The document outlines the efforts of various states, including Rhode Island and Colorado, to implement competency-based pathways (CBP) aimed at ensuring students are prepared for college and careers. It describes the development of a state policy framework focused on graduation requirements, assessment, and accountability, recognizing the need for a tailored approach across different states. The agenda includes presentations on CBP initiatives, challenges faced, and strategies for supporting personalized learning environments to enhance student competency and performance.

1. Advancing
Competency-Based
Pathways
To College and Career
Readiness
March 19, 2014 | 3:00 – 4:00 pm

2. Presenters
2
State Leaders:
Sharon Lee, Director of Multiple Pathways, Rhode Island Department of
Education
Paula Barney, Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Specialist, Rhode
Island Department of Education
Oliver Grenham, Chief Academic Officer, Adams County School District 50,
Colorado
Elliott Asp, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, Colorado Department of
Education
Achieve:
Anne Bowles, Senior Policy Associate
Cory Curl, Senior Fellow for Assessment and Accountability

3. Agenda
Introduction to the CBP state policy framework, developed through a working group
of 11 states and 12 partner organizations (Cory Curl)
Rhode Island’s efforts to work with a vision and strategy team to develop a
framework to advance proficiency-based education (Sharon Lee and Paula
Barney)
Overview of why Adams County School District 50 in Colorado decided to move
towards competency-based learning, and early successes, challenges and lessons
learned in the areas of assessment, accountability and graduation requirements
(Oliver Grenham)
Colorado’s role in advancing competency-based pathways, with an eye toward
state policy and implementation support (Elliott Asp)
Q & A
3

4. State Policy Framework
4
Purpose: to assist states in building toward statewide
adoption and implementation of competency-based
pathways (CBP) that support all students in reaching college
and career readiness
Focus areas: graduation requirements, assessment and
accountability, given that states must address these areas to
reach a cross-cutting, accepted definition of competency that
equates to a college- and career-ready level of performance
Format: designed to inform planning conversations,
including setting a vision for a state policy structure and
identifying and weighing options to move toward this vision
The framework recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all
strategy to advancing policies that support CBP, that everything
does not have to happen at once, and that both the vision and
approach to implementation will vary greatly across states.
Source: Achieve. July 2013. Advancing Competency-Based Pathways to College and Career Readiness

5. Definition of Competency-Based Pathways in
the State Policy Framework
Competency-based pathways can help all students reach college
and career ready standards through the following strategies:
Students advance upon demonstrated mastery
Competencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning
objectives that empower students
Assessment is meaningful and a positive learning experience for students
Students receive rapid, differentiated support based on their individual
learning needs
Learning outcomes emphasize competencies that include application and
creation of knowledge
The process of reaching learning outcomes encourages students to
develop skills and dispositions important for success in college, careers,
and citizenship
5
Source: Adapted from Susan Patrick and Chris Sturgis, July 2011, Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice to
Support Personalized Learning , iNACOL, http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNACOL_CrackingCode_full_report.pdf

6. About the State Policy Framework
6
The framework is
organized according to
three major areas in which
states have a significant
role:
Graduation Requirements
Summative Assessment
Accountability Systems

7. Cross-Cutting Elements
7
Within each area, the framework is
organized according to the following:
Characteristics
Timing and frequency
State role in advancing change
Ensuring quality, consistency and
alignment
Postsecondary alignment, credibility and
use

8. Categories
8
For each of the cross-cutting elements,
the framework includes the following
categories:
Policy questions – key state policy or
implementation decisions
Policy levers – potential mechanisms
for states to advance policy and
implementation
Potential options – the range of policy
and implementation paths that states
may take based on answers to the
policy questions, prompting states to
select their preferred option and note
benefits or challenges

9. Achieve’s CBP State Partnership
Achieve is providing targeted policy and implementation support to a group of states
committed to advancing competency-based pathways (CBP) to college and career
readiness for all students. The support is designed to complement and reinforce
states’ overall plans to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and
propel far more students to a college- and career-ready level of performance.
States: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine,
Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and
Vermont.
Participating states commit to pursuing policy and implementation
changes in graduation requirements, assessments and accountability.
States need to address all three in order to reach a cross-cutting,
accepted definition of competency (or depending on the state’s
terminology, proficiency or mastery) that equates to a college- and career-ready
level of performance. This is essential to ensure rigorous
determinations of student competency on the CCSS and other college-and
career-ready standards.
9

