{"id":6610,"date":"2015-07-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/states-considering-policies-supporting-competency-based-education\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:47:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:47:49","slug":"states-considering-policies-supporting-competency-based-education","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/states-considering-policies-supporting-competency-based-education\/","title":{"rendered":"States Considering Policies Supporting Competency-Based Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Library\"This post originally appeared at iNACOL<\/a> on June 26, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

States considering policies to support competency-based education are on the rise. Policy levers that support competency education and personalized learning include innovation zones, school finance changes, planning grants, new assessment frameworks, and pilot programs. This week, we highlight states\u2019 efforts to pass policies that support new models and systems of assessments, including flexibility for locally-developed, performance-based assessments.<\/p>\n

How a state structures its assessments and accountability systems can significantly enhance or impede competency education. Acknowledging this,\u00a0North Carolina HB 439<\/a>\u00a0expresses legislative intent that the state \u201ctransition to a system of testing and assessments\u2026that utilizes competency-based learning assessments to measure student performance and student growth.\u201d The bill passed the House by a vote of 112-2 but has stalled in the Senate. North Carolina can still pass the bill but must move quickly in order to do so because the legislature adjourns on July 1.<\/p>\n

Federal rules require states to administer summative tests at the end of each school year that include test items from only students\u2019 current grade levels. These single-point-in-time assessment systems discourage schools from implementing personalized, competency-based pathways.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, recent federal actions may create windows of opportunity for states to improve state assessment and accountability systems. New Hampshire has received a waiver from the US Department of Education to pilot competency-based performance assessments and accountability models with a small subset of school districts. The United States Senate, in its ESEA reauthorization, is considering an innovative assessment pilot program that would allow states to implement assessment systems that support competency-based education.<\/p>\n

In order to take advantage of federal flexibility, North Carolina would need to create comparable, valid, performance-based assessment systems.<\/p>\n

North Carolina HB 439<\/a>\u00a0includes the following defining parameters for a competency-based system, which bear a strong resemblance to the iNACOL CompetencyWorks definition for competency education:<\/p>\n