What’s New in K-12 Competency Education?

School Designs

• Colorado’s District 51 is moving to “engage, equip and empower” students and engaging its community members in its shift toward performance-based learning. (Learn more about D51 in a recent blog series by Chris Sturgis.)
• McComb School District is producing students empowered to change the world. Its Kennedy Early Childhood Center accelerates the development of knowledge, skills and dispositions; uses competency-based progressions; learning is socially embedded; and children have open-walled opportunities to learn.
• A new STEM-focused micro-school is planning to open its doors in Decatur, Georgia in August 2017.
• New Hampshire’s Pittsfield Middle High School is using competency-based, student-centered learning approaches to combat bullying.
• The UP Education Network in Massachusetts is using tailored supports to better serve students with disabilities and English language learners.
• New Hampshire’s Manchester School of Technology uses academics to support career training, and uses competency-based structures to ensure student success.

Student Agency

• Student Bryce Bragdon explains how a learner-centered model transformed his future.
• Partnering with students on the transition toward student-centered learning helps to shape strategies for change and mobilizes them to own their learning.

Blogs from the Field

• New Profit is publishing an #AdvanceEquity blog series to promote new dialogue on equity and inclusion. You can find 30+ blogs in this series here.
• Where and how does competency education align in K-12 and higher education? This blog post reflects on emerging and established areas.
• This KnowlegeWorks blog highlights the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township (Indiana), their journey towards competency education, and key takeaways.

Policy

• KnowledgeWorks released ESSA and Personalized Learning: State by State, which is an interactive map and state-by-state analysis of state strategies to advance personalized learning. This resource highlights emerging ideas states are considering as they leverage flexibilities in their state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
• Rhode Island’s Office of Innovation released the Statewide Personalized Learning Initiative, outlining a plan to scale personalized learning statewide.
• Here are top education issues to watch during the 2017 Utah Legislature, including competency education.
• The Idaho legislature allocated $1 million to support the implementation of mastery-based systems of education.
• A bill in Utah, SB34, would allow schools to keep funding when students graduate early, intended to benefit competency-based schools and reward schools when students complete graduation requirements ahead of schedule.
• Thirty-two schools in 19 Idaho incubator programs are currently using mastery education as part of H110, which passed both chambers and was signed by Governor Otter in March 2015.

News

• Kettle Morraine School District Superintendent Pat DeKlotz was recognized as a 2017 Leader to Learn From by Education Week. In her Wisconsin District, she is implementing a personalized, competency-based system, and teachers use micro-credentials to advance their careers.

New Resources

• Springpoint released a new report, How Students Thrive: Positive Youth Development in Practice, which explores how to design schools around young people in order to support them on their developmental journeys toward adulthood.
• Christensen Institute released a new tool on the Blended Learning Universe: a nine-step guide to blended, personalized learning design.
• ExcelInEd released Advancing Innovative Policy Solutions, a policy brief to promote innovation under ESSA.

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