How diplomas based on skill acquisition, not credits earned, could change education - T... - 15 views
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a new teaching approach here called “proficiency-based education” that was inspired by a 2012 state law.
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law requires that by 2021, students graduating from Maine high schools must show they have mastered specific skills to earn a high school diploma.
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By 2021, schools must offer diplomas based students reaching proficiency in the four core academic subject areas: English, math, science and social studies. By 2025, four additional subject areas will be included: a second language, the arts, health and physical education.
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proficiency-based idea has also created headaches at some schools for teachers trying to monitor students’ individual progress.
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Students have more flexibility to learn at their own pace and teachers get time to provide extra help for students who need it
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offer students clarity about what they have to learn and how they are expected to demonstrate they’ve learned it.
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at schools that have embraced the new system, teachers say they are finding that struggling students are seeing the biggest gains because teachers are given more time to re-teach skills and students better understand the parameters for earning a diploma.
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Deciding to believe that all students are capable of learning all of the standards, she said, “was scary.”
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students get less than a proficient score, they must go back and study the skill they missed. They are then given a chance to retake the relevant portions of the test until they earn a satisfactory score.
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We inherited a structure for schooling that was based on time and on philosophical beliefs that learning would be distributed across a bell curve,
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get crystal clear about what we want students to know and be able to do and then how to measure it.”