A few weeks ago, Dr. Amber Howard, assistant professor in the School of Teaching, Learning and Developmental Sciences, worked with a group of first-grade teachers from across Missouri. Howard is part of the Master Teacher Cadre of the Success-Ready Students Network, a statewide initiative that promotes competency-based learning in K–12 education. In this capacity, Howard led teachers through a discussion of “learner agency” — the sense of ownership students exert over their own learning, including the ability to assess their own knowledge.

“The teachers told me that some students don’t know what it means to master a subject,” Howard says. “They need the teacher to validate their progress.” As a result, students aren’t just missing out on the satisfying, “I can do it” sensation that fuels a love of learning; they’re also establishing unsustainable patterns for their post-school lives, when they can’t count on receiving external validation.

Howard understood the teachers’ concern; she encounters the same issue at the college level. “It’s kind of embedded in education,” she says. “We’re all trained to seek validation from a teacher or expert.”

Focusing on Competence and Skills

In school, validation often manifests as a grade or a score. And while clear assessment is important, Howard says it’s most effective when it connects what students learn in school with how they might use their knowledge outside the classroom.

“In traditional testing, we measure whether a student knows the standard for a subject,” she says. “Ideally, we want to measure whether a student is competent at applying that standard in the real world.”

This is the goal of competency-based learning (CBL), and as the College of Education (COE) Dean’s Fellow for Competency-based Learning, Howard’s an expert in it. Her experience with CBL started before she joined Missouri State’s faculty, back when she taught in the K–12 system. As a teacher, she naturally began applying CBL principles because she wanted more comprehensive ways to assess her students’ knowledge.

Other Means of Assessment

Now, as part of the Success-Ready Students Network, Howard works with school districts that want to incorporate CBL. Sometimes, this means evolving the idea of assessment — often with community input. For example, she says, some districts are moving away from tracking students’ progress through standardized testing. Instead, they might evaluate portfolios or capstone projects.

“A district might define a set of standards that every graduate should meet,” Howard says. “Then it’s up to the student to develop a portfolio or project that demonstrates how they meet each standard.” This kind of assessment is designed to make students responsible for evaluating and communicating what they’ve learned — skills they’ll need as they navigate the job market, seek out further education and build their careers.

Setting Students Up for Success

Dr. Barri Tinkler, COE dean, says community partners tend to respond positively when they hear about CBL.

“There are a number of community organizations and business leaders that are engaged with this work,” Tinkler says. “CBL asks many of the questions they’re asking, such as: ‘How do we teach kids to recognize their own learning?’ and ‘How do we encourage their drive to persist in learning and growth?'”

The Success-Ready Students Network helps facilitate these conversations. Tinkler served on the work group that pre-dated the network, and since Missouri’s Commissioner of Education formed the network, COE has played an active role.

As Tinkler puts it, “We need higher education to be involved because we’re the ones who are responsible for preparing teachers.”

And Howard sees additional benefits. “If we can support CBL’s implementation in K–12, think what will happen when those students get to college,” she says. “How much confidence they’ll have when they know they can assess their own understanding.”

Get Involved

Howard is certain that faculty across campus are practicing CBL, even if they don’t realize it’s an established pedagogy. Most project-based learning fits CBL principles. So do classroom cultures that emphasize continuous improvement over one, fixed point of assessment.

If you’re interested in learning more about CBL or connecting with colleagues who practice it, Howard encourages you to reach out.