Personalized & Proficiency-Based Learning

“What does it mean to be proficient? What if a kid never reaches proficiency? Do you need to be proficient in every single area in order to graduate? How is a letter grade any different than a proficiency grade? Why do I have to have a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP)? How can we get our students to meaningfully reflect?”

These, along with dozens more, are the questions I hear every day from students, staff, parents, and strangers. With Act 77, the Flexible Pathways Initiative, schools across Vermont have the opportunity to create meaningful learning experiences for students. My role as a Rowland Fellow is to facilitate this development process at South Burlington, while providing our staff, in particular, the supports they need in order to implement the changes accompanying the shift to proficiency-based learning. Currently, we are working to embed the components of the personalized learning plans within our existing freshman and sophomore advisories, while expanding the advisory experience over all four years. The rubs lie with the relationship between proficiency-based learning and PLPs. My goal through my sabbatical time is to see how other schools across the state and across the country have addressed proficiency-based learning and create professional development for our staff to feel confident in this shift. In return, teachers will then feel confident in facilitating conversations with their advisories as students build and reflect on their PLPs.