September 18, 2025

Dear Educator,

The transcript is often named one of the biggest barriers to high school transformation—long seen as an unmovable record of grades and seat time.

Transcripts hold immense power because they are the universal currency of student learning and shape how colleges admit, employers hire, and families measure success. Their consistency across schools makes them a trusted tool, but that same standardization is also what makes them so hard to change.

For more than a century, transcripts have reduced learning to courses, credits, and grades, creating robust systems of accountability, policy, and tradition that resist disruption. Shifting them requires rethinking how we capture learning and building shared trust among K–12, higher education, and the broader community.

Rather than waiting for change to come from outside, we are leaning in and collaborating with North County San Diego districts and California State University San Marcos. By reimagining the transcript, these innovative leaders are proving schools can create new models that better reflect whole-learner growth and expand opportunity for every student. More on this work in the Bright Spot below!

With Gratitude,

Reimagining the High School Transcript

Building on the lessons shared in our Competency-Based Reporting Playbook, North County San Diego districts and California State University San Marcos partnered with Learner-Centered Collaborative to reimagine what a high school transcript could be.

In a two-part design series facilitated by my colleagues Devin Vodicka and César Morales, district leaders, educators, counselors, and admissions officers explored how transcripts might evolve from static records of grades and seat time into living documents of growth, capability, and whole-learner outcomes. Their shared vision? Competency-based, authentic evidence of learning that unlocks new opportunities for students.

North County San Diego K-12 and California State University San Marcos leaders gather for a two-day high school transcript redesign series facilitated by Learner-Centered Collaborative

The recommendations generated will directly inform CSUSM’s Guaranteed Admissions MOU with partner districts—laying the foundation for a model that reflects the full story of student learning while expanding access to higher education.

This won’t change overnight, but we aren’t waiting for someone else to do it. The time is now to reimagine what is possible in our education systems and do something about it.  

Looking to reimagine how learning is measured in your system? At Learner-Centered Collaborative, we've been working with school and district partners to shift from traditional grading practices to competency-based assessment, grading, and reporting systems. This work has been a catalyst to larger systems change, and we'd love to work with you to do the same! Connect with us here to explore more.

When you take the Competency-Based Learning Deep Dive course, you will gather examples, tools, and resources to implement the backward design process, utilize performance and iterative-focused formative assessments, and support learners in reflecting on and sharing their learning journey. This course will also help you define your assessment and grading practices, focusing on a standards-based or competency-based approach. Enroll today.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

📖 Pathways to Possibility: Reimagining CTE in California’s Continuation High Schools. "Across California, continuation high schools are creating more personalized, purposeful learning experiences for students who have often been underserved by traditional systems. These schools support young people navigating poverty, housing instability, and other complex life challenges. Here's how they're driving change." Dive into this new report.

📱 Durable Skills Learning Experience Accelerator App. "Learner-Centered Collaborative partners with educators to define whole-learner outcomes, design meaningful learning experiences, and create the enabling conditions for learner-centered transformation. The Durable Skills Learning Experience Accelerator is one example of how we are supporting educators in bringing learner-centered learning to life in their communities." Access the free app.

🤝 Support Learner Self-Assessment. "Self-assessment is empowering learners to consider where they are in their own learning by intentionally creating transparency of the learning process, and creating a safe space to make mistakes. When learners know where they are, where they’re going, and have methods to communicate their needs, motivation and engagement increase." Explore real examples of this classroom strategy.