{"id":5295,"date":"2015-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-readiness-levels\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:38:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T21:38:08","slug":"learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-readiness-levels","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/learner-centered-tip-of-the-week-readiness-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Learner-Centered Tip of the Week: Readiness Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Race\"This post originally appeared on Courtney Belolan’s website<\/a> on September 21, 2015. Belolan is the instructional coach for RSU2 in Maine.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the biggest concerns about proficiency based, and learner centered instruction, centers around the idea of \u201cstudents working at their own pace.\u201d Education community members wonder: what about deadlines? what if a student\u2019s pace is \u201cdo nothing?\u201d who will teach them if the just keep going ahead? what happens if a kid finishes all the standards by the time they are 16? The questions go on, and on. Most of them are completely valid questions, and worth conversations about. A good place to start is to examine how the idea of a student\u2019s own pace.<\/p>\n

Instead of thinking of the word \u201cpace\u201d think of \u201creadiness level.\u201d A student\u2019s readiness level is the point where they have the ability to be successful with whatever the current learning is, and stretch a bit into new understanding and skills with the support of a teacher. Readiness level is the same thing as the Zone of Proximal Development. So now, think about this new statement:<\/p>\n

\u00a0In a learner centered system, students work at their readiness level.<\/em><\/p>\n

This changes the picture a bit. There is still room in this vision for a teacher to teach, for there to be deadlines, for students to learn at a degree and depth that makes sense for them, for a class to all be studying the same topic at different complexity levels. A student\u2019s readiness level can be used to match instruction and expected independence for any kind of procedural or declarative knowledge, including planning, organization and other soft skills.<\/p>\n

But what about pace? The amount of time it takes, or should take, a student to complete and show mastery of learning is still important. Our students should know what a good pace is, and what to do if they get behind or ahead. Setting a pace for students includes setting due dates and otherwise supporting the development of those work habits.<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n