The newest fad in education — and why some teachers find it troubling
It’s called “competency-based learning” and its the newest thing in education. What is it? Who likes it? Who doesn’t and why?
On its face, competency-based learning sounds good. Students learn material and move on when they have mastered the material, going at their own pace. But how exactly do students get this sort of education and what are the consequences? Veteran educator Anthony Cody writes in the following primer that competency-based education is fundamentally a way to push kids onto computers to learn — and to take test after test to prove their “competencies.”
Cody worked in high-poverty schools of Oakland, California, for 24 years, 18 of them as a middle school science teacher. He was one of the organizers of the Save Our Schools March in Washington, D.C. in 2011, and he is a founding member of the nonprofit Network for Public Education. A graduate of the University of California Berkeley and San Jose State University, he now lives in Mendocino County, California. This appeared on his worthwhileLiving in Dialogue blog, and he gave me permission to republish it.
By Anthony Cody
We have been badgered for the past 14 years by reformers insisting on the fierce urgency of change, and they have had their way — twice! First, seven years of the test-centric No Child Left Behind, followed by the past seven years of Race to the Top, and now the “next generation” of tests, which were promised to be “smarter,” computer-adapted, and deliver results more The newest fad in education — and why some teachers find it troubling - The Washington Post:
