July 10, 2025

Dear Educator,

With summer (and vacations) in full swing, I wanted to take a step back this month to share some of my favorite Bright Spots from the 2024-25 academic year as well as our most-read blogs and most-accessed learner-centered resources. I hope these stories inspire you as much as they’ve inspired me and our work here at Learner-Centered Collaborative.

To kick off this trip down memory lane, let’s head back to September 19, 2024 where I shared how Learner-Centered Collaborative was leveraging a competency-based approach to support beginning teachers and transform the professional learning experience. And, be sure to check out our most-read blog posts of the year!

With Gratitude,

P.S. In partnership with Learning Policy Institute, we are kicking off a free, four-part summer learning series for school and district teams on July 21! Learn more and register here.

Designing Competency-Based Professional Learning

My colleague Meg and I have spent the last two days working with new educators and their mentors in Lindsay Unified School District. It has been amazing to connect with them, unpack their experiences, and learn about their aspirations for learners as they begin their careers.

Each educator started with a self-assessment and will be selecting an online course that aligns with their goals. No matter what course they select, they will experience learning that is personalized, self-directed, and competency-based.

We have intentionally designed all of our courses to feature each of these three principles throughout. Below is bit more detail on each one:

1. Personalized Goals and Learning Plans

Our course self-assessment empowers educators to define their goals. By self-assessing their strengths and opportunities for growth with respect to their desired professional competencies, they can craft a personalized learning plan.

2. Self-Directed Learning

Educators have diverse expertise and preferences about how and what they learn. The courses are aligned with our framework and provide clear learning goals while allowing for voice and choice that empowers teachers to develop and apply new knowledge in ways that suit their needs and builds on their strengths.

3. Competency-Based Demonstrations of Learning

We believe strongly in moving from assessing professional development by the number of hours teachers have attended to prioritizing the application and impact of the desired learning in practice. With this approach, professional learning shifts from something we do to educators to an improvement process that impacts learning for all.

Interested in bringing energizing professional development experiences to your school or district? Learn more about our professional development offerings.

What educators like you had at the top of their reading list

📖 Not All Rubrics Are Created Equal: How Competency-Based Progressions Are The Way to Go. "Competency-based systems disrupt the “paradigm of coverage” that often plagues school-centered education models. Instead of attempting to cover an unrealistic number of standards, this approach allows educators to focus on the most crucial skills and competencies, asking, “What are the most important things for students to learn? What do we value in our community?”" Learn all about competency-based progressions.

📖 From the Classroom to the Cosmos: Passion Projects as a Tool for Real-World Learning. "My son, Owen, didn’t just complete a school project. He embarked on an intellectual adventure that connected him with real-world experts, deepened his understanding of planetary science, and transformed his confidence as a learner." Take flight with Owen.

📖 Why Mindset Matters in Cultivating Learner-Centered Change. "One of the most important mindsets for systems change is understanding that the individual is the unit of change–not the school, not the district. Systems don’t change; they are constructs, not living, breathing things. People change systems. Each person needs to feel something different to act differently–this is our work as leaders." Discover more about the power of our mindsets