{"id":4807,"date":"2018-02-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/how-competency-based-are-you\/"},"modified":"2020-02-05T13:04:34","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:04:34","slug":"how-competency-based-are-you","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/how-competency-based-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How Competency-Based Are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A few weeks ago, someone approached me because the schools they were working with wanted to know if they were competency-based or not. This question seems to be popping up more frequently as competency-based education gains popularity. If the question is based on wanting to be part of the latest education innovation, it’s a problem. Simply declaring one\u2019s school as competency-based doesn\u2019t have much to do with anything if we aren\u2019t actually providing a significantly better learning experience for students.<\/p>\n

However, if that question is actually trying to ask Am I doing it right?<\/em> then we really need as a field to be providing resources that allow districts, schools and teachers to self-assess and resources that allow them to see and engage in quality. In the meantime, I think a reframing of the question might be helpful: In what way are you competency-based and which ways aren’t you?<\/em> To what degree has it been implemented across your school?<\/em> And are students benefiting?<\/em> And if not, why not \u2013 what’s missing or has to be done with greater quality?<\/p>\n

When I visit schools, I try to get a picture of the ways they are implementing competency-based education and what they hope to do in the future. This gives me a sense of how they understand competency-based education as well as insights into their stages and strategies for implementation. Below is a short list of some of the things I\u2019m asking about and looking for when I visit schools. Competency-based education is a comprehensive schoolwide or district-wide strategy and does require all of these pieces be put into place. But no one can put them in place all at once — which is why the question in what way are you competency-based can recognize the development and growth while also charting the course for next steps.<\/p>\n

10 Questions for Site Visits to Schools Moving Toward Competency-Based Education<\/h2>\n
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  1. Is the competency-based approach implemented schoolwide or districtwide<\/em> with consistency in grading policies, moderated determination of proficiency, and collective responsibility for providing timely and differentiated support?<\/li>\n
  2. Are students able to take advantage of<\/em> transparent learning objectives<\/em> with rubrics and examples of what it means to be proficient to bring evidence of learning from other classes and from the community?<\/li>\n
  3. Is there a strong culture of learning and inclusiveness<\/em> so that students and adults feel respected, that they belong, and safe to take risks in their learning?<\/li>\n
  4. Are students coached in the<\/em> lifelong learning skills<\/em> (growth mindset, metacognition, self-regulation, and other social & emotional skills and habits of success) with opportunities to co-create their learning activities and take responsibility for their education? In other words, how are you helping them learn the skills for agency and independent learning?<\/li>\n
  5. Do students know where they are in their learning trajectory, <\/em>not just grade level standards, with grading systems that communicate student progress in reference to learning objectives rather than based on assignments and behaviors?<\/li>\n
  6. Is there a commitment to mastery and advancing upon mastery<\/em> with students being supported in building the knowledge and skills they may be missing, receiving timely and differentiated support, and being able to move beyond grade level?<\/li>\n
  7. At the end of a semester or school year, do educators take responsibility to ensure that students who have not completed all the learning objectives have a plan for receiving additional support and providing continuity<\/em> so that the next teacher will support the student to pick up where they left off?<\/li>\n
  8. Do the systems of assessments<\/em> offer extensive formative feedback, performance-based assessments and the opportunity to submit evidence of learning?<\/li>\n
  9. Is there a shared pedagogical principle<\/em> that is driven by learning sciences and equity and aligned with expectations that students will learn to apply knowledge and academic skills, i.e. build competency?<\/li>\n
  10. Are educators supported in inquiry and personalized professional learning<\/em> to improve instruction and assessment literacy in response to student learning?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A \u201cyes\u201d to any one of these questions is only the door to then ask other questions:<\/p>\n