This webinar focused on the recently released iNACOL report entitled: A K-12 Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change. The report co-authors will describe the barriers and opportunities within federal education policy frameworks and identify how the federal government is in a unique position to catalyze and scale student-centered learning approaches. To download a copy of A K-12 Federal Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change, please visit http://bit.ly/cwk12fedpolicy

1. A K-12 Federal Policy
Framework for Competency
Education: Building Capacity
for Systems Change
Maria Worthen
Vice President, Federal & State Policy; iNACOL
Lillian Pace
Senior Director of National Policy; KnowledgeWorks
www.inacol.org

2. Presenters
Maria Worthen
VP, Federal & State Policy
iNACOL
Lillian Pace, Senior Director
of National Policy
KnowledgeWorks

3. What is the Federal role in K-12
education?

4. Competency Education
1. Students advance upon mastery.
2. Competencies include explicit, measurable,
transferable learning objectives that empower students.
3. Assessment is meaningful and a positive learning
experience for students.
4. Students receive timely, differentiated support based on
their individual learning needs.
5. Learning outcomes emphasize competencies that
include application and creation of knowledge, along
with the development of important skills and
dispositions
-Patrick & Sturgis

6. • New
CompetencyWorks
Issue Brief
• iNACOL/KnowledgeWo
rks collaboration
• First report of its kind –
comprehensive
analysis of policies to
support competency
education for K-12 in a
federal policy context

7. Considerations that informed the
report
• Timing
• Articulation of systemic barriers
• Supporting, not inhibiting states and
districts
• Actions that policymaker can take
• Case studies
• Beginning of a conversation

13. Build an
Educated
Citizenry
National &
International
Comparisons
Ensure
Equity &
Excellence
Federal Role in Accountability

14. Current Federal System
Vision for the Future
Measures school effectiveness by % proficient on
annual summative assessments
Measures school effectiveness by multiple measures
of growth and pace along learning progressions
Drives a narrow instructional focus on tested highstakes subjects in order to avoid annual sanctions
Drives continuous improvement of student learning in
a wide range of subjects to ensure that all students
progress toward graduation
Expects schools to get 100 percent of students to
proficiency on state standards at the same pace
Expects students to master standards and aligned
competencies at a pace to be on track to graduation
Provides annual, after-the-fact data on school and
subgroup performance on state summative
assessments
Provides real-time data on student and subgroup
performance, growth, and pace toward mastery of
standards/competencies
Requires states and districts to use school and
subgroup data to rate and intervene in schools
annually
Helps educators and leaders make real-time
decisions to provide personalized supports for every
student and school
Provides annual data for stakeholders about the
quality of districts and schools
Provides real-time information for stakeholders about
the quality of educational options and programs
Prevents states and districts from piloting new
methods of accountability
Enables states and districts to continuously improve
the system by piloting new methods of accountability

15. Accountability 3.0 – New Hampshire’s
Emerging Vision
•
Incentivize districts to implement local
performance assessments in exchange for
greater autonomy in selecting accountability
indicators and measures.
•
Require districts to administer a state summative
assessment, at a minimum in grades 4, 8, and at
least once in high school.
•
Require districts to establish annual measurable
targets for accountability purposes.
žž
• Require districts to demonstrate a clear vision
and the capacity for high-quality execution.
žž
• Establish a locally developed performance
assessment pilot for high schools.

16. Accountability Barriers
• Federal time-based accountability policies fail to emphasize
continuous improvement of student learning.
• Federal law does not include flexibility for states to use multiple
measures for federal accountability calculations.
• Federal accountability indicators do not measure student progress
toward mastery of competencies aligned to standards.
• Federal requirements regarding annual classification of schools and
districts for improvement can inhibit continuous improvement.

17. Questions for Further Discussion
• What types of indicators and measures are necessary to track
student progress through competencies aligned to standards?
• What types of indicators and measures should trigger federally
required supports and interventions? When should these occur?
žž
• What changes in reporting are needed to better communicate
student progress so that stakeholders will focus on the continuous
improvement of learning for all students?
• How could the accountability system account for competency-based
elements such as a shift from traditional levels (i.e., middle to high,
high to college) to stages of learning across the trajectories?

18. Federal Policies to Enable Change
• Establish a competency-based accountability pilot program that
permits individual states to develop systems that drive continuous
improvement of student learning using multiple measures, at
multiple points in the year.
• Conduct a national evaluation of states piloting competency-based
accountability systems to determine their impact on student
academic achievement, college readiness, college access and
matriculation, and employment outcomes.
• Request a study of all time-based federal policies and regulations,
and develop a plan to eliminate or replace these policies.
• Require states to have a plan in place that describes how they will
ensure that student progress is identified in real time, and that all
students receive supports and interventions when they need it.

19. Q&A

20. Contact Information
• Maria Worthen, VP Federal and State
Policy, iNACOL. mworthen@inacol.org
• Lillian Pace, Senor Director of National
Policy, Knowledgeworks.
PaceL@knowledgeworks.org