Competency-Based High School Graduation Pilot:
Summer 2018 Introduction to CBE
June 26, 2018 | 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Capital Area Career Center—Springfield, IL
Presenters:
Mark Kostin, Associate Director, Great Schools Partnership
Web Resources and Materials:
CBE is predicated on the belief that all students can learn if we clarify learning goals, personalize assessment and instruction, and expect that students will learn in different ways and at different times. In this session, Mark Kostin, Associate Director of the Great Schools Partnership, will share the rationale for, the critical elements of, and the policies that support a competency-based learning system. What are the conditions necessary to ensure the success of implementing a competency-based learning system? What revisions in district policy are required? Which school-based practices must be refined? During this session, we will take a closer look at the elements of the system that leaders must address as they ready for and lead the implementation of competency-based learning.
In the world of competency-based learning, many secondary schools begin their work by changing report cards and transcripts. Such a move might seem logical, or even necessary. After all, if a school has fundamentally altered its grading practices to assess a collection of standards and declared that students must be proficient in those standards in order to graduate, reporting should surely reflect those changes. But then the first report card goes home, and the pushback begins from parents and students. Students who used to know how to get a grade aren’t sure anymore. Parents wonder if their kids will get into colleges with a new transcript. Teachers have to defend a system they’ve only just begun to implement. Principals find themselves in a cycle of damage control instead of focusing on teaching and learning in their buildings. Carefully-built support for the concept of proficiency-based learning begins to erode. In this session, participants will unpack the important differences between grading and reporting and seek to uncover the aspects of their systems that are most impactful in leveraging powerful learning for all students. For educators who are just beginning to think about how their grading and reporting systems could better reflect changing practices, the session will provide a starting point and resources for building a shared understanding of grading. For participants who have already begun to plan or implement changes in grading and reporting systems, the session will provide a chance to share experiences with other educators and access samples of grading and reporting resources.
Past Events
Illinois State Board of Education Competency-Based Event:
Moving Your Pilot From Vision to Action
September 20–21, 2017 | Peoria (IL) Public School District
Presenters:
Mark Kostin, Associate Director, Great Schools Partnership
Web Resources and Materials:
Competency-Based Learning is predicated on the belief that all students can learn if we clarify learning goals, personalize assessment and instruction, and expect that students will learn in different ways and at different times. In this session, Mark Kostin, Associate Director of the Great Schools Partnership, will share the rationale for, the critical elements of, and the policies that support a competency-based learning system. Web resources and materials for this session:
What are the conditions necessary to ensure the success of implementing a competency-based learning system? What revisions in district policy are required? What school-based practices must be refined? What community engagement strategies will lead to greater understanding and support? During this session, we will take a closer look at the elements of the system that leaders must address as they prepare for and lead the implementation of competency-based learning. Web resources and materials for this session: