{"id":7697,"date":"2018-02-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/our-quest-to-personalize-competency-based-learning-in-new-hampshire\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:47:39","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:47:39","slug":"our-quest-to-personalize-competency-based-learning-in-new-hampshire","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/our-quest-to-personalize-competency-based-learning-in-new-hampshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Quest to Personalize Competency-Based Learning in New Hampshire"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was was originally posted on January 9, 2018 at\u00a0Education Week<\/a> in the Next Generation for Learning blog<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo from Parker Varney Elementary School in Manchester School District.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Hampshire’s\u00a0Assessment for Learning Project<\/a><\/b> (ALP) has been a quest to deepen and personalize competency-based learning for all students. During the 2016-2017 school year, we attempted to confront two significant barriers hindering the advancement of competency-based learning, namely age-based grade level configurations in schools and traditional assessment and grading practices that restrict students from “moving on when ready,” a key tenet of competency-based learning.<\/p>\n

Our five pilot elementary schools intentionally implemented innovative practices that blurred the lines between grade levels by moving to multi-grade bands. \u00a0Teachers developed learning progressions that guided learning for individual students within these bands and helped to foster assessment practices as integral components of the learning process, rather than as strictly summative measures of learning.<\/p>\n

This “No Grades, No Grades<\/a><\/b>” (NG2) initiative included\u00a0DJ Bakie School<\/a><\/b>\u00a0(Sanborn Regional School District<\/a><\/b>),\u00a0Maple Street Magnet School<\/a><\/b>\u00a0(Rochester School District<\/a><\/b>),\u00a0Memorial School<\/a><\/b>(Sanborn Regional School District)\u00a0Parker Varney Elementary School<\/a><\/b>\u00a0(Manchester School District<\/a><\/b>), and\u00a0Pittsfield Elementary School<\/a><\/b>\u00a0(Pittsfield School District<\/a><\/b>).<\/p>\n

All five schools also participated in New Hampshire’s\u00a0Performance Assessment of Competency Education<\/a><\/b>\u00a0(PACE), a first-of-its-kind assessment and accountability system that puts teachers at the center of instructional and performance assessment design, development, and implementation. \u00a0PACE tasks are given to a single grade level of students at the same time, and each task is administered, monitored, and guided by teachers. \u00a0As we reflected on these practices, we identified the need to explore ways to deepen our efforts to meet the needs of ALL learners by personalizing our competency-based learning and assessment system and putting students at the center of the learning and assessment process. \u00a0NG2\u00a0took a giant step in this direction.<\/p>\n

Last summer, our five NG2\u00a0pilot schools came together with facilitators from the\u00a0New Hampshire Learning Initiative<\/a><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a02Revolutions<\/a><\/b>\u00a0to share their learning from the past year. \u00a0Each of these five schools, in very different ways, piloted an aspect of innovation to increase student agency in learning.<\/p>\n

We captured our stories and insights from our NG2 pilot year in\u00a0this podcast<\/a><\/b>\u00a0from 2Revolutions:<\/p>\n