RSU #3 - Our Journey Thus Far - A BRIEF History

In the Spring of 2011, The RSU 3 Board of Directors voted to move our district in the direction of creating a proficiency based system of education.  Later that spring, RSU 3 became a charter member (one of the original 9) of the Maine Cohort for Customized Learning and our "heavy lifting" began!  

Since that time, we have worked diligently to set the proper foundations to create a proficiency based system of education here in RSU 3.  We have provided lots of professional development to our teachers with much more to come and we have spent the last year working on the development of a new Future - Focused Mission and Vision for RSU 3.  Click here to see the FINAL VERSION of that Mission/Vision!  We conducted four public forums, a large staff survey, a large student survey,and we created two stakeholder groups to help steer the work and push it forward.  You can see much of the results of these efforts below under "Documents of Interest".  We certainly spent a lot of time both planning and educating individuals on what a proficiency based system of education is and what it isn't and we still have much more to do!

Where are we now?

In January, 2013 the RSU 3 Board of Directors voted to create a Strategic Planning Committee whose charge it will be "to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to move the RSU 3 system in the direction of its board adopted mission and proficiency based vision."  Members of the Strategic Planning Committee are as follows:

 RSU 3's "Strategic Plan" will include a detailed set of identified core beliefs, specific goals, and suggested action steps and timelines to make those goals, beliefs, and our vision come to life for our children.  

A secondary goal of this committee will be to ensure as much public feedback in the process as possible.  They will undertake to hold public forums, conduct surveys, and other feedback gathering processes to try to make sure we take the time to both educate the public about what we are trying to do AND (more importantly), gather their input in how to move forward.  

If you have any comments that you'd like to share with members of the Strategic Planning Committee about this work, I would encourage you to contact them using the information above. 

STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES:

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

 Click here to watch a video about where we are now

Click here to see our agreed upon "Core Components" of our Strategic Plan

    Where are we going? 

The RSU 3 Board of Directors is committed to transitioning from our current Industrial Age model of public education to a new and exciting curriculum where learning is the constant and time becomes the variable.  Our new Mission/Vision is our "guidepost" in moving forward to create a proficiency based system of education where:

"Learning is the Constant":

-  Learners allowed to learn at their appropriate developmental instructional level in each of ten content areas based on demonstrated performance and following their own passions and inquiry.

-  Curriculum is "guaranteed and viable" where the standards and supporting materials are made explicit and available to teachers, students and parents ANYTIME and ANYWHERE.

-  Evidence toward proficiency for all learning targets is measured and recorded over time where the learner must score proficient or better prior to beginning the next performance level in a learning progression.

". . . Time is the Variable":

-  Learners advance to the next performance level in a content area when THEY ARE READY not when the teacher thinks the majority of the class is.

-  Progression from one performance level to another can occur at any point during the course of the year for any content area.

-  Learners are in different performance levels for different content areas with a great deal of grouping and re-grouping going on.

-  Where the understanding that learning can occur in more places than just the four walls of a classroom is honored and students are truly free to learn ANYTIME and ANYWHERE.

Click Here to see an Outline of our "Next Steps" in the Strategic Planning Process! 

Documents of Interest (please click on links below) RSU 3 Board Workshop on RSU 3 Vision for Student Learning Opening Slide Presentation to Community Education Design Team Community Education Design Team 'Charge" Opening Slide Presentation to Staff Education Design Team Some Proficiency Based Basics (slide show to Community Ed. Design Team) Two Foundational Principles:  Group Activity Results Public Forum - Tri-Fold Work Public Forum Survey Results Summary Slide Show - Strategic Planning Committee Mtg. #1 Purpose Document for Strategic Planning Committee Strategic Planning Flow Chart DRAFT Core Principles for Strategic Plan

Other Helpful Links to Learn More About Proficiency Based or "Customized" Learning:

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