In his article Deforming The Formative, Arthur Chiaravalli argues that our “…testing mentality infects and distorts each of the three phases of formative assessment” and this got me thinking about something I have been struggling with for a long time: summative assessments. I just haven’t said out loud yet that there really isn’t any need […]
The mini-lesson is not a new idea. Mini-lessons are smaller lectures that provide a targeted skill or set of knowledge in a very short period of time. Learners can generally implement these skills or knowledge sets immediately following the mini-lesson. The power mini-lesson adds an element that requires some preparation for in the instructional design. […]
What can we learn from aliens about designing proficiency-based instruction? Imagine that you are an alien and have just landed on Earth. You come upon a bicycle that is leaning up against a tree. You are curious so you touch it. You intuitively put your hands on the handlebars and realize that it moves smoothly […]
It can be sad that today’s learners have brains that are built to survive at a much faster pace. As someone who grew up without technology, I remember long days of playing outside or kicking a rock all the way to school. I would constantly lose track of time because I was engaged in something. […]
Several years ago, as our state moved to a proficiency-based (competency-based) system, I began thinking pretty deeply about how assessment needed to look different if there were no grades attached. There seemed to be some pretty big questions about motivation, engagement, and the need for learners to be more self-directed than we were confident they […]
Since I am trying very hard to limit grades in my entrepreneurship class, I have been focusing on reflection followed by feedback as a way to make sure learners know where they are in their learning. As a proficiency-based class, I think that reflection is a key component of the assessment process. Unfortunately, students have […]
PBA is not about grades One common misconception about proficiency-based learning (competency-based learning) is that it is about changing a grading system. In particular, when people discuss proficiency-based assessment, they immediately start discussing the one through four scales for measuring learning. The 1-4 scale of measuring achievement came from the creation of learning scales meant […]
One of my colleagues asked a question that inspired this post. Based on what she is seeing as her own school makes the shift, her question was, “Is having a student take the same test over and over again until they pass it, really proficiency based learning”? In Vermont we use the term proficiency which […]
As I work with teachers to rethink their classrooms considering proficiency-based instruction, it has become clear that instruction will naturally become more explicit. As people question how a transition to proficiency-based learning might impact students receiving special education services or less self-directed students, I am becoming more confident that because teachers are being so much […]
Many people get nervous when, in a proficiency-based system, the grade becomes less valuable. How will students stand out? How will they compete for college admissions? When we start looking at opportunities in proficiency-based systems more closely, it becomes apparent that there are many opportunities to stand out. One of the hallmarks of an effective […]
