Table Of ContentOver-Tested and Under-Prepared
Pressured by standardized testing and rigid pacing guidelines, many
schools are forced to cover too much content too quickly, without
being able to meet the needs of individual students. In this powerful
book from acclaimed author and presenter Bob Sornson, you’ll learn
how shifting from curriculum-based instruction to competency based,
personalized learning can help students become more successful,
confident, and engaged learners.
Each chapter is easy to digest and provides compelling research,
strategies, and anecdotes to inspire conversation and action. This
second edition provides updated statistics and examples of schools
successfully using competency based learning models to help you
bring about meaningful change.
Teachers, administrators, and community leaders will all find
practical resources and a clear rationale for transforming our current
educational system into a new, dynamic model of teaching and
learning.
Bob Sornson is the founder of the Early Learning Foundation. For
more than three decades he was a classroom teacher and school ad-
ministrator, and he’s the author of many books and articles for edu-
cators, parents, and children. He works with schools and education
organizations across the country, focusing primarily on developing
whole-child competency-based programs that support early learning
success.
Also Available from Routledge
Eye On Education
(www.routledge.com/k-12)
Questioning Education: Moving from
What and How to Why and Who
Sean Slade
Flip the System US: How Teachers Can Transform
Education and Save Democracy
Michael Soskil
Students Taking Charge in Grades K-5: Inside the
Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom
Nancy Sulla
Students Taking Charge in Grades 6-12: Inside the
Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom
Nancy Sulla
Students Taking Charge Implementation Guide for Leaders:
Inside the Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom
Nancy Sulla
Over-Tested and
Under-Prepared
Shifting from One-Size-Fits-All
Instruction to Personalized
Competency Based Learning
Second Edition
Bob Sornson
Cover image: © Thinkstock
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Taylor & Francis
The right of Bob Sornson to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2016
ISBN: 978-1-032-26698-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-25462-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-28952-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003289524
Typeset in Palatino
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
To those stubborn educators who have held to their beliefs
that education can be a joyous and collaborative process.
To every parent who wants your children to fall in love
with learning, and also wants all children to have a fair
opportunity to learn and succeed.
To every child. May you be blessed with determined adults
who will help you fall in love with learning for life.
Contents
About the Author ..................................... ix
Acknowledgements......................................x
Reader’s Guide ........................................xii
Introduction..........................................1
1 Someday Soon, a Fable ............................... 5
2 Informed Instruction Leads to Competency,
Part One ............................................ 10
3 The Curriculum-Driven Model: A Brief History....... 15
4 Without Learning Competency There Can Be
No Equity .......................................... 34
5 Giving Up Unproductive Mental Models ............. 39
6 Building a New Model .............................. 49
7 Principles of Instruction Leading to Competency ..... 57
8 Teaching Differently ................................ 62
9 Systems Thinking for Competency Based
Learning ............................................ 72
10 Whole Child Competency ........................... 93
11 Creating the Culture of a Learning Organization..... 101
viii ◆ Contents
12 Learning for Understanding and Application ........ 109
13 Masters of the Trade: Game Designers .............. 117
14 What’s Happening in Competency Based
Learning Initiatives ................................ 121
15 Teacher Education: Building Pathways to
Skills That Matter.................................. 150
16 Distracted by the Debate Over What to Cover ....... 159
17 Letting Go of Curriculum-Driven Instruction ........ 161
18 Transitioning from Curriculum-Driven to
Competency Based Learning ........................ 168
19 Informed Instruction Leads to Competency,
Part Two........................................... 174
20 Conclusion: The Spirit of Transformation ........... 177
Appendix 1: Organizational Self-Assessment for Readiness
to Implement Competency Based Learning ....181
Appendix 2: Resources for the Further Study of
Competency Based Learning ................182
Study Guide .........................................187
References ...........................................198
About the Author
Bob Sornson is an education leader calling
for programs and practices which support
competency based learning, early learning
success, and high quality early childhood
learning programs. He is the father of four
grown children, and has worked inter-
nationally with school districts, universities,
and parent organizations.
Born and raised in Detroit, MI along with his six siblings,
Bob earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the University of
Michigan, an education specialist degree from Central Michigan
University, and his PH.D. from Andrews University. For over
thirty years he worked as a teacher and as an administrator
in Michigan public schools, developed an acclaimed model
early learning success initiative, and in 2001 founded the Early
Learning Foundation.
A prolific author, Bob has written best-selling books for
educators, parents and children, along with many journal
publications. His books include Essential Math Skills (Shell
Education), Fanatically Formative (Corwin Press), Stand in My
Shoes: Kids Learning about Empathy (Early Learning Foundation
Press), The Juice Box Bully (Early Learning Foundation Press),
Teaching and Joy (ASCD). He has offered workshops and
keynotes in forty-eight states and in other nations.
Bob Sornson is dedicated to giving far more children a
real chance for success in school and in life, and believes that
the task of helping all kids become avid learners is one of
the great challenges/opportunities of our time. Bob lives
with his wife Nancy in Brighton, MI, and can be contacted at
earlylearningfoundation.com.
