Proficiency Based Education
Credit for the video: AdmissionsQuest
We are
joined today by Mark Siegel assistant Headmaster at the Delphian School in Sheridan
Oregon and he's talking today with us about proficiency-based education.
Mark: Good
morning!
Thank you
for joining us today Mark! You spend a lot of time thinking, teaching, and
blogging about proficiency-based education. When you talk about
proficiency-based education, what exactly are we talking about and how does it
differ from what we're used to or have come to expect?
Mark: Sure,
well, the context is that in Oregon, for example, only two thirds of our high
school students are graduating. And Governor Kitzhaber says that only 25% of
them are really ready for college. So we've got to do something better. The
fundamental thing is that the current system has been based on time being the
constant, 180 days 50 minutes for algebra and then in 180 days you're supposed
to get it. But with time being the constant, learning becomes a variable. Some
get it and some don't. Proficiency means learning is the constant and with learning
the constant then time has to be a variable but when we can do that and we have
to move from mastery, from proficiency to proficiency, taking as much time as
they need, that is the model that is a much better model and that's proficiency
based education.
Ok, so I've
got this picture of C Time from my perspective which is having gone through C Time
education years ago, what does it mean in practice in the classroom? You talked
about you know “when the students master it, then they move on”. So, what’s
different in the classroom and what do teachers have to do differently in that
setting then?
Mark: Well,
I'll give you a little example: Sal Khan of the Khan Academy (a very popular
education site) has a set of short videos and classrooms are flipping so that
the students watch the videos at home and in class they do the homework where
they get the mastery and so then the teacher can spend enough time with each of
them and at home they can watch the video over and over again until they get it.
So, that’s a proficiency model where you spend as much time as you need at each
step and teachers have implemented this in a wide range of context. Here at the
school we’ve been doing it for 35 years but we don't have grades are grade
levels. But I've seen it implemented in traditional classroom settings but the
main thing is that the students aren't walked into what we call “the tyranny of
a lecture” where they're having to sit and listen where they may not be ready
for it so if it's tape recorded lectures or they are following a study guide or
the teacher is putting them in a project based approach, but, I could go on and
on about it. It’s just very different, but it's much, much better.
Ok, which
brings me to my next question: So, if we are talking about moving away from “the
tyranny of the lecture”, how do students experience and work through learning
and material differently then?
Mark: Well,
in the short amount of time I have, let me tell you 2 things: 1 they love it, in
public school settings we get a lot of reports that the students in a
proficiency-based class then push their other teachers to adopt that method. The
fact is, and Sal Khan recently talked about this again, students who are even
doing well, know there are earlier gaps in their education. And in a
proficiency system you can be honest about it, and if you are in algebra, and
you are having trouble with fractions, you can say: “look, I need to stop out
and work on my fractions” and that honesty is a big relief for even the quote
“A students” who know that they might have passed tests that there is gaps in
their knowledge that is going to catch up with them somewhere. So, 1 it’s a
relief, secondly in a grading system when quote “only a few kids get it all”
with the approaches they are all going to get to learn it. It might take some
of them longer at some points, some can go quickly when they master it, but the
idea where the teachers are saying instead of a game in which only some of you
get it, let’s play a game in which all of you can get everything that we can
possible deliver to you, so we can fulfill our promise. And students really,
really like that. They respond just in a fantastic way. It takes out
arbitraries of grading, it takes out all the nuttiness.
Ok, mm, so,
here is one question I have though, about it. How does?.. Who keeps the pace?
Does the student set the pace or is the teacher become sort of the “motivator
coach”? In proficiency based education, who keeps the pace? You know, say you
are moving along and you got it, but you’d like to take a break for a while (if
you are a student)?
Mark: Sure,
well, the answer is that the student actually begins owning their own education
- setting their own pace. Because for the first time, there is that relief: “I’m
not going pass what I don’t know”. And because, one of the other elements is
they know what they are going to be ending up using it for, they are going to
end up knowing where they are going with it. So, we find students much more
eager. Public school teachers report that students are coming in before class
saying Ï know I need this, can you give me some extra help?” because they see
how it’s foundational. Sal Khan talks
about our current system as one… like a “Swiss Cheese education”; it’s full of
holes! And when students want to.. they come to school everyday with a bunch of
expectations. And when they can get what they’ve come to a class for, they’ll
proceed very quickly, they will really like it. So, in our system, sometimes
students don’t take breaks, they come in early, they can study late, because
they’re loving it. And that’s a nice rapport you get with students eager to
come to the classroom because they are going to be able to succeed everyday.
Right, and
that’s… that from an old teacher’s perspective is a great thing!
Mark:
Absolutely!
You used
the word “system” which brings me to my next question, what role does
proficiency based education have in sort of larger systemic education reforms?
You know, it… I can see how it translates really easily into a small setting,
into a classroom, into a place like Delphian. What role does it have say
nationwide or statewide?
Mark: Well,
while we are a leader in the private school field of proficiency, I must tell
you that the public schools are really catching on. Starting with Alaska school
districts, here in Oregon we’ve been doing proficiency based on smaller scales
in public schools since 2002. And just recently, in September, when the
governor of Oregon, Governor Kitzhaber, gave his back to school speech, he said
that it’s his number 1 priority putting in flexibility and proficiency in all
of our classrooms. He talked about taking the time it takes for each student to
get it whether they are ahead or behind the rest of the students. The State
Board of Education for years now has adopted proficiency based standards. And
students, in Oregon, can get credit for proficiency. You can get credit on your
transcript for a year of French if you can pass the final test, whether you’ve
had to sit through the class or not. And in Colorado, and in states across the
country, this is catching on. Sal Khan, with his work in the Kahn Academy is
working with school districts in the Bay Area. So, it’s a perfect fit.
Ok, ok. As
we sort of come to a close here, a Delphian-specific question: What does a
Delphian School student who’s completed the proficiency based curriculum take
with them to college and into life beyond that’s very different or differs
from the skills they learn through the traditional lecture in C Time
experience?
Mark: A
great question. And I think there is a couple of ways to look at it: One, we
have alumni who stay in touch with us all the time, and so we get a lot of
feedback from how they are doing in college, for example. And it’s typical that
they find out that they are one of the few students in the class that can
actually write. And teachers will make them their assistants or point out and
use their papers as examples of good writing. Because the students left here
with a set of proficiencies and abilities, they did so many projects, they did
so many practical activities, they applied their knowledge. So, when they leave
here (Delphian School), even if they are stuck in a traditional lecture class,
because they know how to study, they have been on their own as independent
learners for so long that they do very well. They can get pass the flaws in the
system and make sure they are getting a good education for themselves. Another
thing that I love to point out is that now our alumni are enrolling their
children in school. And if that doesn’t tell you something when they have
decided wherever they are living in the country and so forth to have their kids
come back and to our school and some of them even move back to the area to make
that education possible for them. I think that’s pretty telling, and of course
we get reports from how well they are doing in life no matter what they do.
They all continue to tell us, “I’m so glad I did this course of study or that
course of study or I did that project because this is how I’ve been applying it
in my job and in my life”. So, a continuous set of feedback. I’m reminded of
how Sal Kahn talks about: “Imagine that you are learning to juggle three balls
and then at the end of a week you get a C on it and then they say we are on to
knives”. Well that’s a pretty scary thought! (Laughs) And our students don’t
ever feel that way. They feel that by the time they’ve graduated, they’ve left
with everything that they came to get and they can apply in their lives.
All right
well Mark, thank you so much for talking with us today!
Mark: My
pleasure!
