User Image

Mariane Gfroerer

Director of Advanced Studies

Mariane is Director of Advanced Studies for the New Hampshire Learning Initiative. In this role she assists schools and districts to build transformational educator leadership in competency education, performance assessment, and personalized approaches as well as to create systems and learning environments to realize the achievement of all students. In addition, she is the Director of the NHLI-SNHU Competency Based Education Leadership and Learning Graduate Program for Master’s and CAGS, supporting educators wishing to focus their practice through student-centered learning.
Previous to this position with NHLI, she worked for 22 years for the NH Department of Education as the State Director of PACE and concurrently, the State Director of School Counseling and Psychology. She was one of the original designers and leads of the New Hampshire Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) initiative, a first-of-its-kind performance assessment system developed in 2013 as a reciprocal system of state assessment and accountability.
In the course of her career in innovative educational practices she has enjoyed the opportunity to provide leadership in the creation and ongoing professional development of NH’s model of implementation of Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO), competency-based support for students who learn differently. She is the author of several articles on career readiness and counseling issues.
Mariane graduated as valedictorian with an M.A. in counseling psychology from the University of New Hampshire and as valedictorian with a B.A. in psychology and philosophy from Notre Dame College and is certified as a Director of School Counseling. She is also a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) through NBCC.

Mariane Gfroerer / April 14, 2020

A Picture of What They Really Know: Reflections on Grading in a Time of Remote Learning

Grading is complex. It is an important form of feedback loop between teachers and students and depending on the grading practices of the instructor can convey how well the student is mastering the objectives of the learning (mastery-based grading) or the student’s performance relative to other students in the class (norm-referenced grading).

Continue Reading

Mariane Gfroerer / March 26, 2020

Take Time for Wellness – Even in Remote Learning

Many classrooms around New Hampshire have, in recent years, incorporated wellness activities into their daily routine for both elementary students and for teens. Teachers have seen the benefits of starting the class with a minute or two of relaxation or breaking up an intense lesson with a physical stretch or short yoga break. In fact, wellness breaks throughout the day are invaluable for a growing, elastic brain and actually increase learning capacity.

Continue Reading