Future Ready Schools Summit and Mastery Learning

I attended a high school that used Mastery Learning in English, Science and some Math classes. Student’s moved at their own pace through the curriculum. At the beginning of each unit, we took a pretest. If we scored high enough, you didn’t have to do the assignment for that unit and moved on to the next unit. I was able to take independent science courses by myself at my own pace. The courses I took were Electricity, Microbiology, and Anatomy and Physiology.  I would read the book, completed “packets”, and got the lab supplies and performed the labs independently. If I needed anything, the teacher was in the room to help.

My understanding and appreciation for the benefits of Mastery Learning helped as Bancroft-Rosalie transitioned to the elementary Reading, Language and Math programs we now use. So how do we incorporate Mastery Learning into the secondary school? Computers have the potential to assist teachers in organizing their classes based on Mastery of the content. This is one of the ideas we are exploring at the FutureReady Schools Summit in Chicago on June 14-17. Staff members attending are myself, Mrs. Nolting, Mrs. Zwygart, Mrs. Henry, Mr. Elsasser and Mr. Sundleaf. Other schools attending (we are going on a chartered bus provided by the Department of Education) are Cedar Bluffs, Walthill, and Pender, along with staff from ESU2 in Fremont.