Competency-Based Learning

Explainer

A collage of two faceless students sitting on an open book with a notebook and laptop. All around them are numbers, math symbols and pieces of an actual student transcript.
What Is Standards-Based Grading, and How Does It Work?
Schools can retool to make instruction more personalized and student-centered. But grading is a common sticking point.
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A collage of faceless educators with books, chalkboard with equations, an open laptop, math symbols and computer icons all around them.
Nadia Radic for Education Week
Professional Development Teachers Need PD to Make Competency-Based Learning Work. What That Looks Like
Can teachers use microcredentials to become skilled at teaching in a way they probably never experienced as students?
Matthew Stone, September 16, 2024
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9 min read
Collage illustration of the backs of two students wearing bookbags and walking over a large computer keyboard with collage pieces like sky, numbers, checkmarks, letters, lines, and shapes.
Nadia Radic for Education Week
Special Report Competency-Based Education: What It Is and How to Pull It Off
Competency-based education can upend more than a century of tradition in K-12 schools. How schools have made it work.
September 16, 2024
From left, Amora Grillo, Mia Naughton, Ally Neil, work on a project in the Moonshot Program at California New Area Elementary School in Coal Center, Pa., on May 16, 2024.
From left, Amora Grillo, Mia Naughton, and Ally Neil work on a project in the Moonshot Program at California Area Elementary School in Coal Center, Pa., on May 16, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Personalized Learning Inside One District's Experiment With Competency-Based Education
It’s tough to discern what grades and subjects are being taught in the Moonshot classroom. And that's part of the point.
Alyson Klein, September 16, 2024
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14 min read
A collage of a faceless student sitting and writing in notebook with stacks of books, math equations, letter grades and numbers all around him.
Nadia Radic for Education Week
Assessment From Our Research Center It's Hard to Shift to Competency-Based Learning. These Strategies Can Help
Educators are interested in the model and supportive of some of its key components, even if largely unfamiliar with the practice.
Mark Lieberman, September 16, 2024
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6 min read
Collage illustration of faceless students with books and bookbags standing in a group talking with collage pieces of graph paper, the U.S. capitol and other political buildings around them.
Nadia Radic for Education Week
Personalized Learning All States Allow Competency-Based Learning. Will It Become a Reality in Schools?
School districts in every state have the flexibility to adopt competency-based learning, but implementation is easier said than done.
Libby Stanford, September 16, 2024
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9 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Can Mastery-Based Learning Replace Seat Time?
Developing better assessments and getting buy-in from practitioners will be key to replacing seat time as a proxy for mastery.
Rick Hess, May 30, 2024
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6 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion It May Be Time to Retire the Carnegie Unit. Are There Better Measures of Learning?
The Carnegie Foundation popularized seat time as a measure of learning. Now, the organization’s president lays out a new vision.
Rick Hess, May 28, 2024
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7 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment Opinion To Replace Skill Mastery for Seat Time, There Are 3 Requirements
Time for learning and student support take on a whole new meaning in the mastery-based learning model.
Rick Hess, January 8, 2024
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4 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Is It Time to Ditch the Carnegie Unit?
The measure's fixation on seat time may have stifled K–12 innovation. Will abandoning it lead to improved learning or lower standards?
Rick Hess, September 25, 2023
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9 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School Choice & Charters Opinion A School Without Bells or Report Cards. Can It Fly?
Students at one private school earn "learning credits" rather than traditional grades. What does that look like?
Rick Hess, September 14, 2023
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8 min read
Illustration: Hand with pencil aiming for target
DigitalVision Vectors<br/>
States An Inside Look at 1 State's Journey to Transform Its School System
Progress has been slow and uneven, but virtually all states have made some move to adopt competency-based learning.
Libby Stanford, July 26, 2023
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5 min read
Icons of competency skills.
BSD Studio/iStock/Getty
Assessment Measuring Mastery, Not Seat Time: Here's How Schools Can Make It Work
A new report lays out the nuts and bolts for schools adopting a model that stresses student mastery of skills they need for college and careers.
Libby Stanford, June 29, 2023
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6 min read
Image of a man climbing toward a goal.
Nuthawut Somsuk/iStock /Getty<br/>
States Every State Now Lets Schools Measure Students' Success Based on Mastery, Not Seat Time
Wyoming became the final state to adopt competency-based education policies when it approved a new pilot program in April.
Libby Stanford, May 31, 2023
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8 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment Opinion Can State Tests Be Useful for Instruction and Accountability?
An assessment company is aiming to eliminate the gap between what local assessments and the respective state test is delivering.
Rick Hess, April 27, 2023
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7 min read
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