10. Rhode Island Policy Framework
Rhode Island regulations support and encourage personalized learning and
proficiency-based pathways
Secondary Regulations
• Proficiency based graduation
• Personalization is key
• Non-traditional learning opportunities
Career and Technical Education Regulations
• Focus on proficiency and student outcomes
• Personalized career pathways
• Expansion of priority sector pathways
Virtual Learning Regulations
• Focus on individualized learning environments
• Flexible pathways and individual progression
• Support for anytime, anywhere learning 10

11. Alignment of Opportunities
Proficiency-Based Learning
Winter 2013
Winter/Spring
2014
Summer/Fall
2014
Winter/Spring
2015
Summer/Fall
2015
2015 Beyond
Vision Planning Development Implementation
Vision Definitions of CCR/Proficiency State Planning for Implementation
Readiness Evaluation School Level Planning Implementation
LIS schools Conference Global Best Practice Leading NextGen Work
Statewide Coordination Proof Points Promoting National Dialogue
Policy Framework Pathways Proficiency Based Learning

13. Creating Conditions for Success
Personalized and Proficiency-Based Learning (PBL)

14. Draft Rhode Island Vision

15. Statewide Collaboration
Toward Advancing PBL

16. Developing a
Competency Based System
Adams County School District 50
March 19, 2014

17. Overview
• Who are we as a District?
• What is our educational model for all
learners?
• What do the data say on our progress so far?
• Focus of Improvement Strategies
• Our challenges
• Questions
9/17/2014 9:02 PM 17

18. Who Are We?
• Snapshot
– 10,000 total students
– 12 Elementary Schools
– 3 Middle Schools
– 2 High Schools (one alternative)
– 1 Charter School
– 1 Early Childhood Center
– Day Treatment Program (ISC)
18

19. Motivation for Systemic Change
• Low static achievement
• Persistent achievement gaps
• Poor graduation rate
• High post secondary remediation rate
• Accredited as “Turnaround”
• Increased learner challenges
• Sought Comprehensive Appraisal for District
Improvement (CADI)
• State conversations about 21st Century Learning
– SB07 -053 (Integrated P-16 Education System)
– HB 07-1118 (HS Graduation Requirements)
– SB 08-212 (CAP4K)
• Moral Purpose “Proficiency for ALL”

20. What we needed…
• Systemic approach that ensured
continuous rigorous learning and
demonstrated performance (proficient
or better) within and across all schools
from the time our learners first entered
preschool through graduation.

21. Adams County School District 50
Accreditation Plan Designations (October 15, 2013)
2009 - 2010 2010 - 2011 2011 - 2012 2012 - 2013
Schools Points Schools Points Schools Points Schools Points
Crown Pointe 82.0 Crown Pointe 80.0 Sunset Ridge ES 87.3 Mesa ES 74.7
Sunset Ridge ES 66.7 Mesa ES 71.8 Mesa ES 79.2 Crown Pointe 69.4
Flynn ES 53.4 Harris Park ES 59.4 Flynn ES 74.0 Tennyson Knolls ES 68.2
Tennyson Knolls ES 51.6 Sunset Ridge ES 58.2 Crown Pointe 72.8 Sunset Ridge ES 65.8
Metz ES 50.6 Metz ES 51.1 Skyline Vista ES 71.6 FM Day ES 62.0
Shaw Heights MS 46.0 Skyline Vista ES 51.1 Fairview ES 64.4 Flynn ES 61.8
Harris Park ES 44.5 Hodgkins ES 50.1 FM Day ES 63.5 Skyline Vista ES 61.2
Skyline Vista ES 43.8 Hidden Lake HS 54.1* Sherrelwood ES 54.1 Sherrelwood ES 58.5
Westminster ES 43.8 Tennyson Knolls ES 46.9 Harris Park ES 49.2 Metz ES 54.2
Westminster HS 39.5 Shaw Heights MS 45.3 Westminster ES 48.9 Harris Park ES 53.1
Ranum MS 39.1 Fairview ES 43.8 Tennyson Knolls ES 48.2 Shaw Heights MS 51.1
Scott Carpenter MS 36.8 FM Day ES 43.3 Hidden Lake HS 57.0* Hodgkins ES 49.6
Hidden Lake HS 29.6 Flynn ES 40.3 Hodgkins ES 44.4 Westminster HS 47.4
Mesa ES 27.1 Scott Carpenter MS 37.6 Shaw Heights MS 43.6 Hidden Lake HS 53.2*
Sherrelwood ES 26.7 Westminster ES 37.6 Westminster HS 43.2 Ranum MS 46.7
Fairview ES 26.6 Westminster HS 36.1 Metz ES 39.7 Fairview ES 46.4
FM Day ES 26.3 Sherrelwood ES 28.2 Scott Carpenter MS 38.6 Westminster ES 43.8
Hodgkins ES 26.3 Ranum MS 26.3 Ranum MS 38.2 Scott Carpenter MS 41.6
District 30.9 District 40.2 District 46.4 District 44.6
K-8 Plan Assignment Points High School Plan Points District Plan Points
Performance > 59 Performance > 60 Performance > 64
Improvement 47 - 59 Improvement 47 - 60 Improvement 52 - 64
Priority Improvement 37 - 47 Priority Improvement 33 - 47 Priority Improvement 42 - 52
Turnaround < 37 Turnaround < 33 Turnaround < 42
*Hidden Lake High School is designated an Alternative Education Campus and lives under a separate accreditation.
** The 2013 SPF has not yet been received for Hidden Lake HS.

