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New Hampshire has become the first state to dive head first
into “Competency Based Learning” or where students are moved up in academics
when they have shown mastery of a subject or standard. This is in contrast to the current widespread
system of having students move on after they finish a grade, regardless of
their level of achievement (as long as it’s above average) or understanding of
all subject matter.
New Hampshire policies for competency-based learning rely
heavily on performance-based assessments, with the hopes that there will one day
be a vast archive of these assessments for teachers to utilize. End of the year and standardized testing have
no place in the new system. Under the
new system, age based grade levels would cease to exist and students would only
move forward once they have shown mastery of certain skills and subjects.
However, the state has run into several problems with this
system. For one, their power to
implement it was taken away when the legislators decided not to include ways to
assess the progress of the initiative in the schools. The state’s role is now more supplemental,
providing research and resources to schools that would like support. Because of this, the policy is being
implemented in many different ways throughout the state, with some local
officials deciding which parts they would like to use and what to throw out at
their discretion.
Overall, I think this idea is a good one. Having taught in a school where a high number
of students had just been passed through the system, regardless of mastery or
even competency of most subjects, I think this would be greatly beneficial to a
lot of students. However, I’m curious
as to how teachers are supposed to teach to a class where all the students are
working at a different pace. I would
like to see this type of system in action or more research on its effectiveness
before fully subscribing to the idea.
Schwartz, K. (2014, June 16). Going All In: How to Make
Competency-Based Learning Work. MindShift. Retrieved June 17, 2014, from
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/going-all-in-how-to-make-competency-based-learning-work/
I think that this is a very interesting post. It would be wonderful if it actually worked. As you said, I do see a few issues with the concept. Does this idea apply to children k-12? If so, I like that it would put responsibility on the kids and parents right from the start. What happens to a student that moves to New Hampshire and is supposedly a 9th grader, but cannot pass performance assessments set at the 5th grade level? I am not sure how a newcomer might be integrated into such a system. Maybe they would use achievement scores from MEAP, EXPLORE, and PLAN testing to place a child. I like the concept, but am not sure how it will work out in practice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Phil, it would be wonderful if it worked. I wonder if this concept is being introduced too fast? By that I mean, have all teachers been properly trained on every aspect of the program? Are the students and parents aware of the program and ready for the consequences? Is there a need for additional teachers? I would like to see more research about the concept. I also think teachers and school administrators should have a major say into how this is implemented.
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