Proficiency-based Learning: How Vermont Is Changing the High School Graduation Paradigm
(Room Encanto B)
04 Jul 19
6:00 PM
-
7:15 PM
What do you do with bright teens who are bored and feel school is a series of jumping through hoops? What about the students who are struggling with basic skills but keep advancing through grades because they have technically passed the course? The state of Vermont is undergoing a dramatic shift that might help with these issues — it is changing how students will graduate from high school. Vermont has declared that “public schools must provide students with flexible and personalized pathways for progressing through grade levels and to graduation.” Students no longer will graduate based on number of hours spent in a classroom. Instead, students must demonstrate proficiency in knowledge and skills. This presentation will explore some of the benefits and pitfalls of such a move, as experienced firsthand from the trenches of a Vermont high school.