Competency-Based Education: The Why, What, and How
Competency-based education (CBE) replaces seat time and grade levels with demonstrated mastery of specific skills, and this MIT Open Learning Library course examines how schools actually build that system. Lessons cover the core elements of CBE, its potential for closing opportunity gaps, and the practical challenges schools face when they adopt it. Materials include research readings and interviews with educators, administrators, students, and families describing what CBE feels like day to day in a classroom, and what system-wide shifts in scheduling, assessment, and reporting are needed to support it. The course is free to use through MIT's Open Learning Library, with all videos and materials viewable without enrolling; enrolling only adds progress tracking. By the end, learners are equipped to evaluate whether CBE fits their own school or district context and to participate knowledgeably in policy conversations about the approach.