Mastery-based Learning

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Please direct all questions to:

Alissa Muller, Director of Policy
Seema Bahl, Associate Director of the Mastery-based Learning Collaborative

Mastery-based Learning (MBL) is an instructional approach designed to help students learn deeply and effectively. It is sometimes referred to as “competency-based education.” Learning environments using MBL have these in common:

Students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning;
Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for students that yields timely, relevant, and actionable evidence;
Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs;
Students progress based on evidence of mastery, not seat time;
Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing;
Strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education systems; and
Rigorous, common expectations for learning, including knowledge, skills, and dispositions, are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable.

At its core, MBL is personalized learning. MBL honors students’ assets and cultural backgrounds and has been shown to help close opportunity and achievement gaps.

Supporting Mastery-based Learning in Washington Schools

In 2021, the state launched the Washington State Mastery-based Learning Collaborative (MBLC), led by the State Board of Education with executive sponsorship from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Professional Educator Standards Board.

The goal of this project is to:

Highlight best practices for implementing culturally responsive-sustaining Mastery-based Learning.
Identify, create, and share sample tools and resources for educators using an MBL approach.
Offer professional learning to in-service educators, including teachers, principals, and counselors.

The project’s overarching goal is to inform future policy by helping decision makers better understand what quality MBL looks like, how long it takes to implement, and what resources are necessary.

At the local level, this project is helping participating schools jump start a longer-term shift to MBL to transform education into a more relevant and equitable learning experience for each and every student.

Right now, 47 schools in 28 districts are part of the collaborative.

Learn more about the MBLC

MBL Resources

Reports

Implementation Resources

Mastery-based Crediting Handbook 2.0
Mastery-based Crediting Rule (Procedure for awarding students mastery-based credit) and Model Policies
Washington’s Public Four-Year Universities and Colleges - Washington High School Mastery Transcript Statement (Council of Presidents - May 2022)
Washington Student Achievement Council MBL webinar
Aurora Institute: Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) is a nonprofit organization that originated as advocate for
online learning, that now has a broader mission to support transformative personalized and student-centered learning.
CompetencyWorks Resources: CompetencyWorks is a collaborative initiative lead by iNACOL to support competency-based education.

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