MTC Members Strive and Thrive in a Year Like No Other

“Going above and beyond” does not sufficiently capture the actual work our MTC school educators have committed to this year. Many school leaders have discussed the unprecedented challenges their faculty (and learners) have faced with managing dual instructional modalities (in-person and remote). Yet the overwhelming majority have expressed their pride and admiration for the extreme hard work and ingenuity they’ve witnessed throughout this past year. Our friends at Louisville Collegiate (LC) shared some of these “above and beyond” efforts, including the faculty’s focus on strengthening feedback to students with 24/7 access to learners’ work. Taking opportunities to check learner’s progress during the drafting process and provide feedback/suggestions to support learners on their journey has been amazing to watch. And LC faculty see the value as learners use feedback in real time to strengthen their work products and further internalize the important skills they are acquiring. Finding these silver linings amidst the strain and stress of pandemic learning and teaching has been helpful in encouraging educators to continue their efforts and realize the great impact they really are having on learners.

Many school leaders also note the realization that learners may not have achieved all that they would have in a traditional school year. As educators grapple with this reality in their strategic planning for the summer and next school year, they are mindful of the need for a solid foundation of social-emotional learning, reconnection with a refreshed approach to in-person instruction, and the nurturing of a collective, strength-based mindset that can catalyze accelerated academic growth for all learners.

Many of the member schools we’ve connected with are sharing the unique experiences they’ve had with their faculty lifting up promising strategies for shifting instruction, grading and assessment practices. The circumstances surrounding teaching and learning during the pandemic have pushed educators to reinvent these practices in ways more conducive to student-centered learning with a mastery-based approach. The number of schools who have mentioned removing traditional midterm and final exams is promising; other schools that traditionally employ end-of-unit exams that ask for knowledge recall have shifted to more project and performance-based approaches which are for more conducive to learning and teaching in hybrid/distance environments.

In some cases, schools are continuing with the shift in grading practices that they experimented with last spring, when schools were offering solely remote instruction. Opportunities to revise and resubmit work without penalty, continuing with pass/incomplete options for students for certain programs or grade levels, and reimagining the grading system for the school as a whole are just some examples that our member schools report as opportunities the pandemic has elevated for their learning communities.

Specific examples on a larger scale include our work with the Utah State Board of Education and Utah System of Higher Education. As partners in this work towards achieving the vision and promise of competency-based education in Utah, we’re excited that USHE is working side-by-side with USBE and K-12 Utah districts, being open to shifting the focus of applicant metrics among colleges and universities across the state and allow for more holistic reviews of learner competencies in the admissions process. More to come as we continue to design opportunities for these shifts to take place in the coming months and year.

If school communities have learned anything during this time period, it’s that trial and error, innovation and tinkering, and on the spot ingenuity are welcome methods of experimentation as we collectively explore the best ways to engage learners. Whether large-scale adoption is in sight, or pioneering colleagues want to test out some hypotheses around competency-based learning, member schools have been developing different entry points for interacting with the Mastery Transcript

Myriad examples have been shared of our member schools’ sheer determination and creative thinking in focusing on ensuring quality learning experiences for students during the pandemic. Carolina Day Middle School launched their Deeper Dives competency-based experiential learning project for grades six through eight, spending the summer designing and then launching the program during the Winter/Spring terms. At San Francisco University High School, the team is actively designing ways to develop competencies around independent studies/projects that have become far more appealing to students as pathways to pursue passion projects.

In addition to our schools who are in the process of sending Mastery Transcripts as the official record for some or all students at their schools, I’ve also been hearing from schools who envision being able to send the Mastery Transcript for their students within the next couple of years. These accelerated timelines have been created as a result of the collective courage of school communities using the lessons of pandemic-era learning to guide their school change strategies.

Our global community’s collective trauma has not been limited to the devastating impacts of the pandemic. The global community, and in particular the United States, continues to experience the lasting effect of a more insidious and centuries-long social ill: racism. While the impact of racism within the fabric of every societal institution is not new–far from it, actually–many member schools are recognizing the need to engage in deep reviews, challenges, and revisions to existing curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices that have perpetuated racism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, among others. Forming curriculum committees to conduct these reviews, and engaging in meaningful research and inquiry around student and alumni experiences during their school careers, member schools are unearthing and dismantling practices and building approaches to equity that will begin to eradicate the institutional bonds to unjust educational practices. Additionally, schools serving historically underserved learners are recognizing the disproportionate impact the global pandemic has had on learners and devising strategies for addressing these inequities on the ground, in real time.

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As I watch the snow fall outside my window on this cold, gray, spring day in New England, I’m again reminded of how much educators, leaders, children and families have been tested this year with circumstances that can’t be changed. From statewide quarantines to travel orders to disruptive contact tracing in our schools, it’s safe to say that prior to 2020 we probably never imagined ourselves living through our current reality. Yet we continue to manage our way through the pandemic challenges, and it is evident through my recent discussions with many of our member schools that you’ve risen above the chaos of this year and forged a path forward to reimagining a brighter tomorrow for your learners. These conversations of hope, opportunity and optimism are nothing short of awe-inspiring–which is why I’m sharing the insights I’ve gained from these conversations with our broader MTC community, and am continuing to meet with schools, excitement growing at each conversation. If you are reading this, it’s likely you’ve already received a request from me to connect — and if you haven’t yet scheduled a time, feel free to reach out and we can schedule a session!