{"id":8056,"date":"2015-01-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/north-carolina-optimizing-best-practices-through-a-convening-of-thought-leaders\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:46:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:46:06","slug":"north-carolina-optimizing-best-practices-through-a-convening-of-thought-leaders","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/north-carolina-optimizing-best-practices-through-a-convening-of-thought-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina: Optimizing Best Practices through a Convening of Thought Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"North\u201cIn education, what is not focused on pedagogy is politics.\u201d This is how Tony Habit, President of North Carolina New Schools, opened a convening in Raleigh, NC on December 18th<\/sup>. He emphasized that our focus in competency education must begin and end with the work of teachers in order to transform education; all conversations must be grounded in a deep understanding of the work they do everyday, and we must focus our efforts on how best to support their work.<\/p>\n

This summit, titled Preparing Educators for the Competency Learning Revolution,<\/i> was a convening of innovators, researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders in the competency education field, designed to share ideas, resources, and best practices to remain on the cutting edge of innovation. Presenters discussed the national policy landscape for competency-based learning, identified potential barriers and enablers to implementation, conferred over the role of technology in competency-based systems, and began developing a concept paper exploring statewide competency-based implementation.<\/p>\n

The group of thought leaders operated as a \u201cthink tank\u201d to identify enablers, barriers, and readiness factors regarding a state\u2019s transition to competency education. Glenn Kleiman, Executive Director at the Friday Institute<\/a>, and Tony Habit, President of NC New Schools<\/a>, opened the summit, welcomed the attendees, and opened the floor for invigorating, honest, and wide-ranging conversations around all aspects of competency education.<\/p>\n

Defining Competency Ed \u2013 Four Unique Perspectives<\/b><\/p>\n

Four presenters discussed competency education from unique perspectives, each based in his or her own experiences and successes. Julia Freeland, Research Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute<\/a>, defined competency-based education as a philosophy, a policy, and a new set of practices in which students advance upon mastery. By \u201cphilosophy\u201d Julia recommended that leaders engage in higher order conversations about implementing competency-based systems before diving into nitty gritty details. There needs to be an initial high-level understanding on the purpose, course of action, and ultimate goals of the new system prior to hedging out details regarding implementation. By \u201cpolicy,\u201d Julia posed the question: what accountability systems need to be created to support competency-based education? By \u201cpractice\u201d Julia explained that competency-based education can align with other learning movements, such as professional learning communities.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Krauss, Senior Fellow for The Forum for Youth Investment<\/a>, defined competency as the composition of skill sets, mindsets, and content, all of which lead to measurable behaviors. She emphasized developing the social and emotional aspects of students, as well as creating a system where competencies are measurable and dynamic. Stephanie defined four policy areas that must be addressed to align competency education with the Common Core and other standards, all of which are restrictive barriers bound by time:<\/p>\n