TeachME Professional Development

Systems Change and Policy that Supports Competency-Based Education

Introduction

1. Today, educators are beginning to build new learning models where students focus on mastering the habits and skills necessary to fulfill their dreams, and these models are strength-based, classroom-centered, and highly connected.

A. True B. False

Threshold Concepts: Key Issues for Policy to Tackle for the Long-Term-Redefining Success

2. One shift has been to redefine the current limited definitions of student success as it relates to graduation. The state of Virginia developed an initiative called the “Profile of a Graduate,” which states requirements that a “life ready” Virginia graduate must fulfill, and it includes ALL of the following components EXCEPT:

A. Workplace skills and career exploration B. Content knowledge C. Psychological and sociological content D. Community engagement and civic responsibility

Threshold Concept: Assessment Literacy

3. What is correct about assessment literacy?

A. It is important that practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders understand how assessment and moderation are used to comprehensively and autonomously judge student mastery B. Building significant capacity for assessment literacy is needed to advance new competency-based approaches and address tough issues in our current system C. Comparability is defined as the degree to which the results of assessments intended to measure different learning targets produce heterogeneous results D. It is aligned with policy initiatives designed to incent desired behaviors or disincent undesired behaviors in order to reach specific goals

TACKLING ASSESSMENT LITERACY IN POLICY: BALANCED SYSTEMS OF ASSESSMENTS

4. As states redesign their approaches to assessment, they should pursue balanced systems of assessments that meet EACH of the following criteria EXCEPT:

A. Reliance on a single chosen assessment that is designed to be used for accountability B. Coherent systems C. A well-articulated theory of action D. Assessment efficiency

TACKLING ACCOUNTABILITY AS CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN POLICY: NEXT GENERATION ACCOUNTABILITY MODELS

5. The Every Student Succeeds Act called for equity accountability with a focus on ensuring that all students were being tested using multiple formative tests containing items from a student’s assigned grade level, regardless of age.

A. True B. False

6. The state of Vermont has created an accountability system designed to foster continuous improvement, both for school systems and for learning. One thing that distinguishes Vermont is that _____________ has/have been identified for improvement

A. Public schools in need B. Every school C. Struggling elementary schools D. All low performing schools

Threshold Concept: Meeting Kids Where They Are

7. When referring to competency-based education, which is true?

A. It brings together a set of five key elements, which are the change framework, multi-level inclusive teams, expert faculty, a shared learning environment, and the model for improvement B. In competency-based systems, learning environments are teacher-centered to accommodate different paces and styles of learning C. Knowing where every student is every day focuses on a whole new level of capacity for students, parents, educators, principals, schools, and communities D. Meeting students where they are will catalyze new, sometimes radical approaches to organizing learning environments that challenge traditional schedules, course structures, and grade-levels

Creating Multiple, High-Quality Pathways to Educator Credentials and Development

8. In a competency-based system, educators need multiple, high-quality pathways to credentials, advancement, and:

A. Collaboration B. Creativity C. Development D. Meaningful opportunity

Micro-Credentials

9. Each of the following are key characteristics of micro-credentials EXCEPT:

A. Educators can share their micro-credentials across social media platforms, via email, and on blogs and resumes B. They are traditional-based and require educators to demonstrate their competence in aggregate skills in their practice, either inside or outside the classroom C. Teachers select micro-credentials to pursue, based on their own needs, their students’ challenges and strengths, school goals, district priorities, or instructional shifts D. Educators can opt to explore new competencies or receive recognition for existing ones on their own time, using an agile online system to identify competencies, submit evidence, and earn micro-credentials

10. Even though innovators are beginning to develop more competency-based systems, many early practices and models are still rooted in traditional time-based systems and constrained by our short-term approaches to incremental policy reforms and limited concepts of what is possible.

A. True B. False

Ways That States Are Beginning the Shift to Competency-Based Education-Innovation Zones

11. Based on the iNACOL Continuum of Promising State Policies for Personalized Learning, which of the following is a next step for states just getting started?

A. Comprehensive statewide policy approach B. Multiple pathways C. Proficiency-based diplomas D. Modernized systems of assessments

12. Innovation zones are one promising entry point for states to create space for a personalized, competency models. Such zones provide support to practitioners in the process of developing and implementing new learning models by offering state education:

A. Accreditation B. Coaching C. Policy waivers D. Pilot programs

Charting the Course

13. One question to spark discussion when considering future actions that advance professionals toward a system fit for purpose is how in the field of K-12 education there may be the collective development of:

A. A high-quality personalized system B. A modernized policy of accountability C. Effective initiatives to build local capacity D. A theory of change for the long-term

Conclusion

14. According to the authors, structures based on seat-time which result in awarding credit to students with minimum time exposed to content, rather than based on learning and mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary for postsecondary success and future career readiness or employability, are perpetrating entrenched inequalities and harming the students that our education systems continue to leave behind.

A. True B. False

15. The design flaw at the heart of the traditional system is the idea that students must be compared against each other, rather than against:

A. Outcomes B. Their own needs and goals C. Progress D. Principles


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