Opinion
School & District Management Letter to the Editor

Educators Must Look to History When They Advocate for Changes

November 16, 2021 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

While perusing the Education Week website the past week, I came across an opinion essay entitled “Graduation Must Depend on Learning, Not Time” (Oct. 12, 2021). As I read through it, I became aware of a major reason that American education has not really changed a great deal over the past half century.

The authors, all school superintendents, began by asking the question: “What if we flipped the current model of public education on its head and made the standard of learning the constant and time the variable?” In response to this question, the authors say they are “calling for a competency-based system of education that looks nothing like our current model.”

Unfortunately, the authors seem unaware of the long history of both the juxtaposition of time and learning, as well as the many varieties of competency-based education. The need to shift from time to learning was the basis for educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom’s 1968 paper, “Learning for Mastery,” based on the theoretical framework of psychologist John Carroll. Arguments in favor of competency-based education began to appear around the same time. (Kate Ford of the University of Maryland, University College, published a concise history of competency-based education in 2014.)

If substantial and significant changes in education are to be made, educators and policymakers must be aware of the history of ideas. When did the idea first appear and how did it progress over time? When and, more importantly, why did the idea fall out of favor? Specifically, why did mastery learning fail, and what can we learn from its failure? Answers to questions such as these enable us to learn from our past. Such learning, in turn, makes it possible to make meaningful changes that result in substantial improvement in American education.

Lorin Anderson
Carolina Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of South Carolina
Columbia, S.C.

A version of this article appeared in the November 17, 2021 edition of Education Week as Educators Must Look to History When Reimagining Education

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Student Achievement K-12 Essentials Forum How to Build and Scale Effective K-12 State & District Tutoring Programs
Join this free virtual summit to learn from education leaders, policymakers, and industry experts on the topic of high-impact tutoring.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A Speaking Up for Students Is Part of This Principal's Job
Terri Daniels, the National Advocacy Champion of the Year, says principals must advocate on behalf of their students.
6 min read
California principal and NASSP Advocacy Champion award winner Terri Daniels poses with NASSP President Raquel Martinez and NASSP CEO Ronn Nozo.
Terri Daniels, the principal of Folsom Middle School in California, poses with National Association of Secondary School Principals President Raquel Martinez and NASSP CEO Ronn Nozo. Daniels was named the 2025 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year and recognized in Washington, D.C., on April 11.
Courtesy of NASSP
School & District Management 1 in 4 Students Are Chronically Absent. 3 Tools to Change That
Chronic absenteeism is a daunting problem. But district leaders aren't alone in facing it, and there are ways they can fight it.
5 min read
Empty desks within a classroom
iStock/Getty Images Plus
School & District Management Opinion Lawmakers Don’t Know What Happens in Schools. Principals Can Help
School leaders must fight to take education funding off the political battlefield.
3 min read
Illustration collage of the U.S. Capitol steps with numerous silhouetted people walking up the steps. There is a yellow halo around them to show the collective power. In the background behind the U.S. Capitol is the back of a young school girl with her hand raised.
Gina Tomko/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Can't Manage Teacher Morale Alone. Enter the Go-Between
Principals can't check in with every teacher. Can a go-between leader help them out?
6 min read
The concept of joint teamwork, building a team. Working people connecting pieces of puzzles. Metaphor of cooperation and staff partnership.
Anastasiia Boriagina/iStock