FAQ

Students are training to become expert learners who can show what they know and can do in a variety of ways, including project-based learning, performance tasks, and more traditional assessments. Along the way to meeting and exceeding grade-level expectations, learners receive responsive feedback and support based on their interests and needs. This model of instruction, which honors students’ assets and cultural backgrounds, has been shown to help close opportunity gaps—and to foster growth mindset, a positive learning identity, and a sense of belonging and value in school.

Adults are also actively learning—about clear and aspiration learning outcomes for students, rubrics/proficiency scales as tools for learning (not just for grading!), cultural competence, educational equity, rigorous hands-on learning and assessment, grading for accuracy and equity, and more. Member school educator teams engage in frequent professional learning and networking opportunities that include informational webinars, professional learning communities, and community gatherings. Schools across the MBLC are already sharing promising practices and resources.

• • The school or district works as a community to develop shared understanding of and commitment to the principles of equitable, culturally responsive, student-centred learning.

  • All teachers design their assessments in reference to a set of common learning indicators and scoring criteria. 

  • Teachers design assessments together and score them collaboratively, using student work to calibrate their understanding of what demonstrating mastery looks like.

  • All teachers score assessments using common scoring criteria. This does not mean that every assessment needs to be scored by rubric, but it means that if an assessment is scored using points, the questions/test items have been carefully designed to reflect the scoring criteria. 

  • In mastery-based classrooms, students can explain how tasks and experiences align to learning outcomes, and students regularly use standards and learning targets to reflect on their own progress and set goals for growth.