Why Competency Recovery?
I want to share some more details with parents about "Competency Recovery" and the changes in the schedule at the high school this week. The basic idea is that a student must master all aspects of a course, not just earn an "average" grade that is high enough to pass. That is why a student must have a 70% or higher in each of the competencies within a course in order to pass. For example, a student might earn an 82% in the Communication Competency (this could include different types of writing, oral presentation skills for example), a 78% in Problem Solving, and a 60% in Skills and Knowledge. In the traditional model, this student would have passed with a 73%. With our competency approach, this student would have a grade of NCY (Not Competent Yet) until they earned at least a 70% in the Skills and Knowledge competency.
This is what students are working on this week. We think a student who has a solid foundation along the way, rather than trying to fill in gaps at the end makes some sense (like building a "house"- you start with a solid foundation, rather than going back after the house is complete and trying to repair). Students are much more likely to participate in the learning process because they feel connected, and therefore are less likely to become a distraction because they don't know what is going on.
This week we will be working with approximately 477 students who have failed outright, or are failing one or more competencies. In addition, we will have about 200 or more IB and AP students here whose specific program requirements dictate testing this week.
This week, we are making sure we know how to handle this system for students who are not passing yet. Our goal moving forward is for students with passing, but low marks, to have this same opportunity in the future.