Iowa looks at way to revolutionize schools

Picture an Iowa school where children are grouped by ability, not by grade.

Students move at their own pace, and when they master a skill, they move on to the next level of difficulty.

In this school, ability trumps age. Course titles and credit hours don’t apply.

Competency is king.

If Iowa is awarded a grant from the Race to the Top Fund, the 221 school districts signed onto the state’s application would launch pilot programs in what’s called “competency-based” education, a concept that turns the traditional age- and hour-based classroom on its head.

“That would definitely be a change in education,” said Dan Crozier, interim superintendent of the Atlantic Community School District, which enrolls 1,400 kids, “because we’re so used to saying it takes 180 days to do fifth grade, or 180 days to do 11th grade.”

Although not a new concept in the education world, competency-based education has been difficult to employ on a large scale because of the huge organizational task involved, the demand for teachers to closely track individual students and a lack of reliable and timely instruments to measure student ability, according to Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education.

But advancing technology has brought it within reach, Jeffrey said.

“A lot of people have talked about this for years, but to actually get there is extremely complex and complicated,” she said. “It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Contact the writer:

444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com

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