David Ruff is the executive director of the and also coordinates the (NESSC), a project of the Great Schools Partnership in Connecticut, Maine,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. He鈥檚 leading the regional shift from time, to learning as the primary education variable. Ruff calls it
proficiency-based, calls it competency-based, some use mastery-based--it鈥檚 mostly the same thing: kids show
what they know and progress as they demonstrate that they鈥檝e met learning expectations.
鈥淒avid is a great resource for our region,鈥� said Nick Donohoe of the , NESSC鈥檚 primary
benefactor. 鈥淗e has a forward-thinking view of where learning needs to go, related to policies and assessment in particular,鈥� and he鈥檚 particularly good at
鈥渟ummarizing 鈥榚du-ese鈥� for state legislators and local school leaders.鈥�
Proficiency-based learning simplified.
NESSC uses a seven part definition:
Students advance upon demonstration of mastery of content, 21st century skills, and dispositions that prepare them for college and careers;
Learning standards are explicit, understood by students, and measurable;
Assessments--formative, interim, and summative--measure and promote learning;
Demonstration of learning uses a variety of assessment methods including in-depth performance assessments that expect application of learning;
Instruction is personal, flexible, and adaptable to students鈥� needs--both initially and as required by ongoing student learning;
Students both direct and lead their learning even as they learn from and with others--both within and outside of schools; and
Grading is used as a form of communication for students, parents, and teachers--not control or punishment.
Ruff uses a great chart to summarize his advice on how to use standards and assessments to make instructional decisions and big gateway
decisions like graduation. The chart includes four levels of expectations--the top two are graduation requirements, the bottom two are not.
Cross-Curricular Graduation Standards: 5-8 school-wide standards
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Demonstrated by a body of evidence: exhibitions and portfolio
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Reported on transcripts and report cards
Content Area Graduation Standards: 5-8 standards per content area
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Verification of proficiency through assessments measuring performance indicators
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Reported on transcripts and report cards
Performance indicators: 5-10 per content area standard
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Assessed using common school-wide assessment to ensure consistency
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Reported on progress reports
Unit based learning objects: daily targets to create progressions
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Formative teacher assessments to evaluate student progress
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reported as feedback to students
Schools can develop Cross-Curricular Graduation Standards and Content-Area Graduation Standards from various resources including state standards and the
Common Core State Standards. Staff at the Great Schools Partnership have created exemplar graduation standards which are drawn from the Guiding Principles
of the Maine Learning Results, which include the and are anticipated to be include in the , and relevant national college- and
career-ready standards documents. Many schools in the NESSC are using the exemplar standards noted above, making small changes to ensure consistency with
local context and needs. While these exemplars may not be perfect for every school, they provide a jumpstart for this work for educators.
鈥淲e need to think carefully about how we use the common core and how much students can and should demonstrate for graduation. We see a difference
between using it to help create curriculum and using it as an accountability mechanism for learning,鈥� said Ruff. 鈥淗aving common learning standards across
the country makes imminent sense, but holding kids accountable to every little nuance of each standard makes much less sense. There are so many of them
that the sheer number reduces the ability we have to personalize.鈥�
If students are held accountable to every standard, Ruff thinks, 鈥淲e 鈥榩ersonalize鈥� the rate at which students move through low level standards but pay
limited attention to personalizing the learning process or how we engage student interest. Conversely, if we operate from a notion of graduation standards
that are at a higher, but more rigorous level of complexity, we can both increase flexibility about how students learn and incorporate student interest.鈥�
The result: 鈥淲e increase both student voice and choice--key characteristics of student engagement and deeper learning,鈥� said Ruff.
Assessment options for proficient-based schools, according to Ruff, can follow three pathways all of which incorporate learning experiences, demonstration
tasks, and scoring guides and which can result in quality and comparable results. One pathway has all students engaging in a common learning task followed
by a common demonstration task and uses a common scoring guide. A second path encourages unique and different learning tasks followed by a common
demonstration task and a common scoring guide. The final pathway encourages unique learning experiences and unique demonstration tasks again followed by a
common scoring guide. Each of these pathways can produce valid, reliable, and comparable results while enabling increased personalization for each student.
Innovative Schools.
NESSC sponsors a , involving more than 70 schools from the
five states that participate in a for schools. School
leaders participate in site visits, online dialogues, and a great conference.
Where do graduates from these proficiency-based schools go to college? NESSC asked colleges and universities in member states to sign a pledge endorsing
proficiency-based practices and assuring that no applicant is disadvantaged by coming from a school that uses standards-based reporting and transcripts. To
date, , and that number continues to grow.
Proficiency tools.
NESSC has a great that 鈥渁ttempts to present terms and ideas neutrally, even presenting
differing opinions of various concepts,鈥� according to Ruff. A set of dive
into a little more detail--just right for school board members.
It鈥檚 important to note the productive triangle of NESSC,
environment, and support from Nellie Mae Education Foundation (Donohue was commissioner in New Hampshire when this all started). In addition, each of the
NESSC states has made significant progress in state policy supporting this effort. A new statute in Maine requires demonstrated proficiency for graduation
beginning in 2018. The Vermont State Board of Education has developed and is scheduled to approve in December a new graduation policy that will require
proficiency-based graduation. Rhode Island has redesigned their Basic Education Program which pushed proficiency-based graduation including senior
exhibitions for graduation. And in the last legislative session this past spring, Connecticut redefined 鈥渃redit鈥� to include student demonstration of
knowledge. Great policy work has taken place in these states; these states are now working to spread the work in a handful of schools ubiquitously across
all schools.
The shift from marking time to show what you know is on. NESSC demonstrates that a regional school network can make a big difference with
a combination of leadership and support.