Dear Chalkboard,
Thank you for reading our first Oregon Policy Update. This email is part of our attempt to improve communications with education-minded citizens and provide a deeper look at the work that is going on in our state to raise student achievement. Each month we will highlight one or two projects or policies that could change the way teaching and learning happens in Oregon. Chalkboard does not necessarily lend its support to the programs or policies we highlight. We want this email to serve as an informational tool that sheds light on the myriad of work taking place in our state.
Please let us know if there are projects or policies we should highlight at info@chalkboardproject.org.
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What is Proficiency-Based Teaching and Learning ?
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 It certainly sounds complex, but proficiency-based teaching and learning is essentially a fancy title for ensuring that students learn specific skills and concepts as they progress through their educational experience. Instead of passing a class by turning in a certain amount of homework or scoring "well-enough" on tests, students are required to demonstrate actual content knowledge. That means that in order to pass algebra, for example, a student might have to demonstrate how to solve for variables, determine slope, use the quadratic equation, etc. Currently an algebra student may be able to pass their class without ever understanding slope, as long as they do well enough on the other pieces. Proficiency-based learning results in clear standards and expectations for every child in every class.
By placing knowledge content at the center of the educational experience, students are aware of what they need to know, but how they learn it, how they demonstrate that knowledge, and the amount of time it takes them to do so will vary. Currently every student in the same class spends the same amount of time learning concepts. In a proficiency model, time becomes a variable and each student spends more or less time on a concept depending on his or her needs. In this model students become actively engaged in their education, helping to shape their classroom experience.
Schools in Scappoose, Portland, Beaverton, Forest Grove, Salem-Keizer, Redmond, and Eugene have begun implementing proficiency-based practices in their classrooms.
Susan Castillo, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, supports proficiency-based practices and stated in a recent newsletter, "I strongly believe that this innovative approach to education is the key to improving K-12 education in Oregon."
The Business Education Compact and the Oregon Business Council have been championing this work in our state.
Learn more about proficiency-based practice on the Oregon Department of Education website: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=35
Read "Proficiency-Based Instruction and Assessment: A Promising Path to Higher Achievement In Oregon Education" by the Oregon Education Roundtable: http://www.chalkboardproject.org/images/national%20research/Proficiency-Based%20Education%20White%20Paper%20Oregon.pdf
Interested in other states that are doing similar work? Learn more about programs in New Hampshire (http://www.ed.state.nh.us/education/FTC/FTC_Index.htm) and Rhode Island (http://www.ride.ri.gov/highschoolreform/DSLAT/).
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Visit
www.chalkboardproject.org
for information on all of our initiatives
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