Annotation In K-12 education's growing movement of competency-based education and personalized learning, both contradictory and overlapping definitions come up around these two terms. To clear up this confusion, A Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education by Robert J. Marzano, Jennifer S. Norford, Michelle Finn, and Douglas Finn III and contributors Rebecca Mestaz and Roberta Selleck delves into the components of a personalized competency-based education system. It reckons with the need to establish shared meanings for these terms, resulting in an inclusive definition of the terms, which the authors call personalized competency-based education (PCBE), and a clear implementation approach for a PCBE system. Once that term is in place, this handbook explores considerations, approaches, and strategies that educators should survey as they design PCBE systems that can help ensure students' content mastery.

Competency-Based Education introduces educators to a new model for anytime, anywhere schooling and provides tools and curriculum resources for redesigning the traditional structures of K–12 schools. Based on pioneering work across multiple states, the book shows how educators can design central elements of competency-based education—including performance tasks, personal learning plans, and grading systems—to meet the needs and interests of all students. Rose L. Colby provides critical tools for creating these elements in collaborative teams and engaging stakeholders such as educators, parents, and community members. The book incorporates case studies and voices from the field, and examines the variety of competency models that schools have adopted, highlighting the benefits for students. Competency-Based Education provides a much-needed resource at a time when states, districts, and schools are working to implement competency-based models and experimenting with new accountability systems that include evidence of learning beyond standardized tests.

As interest in competency-based education (CBE) continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the need for a practical resource to guide development of high-quality CBE programs led the authors to write this book. Until now, there has been no how-to manual that captures in one place a big picture view of CBE along with the down-to-earth means for building a CBE program.A variety of pressures are driving the growth in CBE, including the need for alternatives to the current model of higher education (with its dismal completion rates); the potential to better manage the iron triangle of costs, access, and quality; the need for graduates to be better prepared for the workforce; and the demands of adult learners for programs with the flexible time and personalized learning that CBE offers.Designed to help institutional leaders become more competent in designing, building, and scaling high-quality competency-based education (CBE) programs, this book provides context, guidelines, and process. The process is based on ten design elements that emerged from research funded by the Gates Foundation, and sponsored by AAC&U, ACE, EDUCAUSE, and the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), with thought partners CAEL and Quality Matters. In short, the book will serve administrators, higher education leaders, faculty, staff, and others who have an interest in CBE by:• Giving context to enable the audience to discover the importance of each design element and to help frame the CBE program (the “why”);• Providing models, checklists, and considerations to determine the “what” component for each design element;• Sharing outlines and templates for the design elements to enable institutions to build quality, relevant, and rigorous CBE programs (the “how”).

A tremendous amount of money is being steered toward personalized learning (PL) initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels, and it is important to understand the return on the investment in students’ futures. It is only through rigorous discussions that educators and policymakers will be able to determine if PL is a passing fad or if it possesses the staying power necessary to show a positive impact on student achievement. Evaluation of Principles and Best Practices in Personalized Learning is a critical scholarly publication that explores the modern push for schools to implement PL environments and the continuing research to understand the best strategies and implementation methods for personalizing education. It seeks to begin creating a standardized language and standardized approach to the PL initiative and to investigate the implications it has on the educational system. Additionally, this book adds to the professional discussion of PL by looking at both the advantages and disadvantages of PL, the teacher’s role in PL, creating a PL program to scale, the role of technology and PL, the special education population and PL, emerging research on PL, and case studies involving PL. Featuring research on a wide range of topics such as blended learning, preservice teachers, and special education, this book is ideal for teachers, administrators, academicians, policymakers, researchers, and students.

Foreword by Chris Sturgis Shifting to a competency-based curriculum allows educators to revolutionize education by replacing traditional, ineffective systems with a personalized, learner-centered approach. Throughout the resource, the authors explore how the components of PLCs promote the principles of competency-based education and share real-world examples from practitioners who have made the transition to learner-centered teaching. Each chapter ends with reflection questions readers can answer to apply their own learning progression. By reading this book, K-12 administrators, school leaders, and teacher leaders will: - Evaluate the qualities of true competency-based schools and the flaws in traditional schooling. - Consider the foundational role that PLCs have in establishing the competency-based approach and promoting learning for all. - Gain tips for successfully implementing student-centered practices for learning competencies and performance assessment and grading. - Explore real school experiences that highlight the processes and challenges involved in moving from traditional to competency-based school structures - Access reproducible school-design rubrics appropriate for the five design principles of competency-based learning. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Understanding the Components of an Effective Competency-Based Learning System Chapter 2: Building the Foundation of a Competency-Based Learning System Through PLCs Chapter 3: Developing Competencies and Progressions to Guide Learning Chapter 4: Changing to Competency-Friendly Grading Practices Chapter 5: Creating and Implementing Competency-Friendly Performance Assessments Chapter 6: Responding When Students Need Intervention and Extension Chapter 7: Sustaining the Change Process References and Resources Index

The roadmap for your school’s CBE journey! Employ the WHAT (deeper academic and personalized learning), the WHY (equity), and the HOW (learner-centered approaches) of Competency-Based Education, maximizing the time, place, and pace of student learning. Make the shift to CBE using best practices from the authors’ CBE implementation experiences across states, districts, and schools. Build the foundation with organizational shifts - policy, leadership, culture, and professional learning Shift teaching-learning structures—rigorous learning, performance assessment, and evidence-based grading and reporting Dive into student-centered classrooms—personalized instruction and shifting mindsets for teacher-student roles, responsibilities, and classroom culture

It's not what students know, but what they do with what they know that is important Schools are changing in response to this reality, and in Transforming Schools Using Project-Based Learning, Performance Assessment, and Common Core Standards, Bob Lenz, Justin Wells, and Sally Kingston draw on the example of the Envision Education schools, as well as other leading schools around the country, to show how the concept of deeper learning can meet the need for students who are both college and career ready and engaged in their own education. In this book, the authors explain how project-based learning can blend with Common Core-aligned performance assessment for deeper learning. You'll discover how many schools have successfully made the transition from traditional, teacher-centered learning to project-based, deeper learning and find many practical ideas for implementation. Companion DVD and website include videos showing how to implement deeper learning strategies in the classroom Evidence-based descriptions show why deeper learning is right for students Performance assessment experts explain how to align assessments with Common Core by shifting the emphasis from knowing to doing Extensive game plan section provides step-by-step guidance for change Schools are complex organizations, and transformation involves all of the stakeholders, from students to superintendents. But as this book shows, there are amazing benefits to be realized when everyone commits to diving deeper into learning.