Learner Outcomes: Progressions

What: Learner Outcomes

Getting Smart Resources

Podcast: Laurie Gagnon on Competency-Based Education and a Competency-Based System

This Getting Smart podcast episode features Laurie Gagnon discussing competency-based education (CBE) and how it functions not just as a classroom practice but as a systemic approach to redesigning how schools measure and communicate student progress. The episode explores how competency-based progressions shift the focus from seat time and grades to demonstrated mastery, offering practitioners concrete framing for building coherent systems where learning outcomes drive instructional and assessment decisions. Gagnon draws on real experience to address the structural and cultural shifts required to implement CBE at scale, making the conversation particularly relevant for school and district leaders navigating the move away from traditional grading toward more meaningful evidence of student learning. For educators working on outcomes-based transformation, this resource provides both conceptual grounding and practical perspective on aligning curriculum, assessment, and reporting within a competency-based framework.

CBE Starter Pack 4: Progress Based on Mastery

Aurora Institute
The Aurora Institute’s *CBE Starter Pack 4: Progress Based on Mastery* is a practical resource designed to help educators and school leaders understand and implement one of the core principles of competency-based education: allowing students to advance upon demonstrated mastery rather than seat time or age-based grade levels. It breaks down how mastery-based progression works in practice, offering frameworks, language, and examples that schools can use to rethink how student advancement is structured and communicated. The resource is part of a broader CBE Starter Pack series, making it particularly useful for practitioners who are early in their CBE journey and need concrete grounding before tackling policy or system redesign. For education leaders pursuing transformation, this resource matters because shifting from time-based to mastery-based progression is one of the most structurally significant—and often misunderstood—changes a school or district can make, and having accessible, research-informed guidance reduces the

The Power of a Growth Focus

ASCD
The Power of a Growth Focus” by ASCD is a professional learning resource that examines how shifting from fixed, grade-level performance benchmarks to progression-based thinking can transform instructional practice and student outcomes. It offers practitioners and school leaders a framework for understanding learning as a continuum, encouraging educators to track and respond to where students actually are in their development rather than where they are expected to be by a given point in time. The resource provides concrete guidance on reorienting assessment, feedback, and goal-setting practices around growth trajectories, making it directly applicable to curriculum design, instructional coaching, and school improvement planning. For education innovators, this matters because it challenges deeply ingrained systems built around compliance and standardization, offering instead a more responsive, evidence-informed approach that honors the diversity of learner pathways and supports meaningful, measurable progress for every student.

The Power of Learning Progressions

Edutopia
The Power of Learning Progressions,” published by Edutopia, is a practitioner-focused resource that examines how mapping clearly defined sequences of skill and concept development can sharpen instructional decision-making and improve student outcomes. It explains how learning progressions differ from simple scope-and-sequence documents by articulating the incremental steps students move through on their way to mastering complex competencies, giving teachers a diagnostic lens for understanding where learners are and what they need next. The resource offers concrete guidance on how educators can use progressions to design more targeted assessments, differentiate instruction, and communicate learning expectations more transparently to students and families. For school leaders pursuing learning innovation, this matters because outcome-focused progressions provide the structural backbone for competency-based and personalized learning models, enabling schools to move beyond time-based progression toward evidence of actual mastery.

Building21 Progressions Learning Continua

Building21
Building21’s Progressions Learning Continua is a competency-based framework developed by Building21 that maps student learning across a continuum of skill development rather than by traditional grade levels or seat time. The resource provides detailed progressions across academic and applied skill domains, giving educators a structured tool for tracking where individual students are in their development and identifying clear next steps for growth. It supports mastery-based advancement by making learning expectations explicit, transparent, and actionable for both teachers and students. For school leaders pursuing competency-based or personalized learning models, this resource offers a practical foundation for redesigning assessment, instruction, and student agency in ways that move beyond the limitations of conventional graded systems.

Vermont’s Proficiency-Based Scales

Vermont Agency of Education
Vermont’s Proficiency-Based Scales, developed by the Vermont Agency of Education, are structured frameworks that define clear learning progressions across grade levels and subject areas, describing what students know and can do at each stage of development toward proficiency. The resource provides educators with detailed, standards-aligned scales that articulate incremental steps in learning, enabling teachers to assess student progress with greater precision and consistency than traditional grading systems allow. For school leaders and practitioners pursuing competency-based or proficiency-based education models, these scales offer a practical foundation for redesigning assessment, instruction, and reporting practices. They matter because they shift the focus from seat time and averaged grades to demonstrated mastery, giving educators a shared language for tracking growth and communicating student learning to families and stakeholders. As districts move toward more personalized, outcomes-driven approaches, Vermont’s scales serve as a concrete, field-tested tool for aligning classroom practice with systemic transformation goals.

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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