Principle 06 of 07 · Education Experience
Competency-Based.
Students advance when they've shown they can do the work — not when the calendar says so.
Students advance by mastering clearly defined learning objectives, and receive support as needed.
What it asks of a school
Students advance when they've shown they can do the work — not when the calendar says they're done with it.
Competency-based doesn't mean self-paced and unsupervised. It means the unit of progression is demonstrated mastery, with clear competencies, transparent rubrics, and multiple chances to revise toward them.
What it looks like
Rubrics written so a student can self-assess. Multiple submissions allowed and expected; revision treated as the work, not the consolation prize for failure. Pacing that varies — some students stay with a concept longer, others move on.
Reporting that tells students and caregivers what's been demonstrated and what's still in progress, instead of an averaged letter that hides both.
Why it matters
Seat time is a proxy for learning, and a bad one. Competency reframes the question — what's been demonstrated, not how many minutes have been logged — and asks schools to back the shift with structures that make mastery (and revision) routine instead of rare.
Resources for going deeper.
A curated set of research, articles, books, videos, and talks the MLCN network leans on for this principle. External links — opens in a new tab.
What is Competency-Based Education - Aurora Institute
What IS the difference between competencies and standards? - reDesign
Student Reflections on the Competency-Based Tier System at Brooklyn Collaborative
Deeper Competency-Based Learning: Making Equitable, Student-Centered, Sustainable Shifts
Competency-Based Learning: Developing Mastery of Skills and Content
Sal Khan: Let's teach for mastery -- not test scores | TED Talk
The Evolution of Competency-Based Transformation in Northern Cass - Aurora Institute
An Introduction to K-12 Competency Based Education Webinar
Equity in Student Centered Learning Guide
The Education Experience cluster.
What learning looks like — how and where students do the work.
Explore further.
Resources, student projects, and member schools tagged with this principle.
Resources tagged with this principle
Lesson designs, planning tools, readings, and templates shared by member schools.
OpenProjects in this principle
Real work from MLCN classrooms — defended in public, archived for the network.
OpenMember schools
Minnesota schools doing the work — browse the directory and filter by location, grade band, or principle.
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