The article described competency based education as an "education based on mastery of skill rather than seat time". I think this could be a very effective model given the appropriate structures and supports.
I love the idea of students co-determining learning targets and how they will demonstrate their learning. I do wonder what this looks like. I have the following questions: What is the process for students determining individual learning targets? Are the targets based on the standards? When does this happen and what are other students doing at the time? What tools and/or structures are in place? If all the proper components were in place, I think this process would be very powerful. The article mentions that having "standard operating procedures" is very important. I feel like creating procedures and creating culture is valuable in any education environment. As a school or classroom potentially shifts to this model, again, I wonder what this looks like and how teachers would be supported in this shift. As New Tech High shifts to a model for 9th graders where projects are the drivers rather than classes, I connected with this article because we will have a lot of the logistical freedom to make this happen. My vision for this is that I will be able to support math skills in a workshop style. In this model there will be a group of about 5-6 teachers designing a interdisciplinary project for the Freshmen; there will be students in both math I and math II and I am sure within those two levels there will be huge discrepancy in their math ability. It will be essential for me to have different goals and supports for these students. Having educational technology that supports this process and structure could be very valuable. Students will need tools and resources in order to be self-directed. I think the idea of having technology that specifically supports this process could be a huge success factor. For example I took the idea of screencasts and instead of lecturing in person, I have my students watch the screencast (in class) at their own pace. Each student has the ability to pause or replay the "lecture". Once students watch the video and take notes they have the opportunity to practice at varying levels of the same skill. I imagine the competency based model to be far more individualized than my example but even on a small scale, technology supports this process. Overall, I find this as being ideal for student learning; however, I know that the idea can be overwhelming for educators. I am excited to have the support and collaboration as a 9th grade team to allow our incoming students to have an experience that has some elements of competency-based education. I would love to explore more about this to support me and my team in creating this environment of individualized learning within a project as well as developing a strong sense of agency in our students.
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