Mastery-Based Learning

Also known as mastery learning, competency-based learning is a growing focus of education conversations. The premise is that students learn best by mastering a particular learning goal before moving on to new material that builds on that goal. Instead of a group of students all moving from one topic to the next with varying degrees of understanding, each student continues to work on a topic until he or she has mastered the content. Because students of the same age advance through the curriculum at significantly different paces, schools that use this approach can no longer use a traditional model. In the mastery-learning model, educators design progressions of sequential learning goals that progress from simple knowledge and skills to complex tasks. For this to work well, the goals must be personalized so that they are challenging to students but not too frustrating to achieve.