Competency-Based Learning (CBL)

Ellen Hume-Howard / September 5, 2025

Reimagining Professional Development: Putting Educators at the Center of Change

If we want students to be curious, capable, and future-ready, we must invest in the educators who guide them. Professional development isn’t an add-on—it’s the engine of educational change.

Ellen Hume-Howard / May 16, 2025

From PACE to PLACE: How New Hampshire is Redefining School Accountability Through Classroom-Aligned Innovation

In the national conversation about education reform, New Hampshire has quietly—but powerfully—paved the way for a new vision of school accountability. At the heart of this vision lies a transformative […]

Ellen Hume-Howard / February 3, 2025

Staying Committed to Competency-Based Learning

Empowering Students Through Competency-Based Learning: Staying True to Proven Practices in a World of Quick Fixes Educators and administrators often navigate a complex web of choices, initiatives, and pressures in […]

Brian Stack / May 15, 2023

The Importance of Distributed Leadership

In a recent leadership coaching session, a middle school principal confided in me that she feels like an ineffective school leader because she is unable to make most of the […]

Jon Vander Els / December 22, 2022

Scaling Competency-Based Learning at a State Level

One of the greatest challenges facing educators related to competency-based education is how to effectively scale. Read more to discover how the State of Arkansas has approached this daunting task.

Jon Vander Els / July 1, 2021

Formative Assessment: A Linchpin to Learning

In a competency-based system, “meaningful assessment” is highlighted as the second tenet (Levine and Patrick, 2019). What does “meaningful assessment” mean in a competency-based classroom? What is the role of the teacher and the student in this classroom? 

NHLI / January 3, 2021

Three Ways to Scale Student-Centered Reforms in Your System

This article was originally published June 12, 2020 on the website Students at the Center Hub. Author Dr. Felicia Sullivan is Associate Director of Research at Jobs For the Future […]

NHLI / January 3, 2021

Scaling is All the Rage, But How Do You Make It Happen?

New Hampshire’s Performance Assessment for Competency-based Education (PACE) system is entering its third year. Using this alternative state accountability system, 150 teachers in nine school districts have created 14 performance assessment tasks in mathematics, English language arts (ELA) and science. The tasks have been validated against standardized state tests with the ambition to bring performance assessments to all students in the state across all disciplines. A primary goal of PACE is to ensure that students demonstrate their content knowledge to gain academic credits and graduate.

NHLI / December 20, 2020

Three Lessons From New Hampshire’s Effort to Expand Deeper Learning

In 2019, Aurora Institute released the new definition of competency-based learning. This seven-part definition was developed with extensive support from practitioners, researchers and leaders across the country.

This updated definition reflects a deeper understanding of key issues and developments in the field.