{"id":6725,"date":"2015-12-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/over-tested-and-under-prepared\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:45:05","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:45:05","slug":"over-tested-and-under-prepared","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/over-tested-and-under-prepared\/","title":{"rendered":"Over-Tested and Under-Prepared"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Over-Tested<\/a>In December, <\/em>Over-Tested and Under-Prepared: Using Competency Based Learning to Transform Our Schools<\/em><\/a> by Bob Sornson will be released by <\/em>Routledge<\/em><\/a>. Bob has shared an excerpt of the book from the chapter on Personalized Learning and Competency. <\/em><\/p>\n

A competency based learning system begins with the premise that we truly want each student to succeed. Rather than letting the pacing guide dictate the delivery of instruction, students move ahead toward crucial learning outcomes upon demonstrating the key learning milestones along the path to competency. Students will have as many learning opportunities as they need to develop these crucial skills, and each student is guaranteed to have the support needed to continue learning at their own pace as they progress toward crucial outcomes.<\/p>\n

This learner centered model is a significant departure from the more is better, test it harder, winners and losers system we have created in most of our schools. Delivering one-size-fits-all instruction and then sorting out a small percentage of successful learners no longer meets the needs of our society. With a better understanding of how kids learn, and with the information and technology systems that are now available, we can choose to track progress toward crucial outcomes and develop thoughtful pathways to mastery of the skills needed for learning and workplace success.<\/p>\n

Much of this is just the application of common sense. In the non-school parts of our lives, whenever a learning goal has been identified as \u201ccrucial\u201d we try hard to develop personalized competency based learning experiences for our children. When teaching a young child to throw and catch, we refuse to follow a pacing guide. Instead we take the time to play, ensure high rates of success, and gradually increase challenge without causing frustration and disengagement. When teaching a teenager to drive a car, wise parents take all the necessary time to practice driving in the school parking lot before moving to the side roads, and all the time needed on the side roads before moving to the main roads, and all the time needed on main roads before moving to the expressways, and all the time needed driving during good weather conditions until allowing your child to drive in more difficult weather.<\/p>\n

No rational adult would throw a small hard ball at a child who is not fully able to catch it. Why then does math instruction in most schools consistently throw hardballs at kids who aren\u2019t ready?<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Math instruction is among the conspicuous failures of US schools. It is a classic example of too much content, delivered too fast using a rigid pacing process, and advancing students to higher levels of learning without the deep understanding of fundamental concepts and skills needed for long-term success. Consider these kindergarten math skills which are crucial for understanding higher level math concepts:<\/p>\n