22. Improvement Strategies
• Deepening competency based instructional
practices
• Restructuring to support P-20 education
• Involving stakeholders differently
• Focus on systemic leadership

23. Definition of a Learner-centered
Classroom
A true Learner-centered classroom is where “learners and
teachers respond to and reflect on progress in order to build
ownership and independence by involving teachers and other
learners to become problems solvers, move through levels, meet
their goals and figure out their own path to success; learners have
the opportunity to make choices and demonstrate proficiency
throughout the learner-centered classroom.
Teachers instruct and guide individual learners, small groups, as
well as the whole class to set high expectations for all learners
and determine the most effective instructional strategies for each
learner in the classroom.”
- Developed by Adams County School District 50 teachers (2011)

24. Challenges…
• Number of students not at expected academic
level
• Re-engineering for student learning
• Transition from “seat-time” to a competency
based learning system
• Communication with Stakeholders
• Resource Reallocation
• Colorado Academic Standards
• Use of Primary Resources
• “Time-bound” High Stakes Assessment &
Accountability Measures

25. Challenges…
• Recording and Reporting
• Special Populations
• High School Transition
• Integration with Other Districts, Colleges and
Organizations
• School Structures
• Professional Development
• Designing effective state policy frameworks
• Competency Based Graduation Guidelines

26. Learning for All – What Does It Take?
“We can, whenever and wherever we
choose, successfully teach all children
whose schooling is of interest to us. We
already know more than we need to do that.
Whether or not we do it must finally depend
on how we feel about the fact that we
haven’t so far.”
Ronald Edmonds
1935 - 1983

27. Competency-Based Systems
in Colorado
Policy and Implementation Support
Achieve CBS Webinar
March 19, 2014

28. Postsecondary and Workforce
Readiness: Definition
“The knowledge, skills, and behaviors essential to
high school graduates to be prepared to enter
college and the workforce and compete in the
global economy including content knowledge,
learning and behavior skills”
 Source: State Board of Education and the Commission on Higher Education’s joint
adoption on June 30, 2009 of the description of Postsecondary and Workforce
Readiness.
28

29. 29
Academic
Competencies
• Content Knowledge
• Math and Literacy Skills
• Ability to reason, analyze and synthesize
Entrepreneurial
Competencies
Professional
Competencies
• Ability to collaborate
• Ability to learn and adapt
• Ability to manage time and
projects
• Ability to make and capitalize on
connections and opportunities
• Ability to manage risk
• Use failures to drive
improvement
Intended
Student
Outcomes

30. Colorado’s Emerging Model
Academic
Professional Entrepreneurial
Drive to Contribute
Self Knowledge

31. Colorado’s Emerging Model
What are the characteristics of learning
environments that help students develop
core competencies, self knowledge and the
drive to contribute in a way that maximizes
their UNIQUE POTENTIAL?
COMPETENCY-BASED
SAFE AND
HEALTHY
PERSONAL AND
PERSONALIZED
CO-CREATED
TIME-, TALENT-,
AND
TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED

32. Ecosystems for Exploration
 Early Adopter Districts of Graduation Guidelines and
supportive secondary initiatives
 Turnaround Schools
 Alternative Education Campuses
 Charter Schools
 Innovation Schools
32

