The Importance Of Proficiency-Based Education

One problem I find facing both students and the school system is the amount of pressure put on the GPA and how much we are trying to make our students absorb at such an early age. Now days we do not seem to focus as much application in learning as we should. Grades are what we have been taught to believe are the most important in getting into the right college or finding the best career, but we fail to teach our students how to apply what they are learning into the real world. This is why so many of our students now ask the same question, “When are we going to use this?” We have also been known to cram a large lesson into the minds of young children. We have to allow children to stay children for a little while, all to soon they will grow up …show more content…
Proficiency-based education focuses on specific learning targets and the demonstration of a student’s proficiency with the context (Kuntz, 2012). This way students can take their time in demonstrating what they know about the subject and can have multiple attempts at the problem. This assessment can also help teachers find the exact area that their students struggle in and can cover that topic more thoroughly. It is also easy to monitor the progress of the students and students know what their clear expectations are. Brad believes that with this system, students will no longer ask for extra credit to bump that grade up, but will instead ask for an opportunity to demonstrate that they understand the content (Kuntz, …show more content…
I was amazed to learn that kindergarteners are now learning about three-dimensional shapes. They have to understand how to construct a three-dimensional shape and name the faces, sides, and vertices. When I was in kindergarten, we were still learning about two-dimensional shapes and adding small numbers. I cannot imagine trying to make such a young mind understand a complex problem like this. As I did my interviews, I tried to think of someone that taught in the past when education was simpler, and someone who is just starting out. This brought me to interview my grandma and my brother-in-law. My grandma taught at a small school that combined classes so that each grade level would hear all of the lessons, but may not necessarily have been learning them at that point. When I told her about what we learned now, my grandma was confused on why they had to learn so much at a young age. She understood that her younger students were often hearing about more complex problems from other grade levels, but they were not expected to know how to use them. She thinks that we ask too much of our students and do not let them be children. She always tells me to be young while I can and that I should now wish away my years. Kenneth Ginsburg (2007) tells us that play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, genitive, and emotional strength. Early in development