“This school really taught me how to face challenges,” is how Tyrone Barnes, a student at E 3 agle Academy, described how he has grown in a mastery-based learning environment. At iNACOL last week, a few of E 3 agle Academy’s students and teachers joined their principal to share what they’ve learned since opening their doors last fall.
Students and teachers shared how their schools’ mastery-based learning environments have allowed them to be more independent, and to develop stronger relationships with each other. As one teacher from E 3 agle Academy noted, “In a mastery system, I can’t give up on the students and the students can’t give up on me.”
Leaders Peggy Schauer (E 3 agle Academy) and Luke Bauer (The Urban Assembly Maker Academy) shared how their schools have changed from their first to second years. Each school has radically iterated on its schedule and curriculum since opening in fall 2014. E 3 agle Academy, for example, has iterated on its seminar blocks, in which students discuss current events. Though these seminars began with little structure, Peggy and her team soon began to ground them in competencies. Students can now earn credit in these seminars and use it to advance toward graduation.
By contrast, Urban Assembly has revamped its competency grading system multiple times, and has designed a customized website to track student progress. This new system creates simple, student- and family-facing reports that detail what standards students have and have not yet mastered.
As E 3 agle Academy and The Urban Assembly Maker Academy continue to grow, they will build on these and other changes they have made to their models. We’re excited to support them in this work through the coming year.
Watch the full video of our student panel here.