Giving Compass' Take:

· Competency-based education supports a learning-based education system rather than one solely reliant on time spent in school. Chip Linehan, founder of Building 21, explains how his nonprofit is recreating schools with competency-based education in order to meet the needs of all learners.

· Does competency-based education increase student success? How does competency-based education provide students with the skills they need to succeed for future careers?

· Here is a list of tools to help provide an effective competency-based education.


Our current system’s narrow definitions of student success value content knowledge over the skills and mindsets needed for students to thrive in today’s rapidly changing world. On the other hand, next-generation graduation requirements that measure and credit a broader and deeper array of habits, mindsets, skills and experiences have the potential to redefine readiness for students and prepare them for their journey through the wayfinding decade of learning and working that follows high school.

Our vision at Building 21 is to create a deep network of like-minded schools and districts that seek to fundamentally rethink high school graduation requirements to reflect the changing world around us, and to personalize individual pathways by bending the system to meet the strengths and interests of every learner. This network is built around:

  • A common definition of success (Graduation Requirements)
  • A standardized way of assessing learning and awarding credit (Competency-Based Learning Model)
  • Problem-based/project-based instruction culminating in the authentic application of learning (Studio Model)
  • A common set of tools and systems to manage teaching and learning (Systems)

Read the full article about competency-based education by Chip Linehan at Getting Smart.