About This Book

A focus on capturing evidence of learning anywhere, anytime, is critical, whether in school with teachers, or at home (like during the COVID-19 pandemic) where learning can happen.

Much of the early work in competency-based learning grew from a nationally recognized 2011 definition published by the Aurora Institute (then known as the International Association of K–12 Online Learning [iNACOL]) based on input from over one hundred practitioners in the field. The 2011 definition provided a common understanding of the important features needed in competency-based systems to schools and school districts. This definition was the basis for our 2018 book, Breaking With Tradition: The Shift to Competency-Based Learning in PLCs at Work.

In 2019, the Aurora Institute released an updated definition that reflects the evolution of competency-based learning in the field as the model has grown. It includes new features that place an emphasis on equity, student agency, and different pathways for student success. In the updated definition, student agency is directly tied to learning pathways.

As our society has evolved and become more and more complex, so too have the needs society has placed on our schools. Now more than ever, we need schools that personalize learning to high degrees for all students at all grade levels.

In this book, we unpack the competency-based learning approach. We walk educators through what they need to know about this philosophy in order to effectively implement the model in their classrooms and schools. We highlight the PLC process as the backbone organizational structure to advance the work and help educators and school leaders make student learning the center for all work that the school does.

The chapters that follow will also help school leaders understand how to sustain the change process to this model; how they can support educators in their efforts to develop the curriculum, instruction, and assessment frameworks that will guide them on their competency-based learning journey; and how the PLC process supports the overall work of a competency-based learning system.

Chapter 1 presents a framework and a foundation for the rest of the book by outlining Aurora Institute’s seven-part definition for competency-based learning and showing how competency-based learning has permeated state educational policy across the United States and also influenced educational models across the globe.

Chapter 2 focuses on collaborative teaming, specifically on how the PLC at Work process, in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective