Clarification

Standards have been around for a long time but during the last (about a) year the conversation has become more serious about what that means. As I’ve said before, the ground is shifting beneath us, and the transition of education to meeting the needs of all students is more focused.

The term standards-based, competency based, and student centered are terms that we are hearing more and more. The terms are not just for high school students but include elementary, middle, AND high schools. So, what is the different now from 1997 when the state originally adopted the standards document, Maine Learning Results? I see three differences:

1. The Maine legislature has put in place LD 1422 which states that the graduating class will leave high school having successfully shown that they have achieved the standards. It will no longer be determined by completing each year, K-12, of schooling. Not based on seat time, but showing proficiency of meeting the standards.
2. The Maine Department of Education recently released the strategic plan called Education Evolving: Maine’s Plan for Putting Learners First which “sets out objectives and action steps for building an education system in Maine that meets the needs of all learners, from early childhood into adulthood, and prepares them for college, careers, and civic life.”
3. Educators who have been around a long time participating in many conversations are more than ready to take action. The Maine Coalition for Customized Learning which started as a handful of school districts working with the Reinventing Schools Coalition work is now up to 20 Maine school districts. They are working collaboratively to share and create resources to continue to move in the standards based direction. The first cohort started in July 2009.

Not to long ago I read in the news two articles that provide information on what is happening across the country with education in this standards based/proficiency based/ competency based environment. I hope you will have the time to read about our neighboring state, New Hampshire, to learn about their work in an article called N.H. Schools Embrace Competency-Based Learning written by Catherine Gewertz and published online February 7, 2012 (Education Week). And, the second article called ‘Competency’ Approach Challenges Colo. District written by Christine A. Samuels and published online March 26, 2012 (Education Week) provides a look at Adams 50 who has been working on a standards based system for several years.