Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning

Upcoming Event

Join innovative education leaders from across the nation! The National Center on Time & Learning and the Harvard Graduate School of Education organized the Expanded Learning Time Convening to discuss the power of expanded learning time to prepare students for college and career success.

October 25-26, 2011

Boston, MA

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NMEF Update

Funding opportunities, ground-breaking research reports, news publications...find out more about what's new at the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

A Policy Framework for Advancing

Proficiency-Based Pathways

With a focus on a deeper learning experience through student-centered approaches, NMEF works to ensure that every student develops a strong foundation of basic knowledge and the new skills required by our changing world.

The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) has recently released the paper Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning. Building on the 2011 Competency-Based Learning Summit convened by iNACOL and the Council of Chief School Officers, this paper examines a state policy framework to enable the transition to student-centered and competency-based models of learning.

Transforming Education in New Hampshire
Check out the Redefining Educator Development for the 21st Century video. Watch more than a dozen New Hampshire organizations and fourteen institutions of higher education discuss best practices to integrate competency-based learning into the K-12 education system and educator preparation.

Proficiency-Based Learning in Action!

The Young Women's Leadership Charter School (YWLCS), founded in 1999, is the only all-girls public school in Chicago. Each year the school accepts 350 urban girls in grades 7-12 and prepares them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in postsecondary education and to lead productive lives.

The Newfound Regional High School (NRHS) has embraced the statewide transition to competency-based learning, and has redesigned their programs and processes to meet the demands of 21st-century education. Students have more than one chance to show adequate performance (passing). NRHS's grading policies reflect the need for every student to master essential understandings called competencies.