Insight & Connection: Mastery Learning Case Studies
December 27, 2019
Higher Ed Voices: Kedra Ishop, University of Southern California
February 11, 2020
Introduction
We continue our series of case studies with the stories of two more MTC member schools: Champlain Valley Union High School in Vermont and Pathways High School in Wisconsin. Both are public high schools who are engaging their students in learning experiences deeply rooted in research on learning. What is a common road block for school change? “Too many schools continue to be constrained by the idea that school is separate from the community,” says Kim Taylor, director of Pathways.
Pathways is a young, trailblazing charter school whose seniors are piloting the MTC Mastery Transcript this year as they apply to jobs and to two- and four-year college programs. Champlain Valley is a traditional but extraordinarily innovative public high school, currently testing the Mastery Transcript among faculty, staff, and students. Within MTC’s Journey to Mastery Learning framework, these two schools are among the furthest along.
These expertly illustrated case studies, prepared by Chris Sturgis from LearningEdge, are key resources for educators plotting or progressing along their own journeys–and inspiring examples of successful mastery-based programs. We encourage our member schools to share reactions, insights, and discussions about these stories with your network of peers on community.mastery.org. Read on for more!
By launching this series with two distinctly different schools, we hope to highlight this very special quality of our network. Tilton School, an independent boarding school in New Hampshire and a founding school of the Mastery Transcript Consortium™ (MTC), articulates the mastery approach and the associated cultural, systemic, and structural changes that have been implemented as well as those planned for the future. At Northern Cass School District #97, a public school in North Dakota, we learn how the concept of embracing and embodying greatness has transformed the culture, learning model, and relationships between all learners–adults and school-age students.
These expertly illustrated case studies, prepared by Chris Sturgis from LearningEdge, are key resources for our member schools, and we encourage your reactions, insights, and discussions about them on community.mastery.org.
–Susie Bell, senior director of member engagement, MTC
Case 1: Champlain Valley Union High School
Each semester, a group of students at Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) in Vermont participate in redesigning school. In Think Tank, a class led by instructional coaches Emily Rinkema and Stan Williams, students visit the question of HOW schools should be designed and WHY they need to change.
In Think Tank, students learn about the brain, learning, motivation, and the latest educational research. They look at innovative models around the world as well as their own experiences to understand the design choices that are made and the impact on learning. The bookcases in Rinkema and Williams’ office are filled with books used in the Think Tank class: The Art of Changing the Brain, Drive, Switch, What Schools Could Be, and Most Likely to Succeed. They are dedicated to bringing new research and ideas to the students in Think Tank…and encouraging students to seek emerging ideas themselves. (Click here to see their recommended reading.)
During the semester, students discover that learning is an active process. Learners need to be actively engaged in learning and thinking; believe they can learn (growth mindset), manage their emotional response to learning (self-regulation), and manage their thinking processes (meta-cognition). They learn about motivation theory and how to design classrooms so that students have autonomy, purpose, and opportunity for mastery. They discover that prior knowledge needs to be taken into consideration to help make connections and to make sure they have the pre-requisite skills…and if they don’t, to help them develop them. Catherine, an alumnae of Think Tank explained, “I learned about how much I didn’t know about learning.” Beckett, another alumnae, said, “I stopped going through the motions and started to think of myself as a learner. I realized that I can make choices about what I want to learn about, not just what is going to help me get into college. I’m excited about what I learn now.”
Students then select one area in which to go deeper. Josie, another alumnae of Think Tank explained, “We dived into personalized projects. Each of us tackled something that interested us and designed our own solutions to the problem.” Students have looked at badging and classroom design. Several projects have looked at the stress that develops as part of the college admissions process and the shame that rejection can bring. Their ideas have contributed to changes in classroom seating, increased student mental health awareness, led to the creation of a student congress, and informed the creation of new transcript models…
To read the complete case study “Driving Improvement with the Learning Sciences at Champlain Valley Union High School” you may download it now (PDF length: 27 pages).
Case 2: Pathways High School
Pathways High School was established because the co-founders saw a problem and responded: the traditional education model was wasting talent. Julia Burns, co-founder and board president, explained, “Each of my five children is different and each have amazing gifts. But the one-size-fits-all system squelches their creativity and their potential. Everywhere I look in our schools, talent is squandered. We can’t afford to let talent go to waste. We are far too needy in this world. The problems we face are far too big. We need every drop of talent there is.”
There is a huge difference between getting everyone to graduation standards, whatever state policy determines that to be, and developing talent. Traditional schools aim at preparing students for graduation by completing a certain number of courses. Some schools, both traditional and modern, aim for college and career readiness. And there are some schools, such as Pathways High, that have set their goals to help students discover and develop their talent. They are designing for success. But what does it mean to design for success?
Believe that Students Want to be Successful
Most schools would say that they want all their students to be successful and point to their mission statement as evidence. The problem is that in the traditional system, we rank students. Students experience a system that is telling them they are a winner, a loser, or somewhere in between.
At Pathways High they start by trusting that each and every one of their students wants to be successful. Day in and day out, no matter what behavior students are demonstrating, the Pathways High team assumes that all their students want to be successful in their lives. They assume that everyone wants to be a winner. Who wouldn’t want to be successful? Even those who might be coming to school late. Even those who aren’t turning in their assignments on time. Even those who are slumped in the back of the room with their eyes down. By trusting that their students want to be successful, regardless of their behavior, the team at Pathways High flips the traditional school model on its head. This is a big step beyond the rhetoric of ‘all kids can learn.’ Pathways believes that once students find the vision for their future that will inspire them they will all find themselves on a path to success…
To read the complete case study “Designed for Success” you may download it now (PDF length: 11 pages).
Go further
Much more to come! To help our members go further in their journeys to mastery learning and the Mastery Transcript, MTC is growing its range of resources and opportunities on community.mastery.org. Members can stay tuned for more on our case studies series with Chris Sturgis and special invitations to share and connect with colleagues across the network in the New Year. If you are not yet a member but are interested in learning more about benefits of membership, please get in touch today.
