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Aurora Institute

Issue Brief

State Strategies to Develop Teacher Capacity for Personalized, Competency-Based Learning

Author(s): Susan Patrick, Dale Frost, Maria Worthen

Organization(s): iNACOL

Issue(s): State Policy, Develop Educator Capacity

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This issue brief shares state policy recommendations and action steps for policymakers who are supporting the redesign of educator workforce systems to enable educators to build the skills, competencies and knowledge needed to thrive in modern, student-centered learning environments.  

By modernizing educator preparation and development systems, policymakers will support transformation at scale toward education systems that prepare every student for success in higher education, the modern workforce and as citizens.   

Transforming K-12 education systems to student-centered learning requires building teacher capacity for personalized, competency-based education.

This issue brief highlights four strategies for states and school districts to transform educator workforce systems to prepare teachers with the skills they need for student-centered learning:

  1. Identifying clear, specific educator competencies for personalized, competency-based learning environments;
  2. Creating multiple, high-quality pathways to educator credentials and development;
  3. Developing educator professional judgment for student-centered learning; and
  4. Building assessment literacy.