The Seven Components of the Competency-Based Classroom
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wanted to truly be grading for equity, we needed to continue to learn together and get support in the process. And then 2020 happened. To say that the situation was challenging is an understatement. In the midst of all the change, the focus on equity became the lens through which we saw the many problems of our school’s grading, teaching, and assessment system. The moment demanded action. Even though a lot of change was happening each day, our administration knew that in order to better enact the 4.0 scale and a rolling gradebook throughout our school in the 2020–2021 school year, we needed more discussion and training around competency-based grading and assessment.
As the 2020–2021 school year unfolded, we had many solitary and online collective “Aha!” moments that helped our staff and students experience the benefits of competency-based learning. Through it all, we deliberately continued to return to the why of student-centered learning and equity as the reason for our shift to competency-based learning and assessment. While we can honestly report that we do not have the perfect competency-based learning system in place at our school, or that every single staff member at our high school has a deep understanding of how to implement it with fidelity (yet!), we do have a shared mission for our daily work: we believe in equity and the value of each student’s voice and learning journey. That belief and our larger community of competency-based learners with whom we network, inspire us every day to continue our journey toward competency-based learning for equity. (B. Blankenship and E. Dean, personal communication, July 12, 2021)
Anytime, Anywhere Learning Of all the design principles for competency-based learning, none are more famous (or infamous) than the notion of anytime, anywhere learning. When the model first came on the scene in the early 2000s, it was justified as a way to move away from the
©️2022 by Solution Tree Press
In the summer of 2020, our administrative and coaching staff read and discussed Breaking With Tradition (Stack & Vander Els, 2018). The text helped us develop a shared understanding of the what of competency-based learning and grading and how it intersected with the shifts we were already attempting. Throughout that summer, we planned an introduction to competency-based learning presentation for our entire staff at the beginning of the school year. While planning for that presentation, our discussions as an administrative team focused on identifying and naming the why of the competency-based system, to include assessment, grading, and learning. Through those discussions, we collectively noticed that the why was directly tied to our grading for equity work; everything was connected. Competency-based learning and assessment could ensure that every student is valued for their abilities, strengths, and developing understanding, while attending to each student’s learning needs and interests as a learner. This pushed us to think beyond the formal gradebook process of the rolling gradebook, and beyond the 4.0 numbering system, and reminded us to focus on the most important element of learning: the student’s needs and developing understanding.
