Teaching Students with Varying Levels of Competency

In competency based learning students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs, because educators’ commitment is to prepare students for the next level and work place. As a consequence educators have to effectively meet the needs of students of all races, classes, and cultures. It also demands their vigilance in challenging inequity.

There are many strategies educators might use to engage and support learning of students at varying competency levels. The main of those strategies are described as follow:

1. Build an environment rooted in a growth mindset that supports risk taking and help seeking, in order to increase students’ enthusiasm for challenging tasks with the knowledge that if learning is occurring, support will be necessary. For this condition I used to create routines and a shared language to build competencies that foster and reward support seeking and personalized learning with support that mirrors the learning of students’ needs.
2. Utilize Assessments that are transparent, ongoing, and provide meaningful feedback to support student learning and agency with the purpose of each assessment is transparent and useful to students and teachers. I used multiple assessments to gain a deeper understanding of the students’ progress, and regularly reflect on the outcomes and implications of assessments, as they relate to student learning goals and competency progression.
3. Develop embedded, tiered, and timely interventions for just-in-time support that leads to successfully meeting or exceeding the learning targets. For example: students’ interventions are grounded in assessments, in order to shorter learning cycles with fewer, more integrated learning targets are developed to allow for immediate intervention and feedback. At the same time, adaptive partnerships are created for necessary student services that are beyond the scope of the university with blended learning and adaptive digital tools expand options and provide choices for ways students can practice, apply skills, and demonstrate evidence of learning.
4. Develop extended opportunities to learn within and beyond traditional school times and settings, including internships, online learning, project-based learning, summer classes, and more. I used to provide students different means for contact in order to increase their opportunities to learn and to receive support extend beyond the university day and academic time. I give them opportunities to schedule and use of time supports the integration of learning outside of university in order students can demonstrate mastery of competency through anywhere/anytime learning experiences. As a teacher, I know how to access a network of learning experiences inside and outside of university to support students at various stages of learning.
5. Know the whole student and seek to understand their life and their learning studying their background with information in university data base. In competency based learning is important students and teachers work together to make sense of assessments, learning strengths, and learning needs.