33. Graduation Guidelines
 State statute requires the State Board of Education to adopt a
set of guidelines for high school graduation by May 2013. Local
school boards may use their own locally developed graduation
requirements so long as they “meet or exceed” any minimum
standards or core competencies/skills adopted by the State
Board.
33

34. Graduation Guidelines
 The law outlines several considerations that the State Board
must take into account when adopting a set of guidelines,
including:
 Alignment with the description of postsecondary and workforce
readiness
 Alignment with postsecondary academic admission standards
 Recognition of multiple and diverse pathways to a diploma
 Articulation through a standards-based education system
 Attainment of skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century
 Importance of academic and career planning
34

35. Graduation Guidelines Goals
 New expectations for a high school diploma, locally different
35
and guided by common menu.
 Develop and identify areas of opportunity for students to
explore and attain knowledge, skills, and abilities to be
prepared for the day after high school .
 Create and reinforce learning environments that reflect high
expectations for all students to successfully earn a living
wage and contribute to Colorado’s economy.
 Educate students to be prepared to enter Colorado’s
workforce with in-demand credentials and benchmarked to
business, industry, and higher education standards.

36. Career & College Readiness
 Menu will evolve over time
36
Demonstration English Math Science Social Studies
TCAP (2013-14 only) 663 627 - -
State Test (2013-14 +) TBD TBD
PARCC (2014-15 +) 4 + 4 +
ACT 18 19 TBD -
SAT 430 460 - -
IB 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 +
AP 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 +
ASVAB 50 50 - -
Capstone (2015-16 +) TBD TBD TBD TBD
Concurrent Enrollment C- or better C- or better C- or better C- or better
Industry Certificate TBD TBD TBD TBD

37. Graduation Guidelines
Implementation Timeline
Planning
2013-15
Review graduation
guidelines with local
education board
Guideposts
2015-16
Adopt local guidelines
and 9th graders may use
guideposts
Implementation
2015-2020
Students meet or
exceed minimum
college and career
determinations
Graduation
2020-2021
First high school
graduates meet or
exceed minimum
college and career
determinations

38. Issues and Challenges
 Lack of transparency and involvement in the development of
the guidelines
 Some groups felt they had no voice in the process
 Confusion about the purpose of the guidelines
 Disagreement over the level of rigor of the “cut-points” for
meeting various demonstration tasks
 Concern about state intrusion into local control
38

39. Work Groups
Group Start Date
Capstone November 2013
ICAP November 2013
21st Century Skills December 2013
Industry Certificate February 2014
Special Populations February 2014
Assessment May 2014
Endorsed Diploma May 2014

40. Work Group Objectives
40
 Identify opportunities, challenges, and
best/promising practices.
 Develop implementation recommendations.
 Explore and outline resources and tools.
 Align skills, abilities, and knowledge that are valued
by business, industry, and higher education.
 Outline systematic pathways for students to explore
and develop these skills.
 Identify stakeholder connections and messages.
 Maintain a written record of implementation
recommendations, tools and resources,
best/promising practices, and relevant discussions.

41. Outcomes/Deliverables
41
 Tools/Resources
 Implementation Recommendations
 Promising or Best Practices
 Stakeholder Information
 Collaboration

42. Work Group Overview
Initial Work
Groups Convene
42
2013-14
Meetings begin to
discuss
implementation
recommendations
Work Groups
Continue
Summer 2014
Assessment & Endorsed
Diploma work groups
initiated
Deliverables
Fall 2014
Capstone, 21st
Century & ICAP
recommendations
complete
Continuing Work
Winter 2014
Industry Certificate &
Special Populations
recommendations
complete
Continuing Work &
Recommendations
Fall 2015
Assessment group
continues with fall
2015 deliverables

43. Competency-Based Systems
Network
 Year-long study group made up of select districts who are
implementing/investigating CBS that will examine issues such
as:
 The nature of a truly competency-based system
Measurement approaches to a broad range of competencies
 Systemic supports that are required to successfully implement CBS
 Curriculum and instruction in a CB approach
 Local and state policy frameworks that support CBS
 “Deliverable” is new/shared knowledge across the state
 Network will evolve to implementation support in year 2
43

44. THANK YOU!
44
We look forward to continuing this discussion with you!
Anne Bowles | abowles@achieve.org
Cory Curl | ccurl@achieve.org

45. Advancing
Competency-Based
Pathways
to College and Career
Readiness
March 19, 2014 | 3:00 – 4:00 pm