Can Competency Based Learning Fill Jobs?

Report Measures Progress on State’s Education Data Systems

November 20, 2012

Youth Unemployment in Massachusetts Doubles

December 3, 2012

November 29, 2012

Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks so! And, as surprising as it may seem for someone on the opposite side of the political spectrum, I agree with him. What he has proposed in his Skilled Workforce Initiative is a fast track system for earning technical certifications for jobs in high-demand fields. The goal is to make it faster for veterans, laid-off workers, and others with real-world experience to qualify for jobs in growing industries. By demonstrating their existing competencies, these workers would be able to earn credentials and be employed in high needs, hard-to-fill jobs sooner.

According to the Governor, “Competency-based learning awards credit for those skills and experiences, dramatically cutting the time needed to earn certification, and minimizing the cost by not forcing candidates to sit through lessons on subjects they’ve already mastered.”

In MBAE’s 2008 recommendations for Educating a 21st Century Workforce, we called for using “mastery” as the standard students would have to meet to advance in their studies to make it possible for kids to move at their own pace. We think this could engage students in a way that increase graduation rates and motivate students to take more rigorous courses.

You can find out more about competency-based learning at the Competency Works website or by checking outMaking Mastery Work by the Nellie Mae Foundation.

If nothing else, this proves that maybe Massachusetts can take ideas from some unlikely sources for addressing our own skills gaps!