Off the Clock
Moving Education From Time to Competency
Policy & Planning | School Change, Reform, & Restructuring | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles
How to base learning on mastery instead of time
What if you could remove time and space pressures from the process of teaching and learning? The authors of Off the Clock not only suggest this, but they have implemented it in New Hampshire. Due in part to their work, the New England Consortium won the 2011 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation through the Education Commission of the States. This book's core idea is that student achievement should be based on mastering competencies instead of "seat time." In addition, learning does not need to be restricted to a school building or traditional school calendar. Fred Bramante and Rose Colby describe a uniquely 21st century learning environment in which:
- Every student is engaged
- Parents and students have more control over learning
- Dropouts are all but eliminated
- Curriculum becomes virtually limitless, project-based, and interdisciplinary
This text for educators, policymakers, parents, and community members provides a comprehensive approach to implementing a large-scale competency-based reform initiative. Wherever this model is applied, public education will be vastly improved, more efficient, and, quite possibly, less expensive. The ultimate beneficiaries will be our nation's children.
“A must read on education reform in the 21st century. This book gives a “how to” perspective that we can all learn from.”
"An impressive account of New Hampshire’s journey from time-based teaching to competency-based learning, Off the Clock presents the rationale, process, challenges, and key learnings from the NH quest for zero dropouts and substantive, sustainable secondary school redesign. Based on firsthand involvement in the inception and implementation of the change process, Off the Clock is as informative as it is inspirational."
"Off the Clock is a delight! Bramante and Colby have given us a deeply personal, vibrant, and visionary insight into the why, what and how to move us past the schools of old. With their deep hands-on knowledge, the authors take you deep into the details of New Hampshire’s bold break from the strangling hold of the time-based Carnegie unit into a mastery-based education system. For anyone interested in competency-based learning, Off the Clock is a must read."
"No more “one-size-fits-all.” The conversation that will follow the must-read, Off the Clock, will transform educational models and policy to individualized learning with the essential measures of accountability for student growth and competency."
