Since 2019, the Washington State Board of Education has engaged stakeholders in creating a vision for mastery-based learning (MBL) that sparked pilot programs, outcome evaluations, and a push for legislative action. By decoupling how students earn high school credits from the amount of time spent in classroom seats, the board also sought to boost…

As directed by SSB 5249 (Chapter 144, Laws of 2021), the state's Mastery-based Learning (MBL) Work Group developed a Washington State Profile of a Graduate describing the cross disciplinary skills a student should have developed by the time they graduate high school. The Legislature charged the State Board of Education (SBE) with reviewing the…

The Mastery-based Learning (MBL) Work Group has examined opportunities to increase student access to relevant and robust mastery-based academic pathways aligned to personal career goals and postsecondary education, and reviewed the role of the High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP) in supporting mastery-based learning. The Work Group members believe…

Schools are experiencing unprecedented disruption, forcing educators to think differently about how they engage with their students and forcing changes to longstanding systems that have been established to deliver education. This presents an opportunity to not only discover ways to address education during the coronavirus pandemic, but also to…

This brief provides analysis of state policy changes needed toward a long-range vision to transform education and ensure our nation's education systems prepare all students with the skills necessary to achieve success, contribute to their communities and advance society. Our policy priorities are intentionally constructed to support future-focused…

Learner-centered education has been touted as an improvement over teacher-centered educational systems. However, educators and researchers need to be cautious about its problems, in addition to considering its benefits. The authors set out to identify challenges to learner-centered education through the eyes of educators in a truly…

This issue brief is the first in a series produced by the Center on Innovations in Learning's League of Innovators. The series will describe, discuss, and analyze policies and practices that enable personalization in education. Topics should be of particular interest to state education agencies and district and school personnel. This first issue…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Course Credits on the Quick: Controversial Online Recovery Programs Speed the Path to Graduation (Andrew Brownstein); (2) Collaborating to Make Schools More Inclusive…

Brittany Rollins is hanging out a lot at the local animal shelter this year. Delving into the issue of pet euthanasia and writing about it will help her earn English/language arts credits toward graduation. The 17-year-old senior at Newfound Regional High School, in the rural central New Hampshire town of Bristol, is part of one of the most…

This exploration into competency-based innovation at the school, district, and state levels suggests that competency-based pathways are a re-engineering of this nation's education system around learning--a re-engineering designed for success in which failure is no longer viable. This discussion draws on interviews and site visits with innovators…

The instructional delivery system of traditional school practice consists of fixed time, single opportunities for learning a vague-referenced, variable, and private curriculum. While a minimum competency testing program ensures that academic standards are criterion-referenced, fixed, and public, the time allotted for learning may still be fixed.…