Dive Brief:
- Mastery-based or competency-based learning approaches encourage students to show they have excelled in a skill before moving forward. But while the practice can expand student engagement and peer learning, there are some pitfalls stakeholders should consider before having schools take the leap.
- For competency-based learning to succeed, educators should consider the specific needs of each student. While the approach allows for individuality in learning and enables students to move ahead when ready, it also means some learners will need more support, which requires educators to rethink assessment of progress and move away from worksheets and quizzes to a more holistic approach.
- “Some of this is honoring students where they are,” said Randy Spaulding, executive director of the Washington State Board of Education, which is in a three-year mastery-based learning pilot with 18 schools. “Educators start to recognize that some students come in with strengths, but every student has something to work on.”
Dive Insight:
Mastery-based learning, which allows students to move forward when they’ve shown an understanding of a new skill or learning goal, can create a tidal shift in how classrooms, schools and districts assess learners. Rather than receiving grades, for example, students may be asked to demonstrate their understanding through other mechanisms — and this model can require educators to re-learn how they approach learning, too.
“They move away from grade-focused quizzes and exams and on to the learning standards,” Spaulding said. “So it’s not that a student got a 60 on an assignment, but saying, ‘You need to work on these things, and how will we improve on that?’”
In 2021, Washington state received funding to pilot mastery-based learning in select middle and high schools to understand how to bring more engaging learning experiences for students. The approach involves the entire school — not just a classroom — and there’s a significant focus on the kind of professional learning educators will need, as well.
For some teachers, this may be a complete turnaround from how they’ve worked in the past. Here educators take on roles of facilitators rather than lecturers, Spaulding said. The curriculum itself may not change, but how each student accesses it does. Instead of teaching linear equations in algebra class a month into the semester, that lesson may start sooner for some students and later for others.
Teachers can also call in for support from other staff. Special education teachers can provide strategies for students with IEPs, and coaches may have ideas on how to help motivate student athletes, Houston-based science teacher and flipped classroom pioneer Jonathan Bergmann wrote for ASCD.
In the end, students do have more autonomy in how they approach the curriculum, and educators grow more comfortable with the idea of the curriculum being dynamic.
“Some of it is giving teachers the skills,” Spaulding said. “And in some cases, they have the skills but don’t know they have the license to use them.”
