Key Shifts
True mastery is a student’s ability to transfer his or her learning to new situations. We call this TRANSFERENCE.
In a mastery learning classroom, students move through a learning progression, and teachers continuously monitor this progress through a variety of assessments. Students are encouraged to have multiple opportunities to demonstrate understanding and reassess as needed.
Mastery Scales
“A Learning Goal or Intention states what is to be learned. But students also need to know how deeply to learn it and exactly how to demonstrate their new learning.”
Mastery Scales are the tool to communicate calibrated criteria of mastery learning for standards. They are a tool for analyzing student work in order to determine and report student progress toward mastery of Standards.
Scales are for use by teachers, parents and students to evaluate progress in the learning progression of a standard and guide next steps in learning to lead to the mastery of the standard(s).
Remember, grading and assessing are all about the Standard, not just the assignment.
“A Learning Goal or Intention states what is to be learned. But students also need to know how deeply to learn it and exactly how to demonstrate their new learning.”
Mastery Scales
Mastery Scales are the tool to communicate calibrated criteria of mastery learning for standards. They are a tool for analyzing student work in order to determine and report student progress toward mastery of Standards.
Scales are for use by teachers, parents and students to evaluate progress in the learning progression of a standard and guide next steps in learning to lead to the mastery of the standard(s).
Remember, grading and assessing are all about the Standard, not just the assignment.
Standards Based Grading / Reporting
Standards-Based Grading (SBG) is the logical partner to Mastery Learning. If the learning itself is focused upon the mastery of specific Standards, then the grading and reporting system should be as well.
Shelby County Public Schools believes that the purpose of grading is to communicate a student’s progress in learning. All teachers in Shelby County Public Schools use standards based grading and mastery learning practices in their classrooms.
MMA - Features of a Mastery Learning System Infographic (1).pdfDesigning Mastery Systems
reDesign shares this graphic to illustrate the components of a mastery system.
Designing a mastery system is complex, and we recognize that we must intentionally work on each part.
That work is a journey.
Additional Resources for understanding Mastery Learning:
- In Search of a Useful Definition of Mastery
- Lessons of Mastery Learning
- “What does the research say about Standards Based Grading?”
- Equitable Grading
- SCPS's Digital Learning Coordinator, Adam Watson on: How SBG Led Us to Empower....and The Power of Evidence.
- More resources about Standards Based Grading