How diplomas based on skill acquisition, not credits earned, could change education

NEWPORT, Maine — Algebra was not Kylee Elderkin’s favorite subject at the beginning of the school year.

“I was a little behind,” said Kylee, 14. “I wouldn’t understand.”

The Nokomis Regional High School ninth grader said she used to routinely miss key skills and do poorly on tests. Struggling students like Kylee might not have made it through honors algebra in the past, said teacher Ellen Payne, who has taught high school math for 11 years. Payne said she used to “lose” four or five students a year from honors algebra; they’d have to drop down a level. In lower level classes, some would have to repeat the whole course.

This year Payne doesn’t expect to lose Kylee or anyone else.

That’s due to a new teaching approach here called “proficiency-based education” that was inspired by a 2012 state law…

Read full story at The Hechinger Report.

Photo Credit: Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald