Competency-Based Education in New Hampshire

Because every learner's journey is unique to the person's particular talents, learning assets, and challenges, we are called to design systems that can deliver customized personal learning approaches. A competency education system recognizes that academic success alone is not the true measure of the learning and proficiency required for students to be ready for future success. Most traditional, time-based education systems fall short because the focus is on covering material, even when students do not fully understand what they are learning. This creates gaps that widen if not addressed. SAU 7 is committed to doing better with a competency-based system that puts each of our students at the center and emphasizes the essential learning outcomes that we - the students, families, and educators of SAU 7, believe are necessary to help our students thrive both now, and in the future.

All New Hampshire schools are expected to be competency-based. In SAU 7, we use the nationally-recognized definition of competency education developed by the Aurora Institute in 2016.

What does it mean for our schools?

  • We empower our students to make important decisions about their learning as much as we can.
  • We consider assessment to be a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for our students.
  • We provide our students with timely and differentiated support for their learning when they need it.
  • We measure student progress based on evidence of learning, not the time they spend on their learning.
  • We encourage our students to learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.
  • We ensure strategies for equity for all students are embedded into all aspects of our SAU 7 policies, procedures, and practices.
  • We set rigorous, transparent, measurable, and transferable expectations for learning for all of our students

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