6 Ways State Policymakers Can Build More Future-Focused Education Systems: A Podcast Series with the Aurora Institute: Episode 5

Series Overview:Join EALA for an in-depth discussion with Virgel Hammonds and Jennifer Kabaker of The Aurora Institute as they explore the 2024 State Policy Priorities. In April 2024, The Aurora Institute released state policy recommendations aimed at transforming education for all learners, especially those underserved by the current system. Each bite-sized segment in our series covers one of the six identified policy shifts.

Episode 5: Supporting Educators in Competency-Based Systems In this episode, we break down the fifth policy recommendation: Support educators to thrive in a competency-based system. Learn how state policies can better support educators in developing the skills and knowledge necessary to teach in a modern, learner-centered environment. Virgel and Jennifer discuss strategies for professional development, mentorship, and career advancement that align with this policy shift. To learn more, visit Aurora Institute and read the Policy Priorities.

Access the full podcast transcript at: https://bit.ly/4e64vTj 

 

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hi, this is Aurora from the Educating All Learners Alliance,
and you're listening to Six Ways State Policymakers Can Build More Future-Focused
Education Systems, a podcast series with the Aurora Institute.
The Aurora Institute is a national nonprofit organization working on policy
advocacy, field building and capacity building, research and knowledge sharing,

(00:24):
and convening to advance innovative approaches that transform education for youth across America.
In April of 2024, the Aurora Institute released state policy recommendations
to transform education for all learners,
especially those who have been underserved by the current system.
Each five-minute segment in our series will cover one of the six identified policy shifts.

(00:47):
Joining us today is Virgil Hammons, CEO of the Aurora Institute, and Jennifer Kabaker.
So let's talk about the fifth recommendation, which is support educators to
thrive in a competency-based system.
I know for educators out there listening, there's always that question of like,
okay, so how does this apply to me, to the educators?

(01:09):
Tell us more about what this means, Jennifer, you know, from the top down. Sure. So, yeah.
The way, and educators will know this, the way we train and support educators
has remained mostly unchanged over the last several decades.
And beyond that, the vast majority
of educators have never experienced competency-based learning themselves.
They didn't have it in their teacher preparation program or in their own K-12 experience.

(01:30):
So it makes it difficult to think through how we expect them to provide such
learning experiences to students when they haven't experienced it themselves.
Luckily, state policymakers are positioned to move the needle on this.
To start, we think states should convene task forces or coalitions of educators
and preparation providers to provide input on and priorities for modernizing

(01:51):
the teaching profession and the steps they need to take in their specific state.
So for example, you could imagine a coalition would recommend that states redesign
teacher licensure to enable competency-based approaches like macro-credentials.
Rhode Island is a great example of this.
They have a pretty unique credentialing approval process that supports competency-based programs.
And they've recently approved one of these programs out of UCLA called the Excel

(02:14):
Leadership Academy, which uses micro-credentials to actually collect and assess
evidence from educators' practice to demonstrate that they're able to use their
learning in their classrooms.
You could also imagine that these coalitions could prioritize modernizing professional
learning experiences to explicitly support competency-based and learner-centered practices.
We see that happening in places like Washington, and also to support other areas

(02:39):
of this, like assessment literacy,
artificial intelligence, the use of technology, and so much more.
So there's a very vast world of areas that we could really dial up professional learning on.
And then beyond supporting CBE directly, state leaders should also be thinking
about crafting initiatives to recruit, train, and support more educators of
color, to rethink teacher compensation, to make the profession more attractive.

(03:00):
And really all of these come to really putting into policy the belief that educators
are masters in their craft.
They are doing amazing things in our classrooms every day and should be supported
and acknowledged for that work and to help make sure that they're ready for
the education classrooms of tomorrow too.
Now, what are some of the biggest challenges that you anticipate in this kind of shift?
Sure. So teacher preparation programs and licensure programs,

(03:24):
as I said before, have been working in the same ways for decades and decades.
And part of that is because they have very limited incentives to change their
practices because there's not a ton of competition in that market.
But if educator preparation programs don't shift their practices to meet this
moment, we'll ultimately have an educator workforce that isn't prepared to provide
learners with the experiences they deserve, and that will ultimately be codified in policy, we hope.

(03:47):
State policymakers can help shift this dynamic by creating policies or guidance
to ensure that educator licensure and credentialing can be awarded based on
those demonstrations of mastery or competency-based validations of skills.
And this would also ensure that educators are not only prepared to teach in
competency-based systems, but experience themselves.
And by teaching pre-service educators how to create those student-centered classrooms,

(04:10):
they'll be able to better serve all learners regardless of their needs.
So what would that look like in practice in the classroom? Sure.
So when educators are supported to thrive at a competency-based system,
they'll have the knowledge and skills that they need to transform their classrooms
to be more student-centered.
But beyond that, modernizing the educator workforce will result in a more diverse,
a better supported, and a more sustainable educator workforce,

(04:32):
which will really result in happier educators who have access to high-quality
professional development,
development meaningful growth opportunities and engaging
communities practice and ultimately more stability for learners
too we need to really be intentional in this
moment about how we're supporting both pre-service and
in-service educators to shift these practices and really
think the role that they play in the classroom that's it for us today folks

(04:57):
thank you to virgil hammons and jennifer kabaker be sure to check out the next
episode in our series i'm aurora from And this was Six Ways State Policymakers
Can Build More Future-Focused Education Systems.