A Competency-Based Learning System

I often look for discussion topics for my online courses and this Journal article was perfect for my August Advanced Teaching course. In the article, David Nagel talks about the new iNacol report which promotes a "comprehensive policy redesign" with valid technology practices and professional development. Nagel refers to to this new competency-based learning as a new paradigm, and I agree.

When I submit this article for my K-12 teachers to read and discuss, I am sure that they will feel that any policy and politics necessary for any type of realignment to take place is almost insurmountable.

They are entitled to their negativity, simply because America's education system is such a huge organizational machine! It has too many leaders stirring the pot ("too many cooks in the kitchen") who have a stake (financial, political or otherwise) in the outcome. Change does not come easily to our nation's education community.

Teachers know that our education machine is a roller-coaster ride. They have all been on it. No matter what political party is in control in Washington, or in their states, teachers have to deal with whatever twists and turns they dictate. Then after national or state changes, teachers must work through with the new standards or models with their local principles and administrators. These adminsitrators, may or may not agree with their new classroom assessments and curriculum in the current standards-based system, much less in a newer competency-based system. For teachers, a new paradigm is just one more issue which may change their workload and their instruction, and in the process, uses their students as guinea pigs. Teachers are tired of new educational paradigms which may or may not affect student learning.

Even Bill Gates admits that his foundation could not discover how we create great teachers. Everyone wanted to know, since the research shows that great teachers correlate directly to enhanced student learning.

Whatever the experts come up with on the subject of "great teachers," I am sure my teachers would tell you, it does not happen by changing rules or paradigms. Let's make a difference in our teachers' lives by developing a comprehensive system for our nation's educational systems (by a team of education experts - not politicians) and then seal it for ten years to allow us to find out if it works or not. Don't keep changing the rules each year with each new idea. Even coaches know better than to do that to their players.
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