After spending last week in Washington, D.C., I was struck by how nervous folks in education circles are about whether states will stick with the Common Core state standards once the Common Core ...

Nearly a decade ago, New Hampshire became the first state to mandate that high schools award credit for mastery of material, rather than having students complete a certain number of hours of classes.

Windsor Locks Public Schools began by giving competency-based grades in kindergarten through fifth grade. “When this class hit sixth grade, it continued,” said Windsor Locks Principal Steve Swensen.

What would the testing experience be like if schools allowed students to show what they know whenever they’re ready, in a variety of ways that suit them, and in ways that are instructionally useful?

Twenty-year-old Asmaa is an example of how constant change and upheaval were hallmarks of the previous school year. A student of mine in an accelerated program for new arrivals to the U.S., in just ...

The “competency learning" movement is gaining serious momentum: See the list of schools and districts that are adopting competency learning. But, based on the research literature in the psychology of ...

Competency-based education is going upmarket. Three brand-name, Big Ten-affiliated institutions are now offering degrees in this emerging form of higher education. Yet the new programs at the ...

As the 2026-2027 academic year approaches, San Jacinto College is rolling out significant changes designed to meet the evolving needs of its student body. From the launch of a groundbreaking ...

The traditional approach to formal education ties students to classrooms. Degrees are earned based on accumulated credits, a system developed in 1906 as an attempt to measure how much time a student ...

This article is part of the collection: Real Life Learning: An Up Close Look at Competency-Based Education. Does competency-based education hold the key to providing an equitable learning opportunity ...

In a word-association game on “education,” “the United States Army” would probably not be the first response given. But for those who work closely with the Army and understand the depth of the Army’s ...