Scheduling for Personalized Competency-Based Education

“As education continues to evolve and become more personalized to meet the needs of every learner, it is often the practical issues like gradebooks and master schedules that hold schools back from doing what is right for kids. But those things are about logistics—they’re not about learning. Doug Finn and Michelle Finn provide great practical advice to address those obstacles so that our schools can, ultimately, become innovative centers of deep and authentic learning.”

“Numerous schools, districts, and states are transitioning to competency-based education, yet may struggle with the nuts and bolts of implementation. This book provides clear guidance on how to set up pathways to support student progression through a personalized competency-based education (PCBE) system. After a brief yet informative overview of the purpose of PCBE, the authors provide detailed and understandable sequences to support system movement toward a fully integrated PCBE system, focusing on scheduling and providing a number of implementation examples. This book is an essential resource for any education program wanting to successfully and fully integrate PCBE within their classrooms, schools, and districts.”

“When designing and implementing personalized learning in K–12 classrooms, many educators wonder what a school day should look like. Based on their decades of educational practice and consulting work on personalized competency-based education, Douglas and Michelle provide specific and practical guidance on how to design a schoolwide personalized competency-based schedule to organize school work for teachers and students. Various strategies, examples, and visualizations of suggested schedules will help readers envision and create their own personalized competency-based learning environments.”

“Finally! A book written by practitioners for practitioners on the step-by-step tackling of challenges of time, pace and schedules.

This book offers an educator’s perspective in advancing breakthrough practices. In today’s current educational system, all students are expected to move through the same curriculum at the same rate. A key challenge of schools moving to personalized competency-based learning is moving beyond the one-size-fits-all classroom models that group students on age, not stage. This requires fundamental rethinking of the use of time, space, path, and pace.

One of the last elements educators tackle when designing new personalized competency-based education models is flexible pacing and changing bell schedules. It remains one of the most significant barriers to transforming learning toward student-centered systems.

This book offers clear, detailed solutions to guide new approaches for breakthrough practices that free educators from the shackles of time. It is clear, compelling, and practical guidance.

I have traveled the world, visiting schools with innovative education models. One of the most dramatic distinctions from traditional schools in America is how different scheduling looks in student-centered, competency-based learning. This book offers the guidance we’ve been waiting for to shine a light on a path forward for rethinking time and pace.”

“It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find two people who collectively know more about competency-based education across the K–12 continuum than Doug and Michelle Finn. This book puts a fine point on that fact. In it, the authors select probably the most challenging aspects of a CBE system and provide solutions with unprecedented clarity. If you are thinking of exploring CBE, you simply must read this book.”