Frequently Asked Questions
1What is the MTC?
The Mastery Transcript Consortium® (MTC) is a growing network of public and private schools who are introducing a digital high school transcript that opens up opportunity for each and every student—from all backgrounds, locations, and types of schools—to have their unique strengths, abilities, interests, and histories fostered, understood, and celebrated.
2Who can join?
Membership is open to any nonprofit accredited public or independent school that is considering or moving in the direction of mastery learning.
3What spurs a school’s decision to join MTC?
High schools join MTC because they are interested in mastery learning and the Mastery Transcript that will support it. Each high school is unique, but all high schools generally go through a series of stages toward school transformation. The common five stages our member schools are experiencing in their journeys toward the Mastery Transcript include:
- Why change?
- What does a program look like where every student is supported, guided, and challenged in their learning?
- How are equity and excellence central to all instruction and assessment?
- What systems and structures will ensure learning and teaching shifts?
- How do you sustain the change and nurture continued transformation?
4What is the cost of membership?
Membership dues are scaled to the size and financial realities of each member school. Price will not be a deterrent to membership, but the work ahead will require a continued financial commitment from each member school. Contact us for more details.
5What do we get with our membership in the MTC?
Member schools will have full access to all research, technology platforms, professional development, and communications work produced by the MTC. Ongoing organizational and individualized program support for each school is an essential piece of the MTC mission. Most significantly, you will be a partner in the creation and development of a new, mastery-based model of crediting and transcript generation that can transform student learning for the better, while maintaining our relationships with college admissions offices and other organizations.
See our member benefits for more information.
6Is the new Mastery Transcript built?
Yes! The Mastery Transcript is now widely available to member schools. Many teachers and students at MTC member schools are using it to reflect student learning. Many students are using it during college admissions.
7Are there grades on the Mastery Transcript?
There are no A-F letter grades on the Mastery Transcript. There are Mastery Credits earned based upon evidence of student learning.
8How do you plan to work with colleagues in admissions and other professional organizations?
MTC has a growing Higher Ed Advisory Group that includes admissions leaders from a diverse group of colleges who are providing feedback on the Mastery Transcript, thought leadership, and advocacy. MTC's transcript development team is conducting extensive user testing with numerous other colleges of different types and sizes throughout the country. There are also dozens of students applying to a range of colleges with their Mastery Transcripts--and many being admitted to colleges of their choice.
MTC is looking ahead to future collaborations with professional organizations and employers who have also expressed interest in the Mastery Transcript.
9Will colleges adopt and accept this new transcript model?
Yes, they already are. Hundreds of admissions offices have already received Mastery Transcripts and many more will continue to receive one as part of a student's college application. There has not been a single admissions officer who has said they can't use the Mastery Transcript in their admissions process. In fact dozens of students have gained admissions at a college of their choice using the Mastery Transcript.
10Why use a consortium approach instead of just developing a new mastery transcript at each individual school?
We believe the real power of the MTC is in the growing network of public and independent schools and partners that make up the consortium. Through our consortium approach, MTC is engaging as many schools as possible, in order to improve the high school experience for all students. Members of our network serve as key resources for one another--supporting one another and their school communities in their journeys to mastery and to the Mastery Transcript. The Mastery Transcript helps to unlock the transformational work that so many schools have already undertaken and will pave the way for many more to join in as they begin that journey. As we bring the Mastery Transcript to scale across our expanding network of member high schools, our consistent, digital transcript format is providing college admissions officers with an easy- to-read and understand student profile.
11If we join the MTC and move toward a mastery transcript model, can we remain “independent” in our school’s curriculum?
Yes. The curriculum and mastery credits will be specific to each school community and culture of learning. In the Mastery Transcript Builder, MTC does offer to member schools a shared credit library, in order to help the MTC network draw upon and share their own best practices with one another. What your school chooses to emphasize and celebrate in its educational approach will remain fully independent and individualized. The general presentation format — just as with the traditional transcript — will be consistent.
12Is this approach better for students?
Yes. Schools frequently talk about 21st-century skills for students and best practices in education, but our current system of transcript production limits our ability to best serve and represent the students in our care. A Mastery Transcript allows the flexibility and freedom to facilitate a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum that will best prepare our students for a complex and interconnected world.
13What are your current data privacy and security policies?
In addition to our Privacy Policy, MTC's data policies and security standards can be found in this document.
14Where do I go if I have other questions?
Please continue to visit and explore all parts of our website for status updates, educational blogs, conference schedules, and layers of information about the process, timeline, and goals of the MTC. We are proud of the work we are doing and the effort to revolutionize the student learning experience in the years ahead. We also welcome a conversation with your school, and can easily arrange a phone conference or visit to share our goals and vision in more depth.
Connect with us here.