The Nellie Mae Education Foundation posted an RFQ to its website for a consultant/consulting team to help guide its Proficiency-Based Pathways project.

The project aims to:

Proficiency-based pathways would reform the educational process ...]]>

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation posted an RFQ to its website for a consultant/consulting team to help guide its Proficiency-Based Pathways project.

The project aims to:

• deepen the foundation’s understanding of the emerging sector of proficiency-based education systems; and
• support the development of quality proficiency-based pathways to high school graduation and beyond.

Proficiency-based pathways would reform the educational process so a student’s achievement is not measured by the hours spent in a classroom, but rather through demonstration of a mastery of skills and material. In a traditional classroom setting, student learning has become the variable, in which achievement is measured by hours spent inside a classroom and categorized by rigid grade-block levels.

In keeping with the foundation’s ongoing efforts to promote “student-centered” education, proficiency-based pathways put the student at the center of learning so education is customized to the student's needs and abilities. This competency-based system aims to ensure that the student moves on to new material with the knowledge of the old.

The RFQ and a PDF with more information have been posted to the foundation’s website.