There are over 500 school districts in Missouri, but just 20 are a part of the first pilot cohort of the Success Ready Student Network. In late 2023, they received a waiver to skip out on the state’s typical accountability system. Now with funding from the state and private donors, they're trying something new, at least new for the State of Missouri — personalized competency-based learning.
Pam Hedgepeth is a retired educator, former superintendent for Republic, executive director of the Greater Ozarks Cooperating School Districts and a Success Ready Student Network facilitator. She said that, in practice, this framework of education focuses on cooperating with students and providing opportunities for them to gain real world experiences.
“We love to focus on the idea of mastery of competencies versus seat time,” Hedgepeth explained, “like the old Carnegie unit, you sit through a class, and you get the credit. We really want kids to demonstrate that they have a deep understanding of the learning, and they have a mastery of the competencies that are important.”
Think less emphasis on quarterly As and Bs and teaching as preparation for end-of-year testing, and more real time feedback on student performance and competency and goals that lead into the next stages of their lives, as well as efforts by educators to bring real world problems, internships and certifications into the classroom.
That’s something that excites Dr. Craig Carson. Dr. Carson is Assistant Superintendent of learning for the Ozark School District, one of those 20 districts leading the way.
Dr. Carson said in practice this work may mean, anything "from taking a field trip and tying the real world into curriculum that way, to doing client-based projects for a local company here in Ozark or working with a nonprofit.” The district he said, “wants students to really land their learning and their academics into a real-world setting.”
As an example, Dr. Carson said last year, they had one senior create a capstone around the research and work to write an ordinance about a noxious weed for the City of Ozark. They have another student creating a delivery robot for the school’s coffee shop.
In Ozark, this work also means developing individualized academic and career plans for their students, connecting them with market value assets like certifications and maintaining assessment and feedback throughout the year in the form of an online dashboard. Competency based learning has also influenced things like the district’s Innovation Center and its Academies system, which works something like a college major. Dr. Carson gave one example of how a student might progress through its Health Science Academy specialization.
He explained, “you very well could go from visiting the hospital in the eighth grade and just seeing all of the different kinds of opportunities there are in a hospital setting to, by the time you are a twelfth grader, you could earn your CNA and you could also be doing some internships at the hospital.” He added that this is the sort of work they are trying to do in all six academies offered by the school.
Amber Howard is a professor at Missouri State University and a dean’s fellow for competency-based learning. She says Missouri State has been proactive in being a part of and building on the work of the Success Ready Student Network, and now she is helping to train the next generation of teachers in competency-based learning by bringing it into their college classrooms with her.
“At first,” she said “it kind of scares students because we’re not constantly giving them a grade. We’re constantly giving them feedback, but they’re like ‘I’m not used to getting that, I’m used to getting an A or a C or a B.’" She said that’s how many gauge how they’re doing, and chart they’re value as a student, but they ultimately see that a competency-based framework gives them more actionable feedback and a chance to steer their education. She says parents of students of all ages see this too, and Howard and Hedgepeth agree it leads to more engagement in the classroom.
Hedgepeth said that “the work's just motivating for teachers. We hear that a lot from teachers. It kind of has given them their spark and their passion back; to be creative and design lessons that they see their kids really enjoy.”
Overall, proponents say their goal is to graduate students with more than just a diploma, as well as a readiness to take on modern challenges whatever their next step might be. While Ozark and 19 other districts are actively collaborating and doing the work to develop and apply competency-based principles, dozens more are learning and preparing. 108 districts total are a part of the Success Ready Student Network now and those involved see their work as the future of education in the state.