros Konstantopoulos. Lucas Education Research.
• How Legacy High School Students Use Their Flexible Time. R. Marc Brodersen, Jeanette Joyce, David Yanoski, and Kara Underwood. Regional Educational Laboratory Central at Marzano Research.
• Key Findings from the Culturally Responsive Mastery-Based Education Research Project. Leah Peoples, Pamela D’Andrea Martinez, Lindsey Foster. Students at the Center Hub.
• Making Sense of K‐12 Competency‐based Education: A Systematic Literature Review of Implementation and Outcomes Research from 2000 to 2019. Carla Evans, Erika Landl, and Jeri Thompson. Journal of Competency-Based Education.
• Measuring Student Success Skills: A Review of the Literature on Collaboration. Carla Evans. National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.
• Measuring Student Success Skills: A Review of the Literature on Complex Communication. Jeri Thompson. National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.
• Measuring Student Success Skills: A Review of the Literature on Critical Thinking. Carla Evans. National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.
• Measuring Student Success Skills: A Review of the Literature on Self-Directed Learning. W. Christopher Brandt. National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.
• Personalized, Competency-Based Learning: Analysis and Reflections on Student Outcome Data in RSU2. Geoff Zimmerman and Jillian Kuhlmann. KnowledgeWorks.
• Postsecondary Outcomes of Innovative High Schools: The Big Picture Longitudinal Study. Karen Arnold and Georgiana Mihut. Teachers College Record.
• Project-Based Learning Boosts Student Achievement in AP Courses. Based on study by Anna Saavedra, Ying Liu, Shira Haderlein, Amie Rapaport, Kari Lock Morgan, Marshall Garland, Ying Liu, Alyssa Hu, and Danial Hoepfner. Lucas Education Research.
• Project-Based Learning Increases Science Achievement in Elementary School and Advances Social and Emotional Learning. Based on study by Joseph Krajcik, Barbara Schneider, Emily Miller, I-Chien Chen, Lydia Bradford, Kayla Bartz, Quinton Baker, Annemarie Palincsar, Deborah Peek-Brown, and Susan Codere. Lucas Education Research.
• Project-Based Learning Leads to Gains in Science and Other Subjects in Middle School and Benefits All Learners. Based on study by Rebecca Deutscher, Nicole Holthuis, Saúl Maldonado, Raymond Pecheone, Susan Schultz, Ruth Chung Wei. Lucas Education Research.

Eliot Levine is the Aurora Institute’s Research Director and leads CompetencyWorks.

Follow @Eliot_Levine