A challenge at the heart of personalized competency-based education (PCBE) is grouping and scheduling students according to their learning needs rather than their age. With this guidebook, you'll take a deep dive into the why and how of these foundational PCBE components. Gain clear guidance for gathering standards-based data and then using the results to create schedules that promote student proficiency.
Use this resource to organize learning on a day-to-day basis, based on individual student needs.
- Recognize the shortcomings of a traditional education system.
- Explore the benefits of a well-organized PCBE school.
- Understand how to use student data and learning-focused school scheduling techniques to overcome common challenges faced during the transition to PCBE.
- Receive helpful example class schedules from schools that have successfully implemented PCBE processes.
- Learn how teachers can incorporate PCBE-style flexibility within individual classrooms for personalized learning.
Contents:
Introduction: The Transition to Personalized Competency-Based Education
Chapter 1: Differences Between Traditional Education Systems and PCBE Systems
Chapter 2: The Importance of Student Data Within a PCBE System
Chapter 3: An Overview of PCBE Scheduling
Chapter 4: Creation of a Horizontal PCBE Schedule
Chapter 5: Creation of a Vertical PCBE Schedule
Chapter 6: Implementation Within Stand-Alone Classrooms
Epilogue
Appendix: Example Schedules
Michelle Finn is a professional development associate for the Reinventing Schools Division of Marzano Research and a coauthor of A Handbook for Personalized, Competency-Based Education. With more than a decade of experience in a variety of educational roles and settings, her classroom-based experience includes teaching grades K-10.
She was involved in the shift from a traditional time-based to a competency-based model of education at Bering Strait School District, then again in several schools in Maine, all of which saw significant improvements in student achievement. Her background includes curriculum and assessment development aligned with standards, transitioning schools to a competency-based educational model, developing student agency, and coaching teachers.
Michelle graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine at Orono. She is currently finishing her master's in educational leadership with St. Joseph's College while teaching third grade in a rural Maine school.
Douglas Finn III has been working in the area of personalized competency-based education (PCBE) since 2004. Within PCBE, he has taught every grade, kindergarten through graduation, and has been an instructional and administrative coach for schools and districts throughout the country.
Doug has been supporting students, schools, and districts transitioning to PCBE as a professional development associate since 2008. He started working for the nonprofit Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) and then transitioned to Marzano Research to become an associate and manager of the Marzano division of Reinventing School. He is a coauthor of A Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education with Robert Marzano, Jennifer Norford, and Michelle Finn.
Doug received a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Montana. He earned teaching degrees in biology and earth science from Northern Michigan University and, as he likes to say, has attended the school of practical application for PCBE in the real world.
