Five school districts meet to discuss pilot program for student success

What brings together 46 local educators and school administrators for four days in the summer? A data-driven pilot program centered on the needs of students and families to widen the gates to a full competency-based education.

Five local school districts — Gilford, Governor Wentworth, Inter-Lakes, Moultonborough Academy and Prospect Mountain — came together as part of the New Hampshire Secondary Innovations Project pilot. The pilot was organized by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, a nonprofit that works to foster positive learning environments where every child reaches their full potential, in partnership with Ali Brown, educator, facilitator, and founder of All of Us, a transformative teaching and learning company, and the Lakes Region Curriculum Coordinator group. It builds on the work of Fred Bramante, president of the National Center for Competency-Based Learning, whose contributions heavily informed the recent revisions to the state's minimum standards for public school approval.

For four days, 46 teachers and administrators worked together across disciplines to dive into their school's data collected by MAEC and All of Us during the first phase of this project, learning how to translate this data into informed day-to-day instructional decisions. Participants then designed, tested, and presented a curriculum prototype that incorporates learning for what is important today, prepares students for what is coming tomorrow, and helps them see its relevance and purpose. Presentations and gallery walks were shared with an audience of teacher peers, school and district administrative team members (principals, deans, superintendents), NH Department of Education staff, and pilot participants for feedback. At the end of the week, participants reflected on their goals and established next steps for implementation at the start of the school year.

This pilot was funded by the U.S. Department of Education through MAEC’s Region I Equity Assistance Center and provided educators with a roadmap for the future. This professional learning opportunity is a circle of continuous improvement, where educators and administrators can plan changes, implement and monitor their plans, and determine if those changes make an impact on student learning and engagement. An educational shift to competency-based and learner-centered teaching and learning requires incremental action steps, vulnerability, risk-taking and collaboration with students and families. This pilot project gave educators a chance to dive into data, develop relevant, meaningful opportunities for students, and model lifelong learning all while challenging themselves to rethink and transform their teaching practices.

Two anonymous participants of the NH Secondary Innovations Project pilot shared the following takeaways at the conclusion, "That the [our] stakeholders want the changes we are building toward" and "Collaboration with peers with structured support and valuable input from facilitators. Positive encouragement that this work is possible when working together."