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

News

• A University of New Hampshire researcher is studying outcomes for New Hampshire’s PACE program, and has so far found that students in PACE districts outperformed their peers in non-participating districts across the board.
• The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced it will build out the Summit Learning Platform, a free personalized learning platform that allows students to set and track customized learning goals.
• Next Generation Learning Challenges released theMyWays microsite, in conjunction with the publication by EdSurge of its related Guide, Bridging the Chasm: Defining Success Beyond Traditional Academics. 

State Policy Updates

• Utah passed Senate Bill 143, which creates the Competency Based Education Pilot Program in 2016. The Utah State Board of Education announced an application for schools to participate in the pilot phase of the Competency-Based Learning Exploratory Team to inform the Utah pilot program creation. Applications are here.
• Illinois announced ten pilot districts for a Competency-Based Learning Pilot, including some Chicago Public Schools.
• Learn how New Hampshire’s state reform has led to teacher autonomy, via EdSurge.

Community and Parent Engagement

• “Research suggests that when schools partner with and engage parents to understand and stay involved in their child’s learning experiences, the parents are more likely to support district innovation, and students tend to have better academic and social outcomes.” Learn more about why engaging parents matters via Students at the Center Hub.
• Iowa’s Marshalltown School Board is hosting a work session to focus on competency-based grading and encouraging the public to attend, learn, and provide feedback.

Student Voice

• Leshae Daniel provides 3 strategies for increasing student voice in your classroom.
• In a true display of youth leadership and student voice, a group of student journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials and uncovered discrepancies in her credentials, leading to her resignation.

Personalized Learning

• ASCD wrote six tips for making personalized learning work, based on iNACOL’s definition of personalized learning.
• Kathleen McClaskey wrote Personalization and UDL: A Perfect Match—on how educators can use Universal Design for Learning to personalize instruction and realize the promise of student agency.

School Designs

• Focusing on family buy-in, Windsor Locks High School (CT) is shifting toward mastery-based learning where traditional grading no longer exists, children receive support based on their individual learning needs, and classrooms run very differently.
• Boston’s English High School has demonstrated increased academic achievement through personalized learning, building skills and rebuilding confidence, and tracking individual student performance.
• Maine’s Mount Desert Island High School received a $65,000 grant to create an “active learning center” for collaborative problem solving.
• At New Hampshire’s Woodstock Union Middle School, teaching and learning become more personalized with the shift toward proficiency-based grading.

Editorials

• This Deseret News editorial notes competency-based education has benefits in Utah and beyond.
• This opinion article raises critiques of proficiency-based learning systems. It is important to reflect upon issues raised such as this and prepare to address them.

Videos

ExcelInEd released 2 new videos on competency education: EMBED.

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