What’s New in K-12 Competency Education?

Jobs for the Future recently announced 9 new Students at the Center Distinguished Fellows. These are leaders in policy, practice and research from the New England area, each carefully selected for their vision, contributions and impact in student-centered learning:

• Arthur Eduardo Baraf, Principal, Liberty Building, Metropolitan Regional Career & Technical Center (THE MET)
• Dana L. Mitra, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Pennsylvania State University Department of Education Policy Studies
• Frank Labanca, teacher, educational researcher and change agent, Westside Middle School Magnet Academy, Danbury Public Schools
• Jennifer Fredricks, Professor, Connecticut College, Department of Human Development
• Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Director, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
• Kim Carter, Founder and Executive Director, Q.E.D. Foundation
• Lori Batista McEwen, Outgoing Chief of Instruction, Leadership, and Equity, Providence Public School Department
• Mary Bellavance, Instructional Coach, Biddeford Middle School
• Michelle L. Puhlick, Executive Director of Planning & Partnerships, Hartford Public Schools

The Students at the Center Distinguished Fellows become core members of the newly formed Student-Centered Learning Research Collaborative, a bold new effort to investigate and evaluate what we know about student-centered learning and affect meaningful change at scale.

Upcoming CompetencyWorks Webinar: CompetencyWorks and iNACOL are co-hosting an upcoming webinar: A Reflection on the Field of Competency Education and Emerging Issues. This webinar is free to attend—please register here for login details.

Advancements in New England

• The Nellie Mae Education Foundation awarded Sunny Pai’s Diploma Plus Program with the Lawrence W. O’Toole Award, granting his competency-based program $100,000 to continue advancing student-centered learning approaches.
• The Nellie Mae Education Foundation released: Looking Under the Hood of Competency-Based Education, a study aimed to rigorously examine the relationship between CBE practices and changes in learning capacities such as the skills, behaviors and dispositions that enhance student capacity to learn.
• 67 New England institutions of higher education provided statements of support for proficiency-based education.

Student and Leader Perspectives

• Superintendent Keith Jacobus shares his perspective on redesigning his district’s strategic plan to incorporate competency education.
• Sound School (NH) senior and member of the Board of Education Kimberly Sullivan raises curriculum concerns and wants a plan to transition her school to competency education.
• We need student voices in education reform. This article describes how student perceptions are on target for identifying problems and suggesting solutions.

School Models

• Adriana Martinez of Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) visited Iowa BIG in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and describes what their leadership approaches look like and how they are paving a path for student-centered learning.
• Various learning models are integrating more hands-on learning opportunities into the traditional school day to increase relevance and tie learning to interests and passions. This article depicts how students are taking the lead in their learning through internships and community-based projects.

New Resources

• The National Center for Innovation in Education and the Educational Policy Improvement Center released: Essential Skills and Dispositions: Developmental Frameworks for Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Self-Direction.
• The Learning Policy Institute released: Pathways to New Accountability Through the Every Student Succeeds Act, written and produced in partnership with the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE).
• The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) released: How Selective Colleges and Universities Evaluate Proficiency-Based High School Transcripts: Insights for Students and Schools.
• Next Generation Learning Challenges asked educators how they measure success. Here’s an overview of their big ideas and the measures that matter most.

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