Teacher Development Initiative
BEC, now in its 25th year, has long supported education improvement in Oregon. In 2003 it lead the formation of a business-education collaborative to improve teaching statewide, and soon after made its initial pilot grant in proficiency-based education. Since 2005 it has been a major proponent and leader in proficiency-based education. BEC workshops in that time frame have trained more than 1,000 teachers; most of them in proficiency practice, representing over half of Oregon’s 197 school districts and more than two-thirds of Oregon’s 36 counties.
BEC is now expanding proficiency training to middle and elementary school teachers, and it has spurred the interest of teacher education programs in proficiency practice. BEC has partnered with state agencies, universities, foundations, business organizations and other nonprofits in promoting support for proficiency practice. It has participated in the state-sponsored Credit for Proficiency task Force, from which many new state proficiency policies are being generated.
BEC continues to be the largest source of educator training in Oregon in proficiency-based
education.
The Promise of Proficiency-based Education
Among potential innovations, proficiency-based teaching and learning is widely regarded as the most promising new practice in Oregon education. In a growing number of classrooms, it is producing unprecedented results in student achievement, and there are waiting lists of educators across the state eager to learn this approach. Last spring, a conference of leading thinkers and practitioners in Oregon education identified proficiency-based teaching as the one practice – if taken to statewide scale – that could do the most at the least cost to transform student achievement.
What we call proficiency-based teaching and learning is sometimes called standards-based instruction, or, in regard to high schools, credit for proficiency. It is founded on high standards of proficiency and the expectation that all students—given the right learning environment—can achieve those standards. It makes teaching, learning, assessment, grading and promotion more systematic, objective, consistent and accountable.
- Building Proficiency-Based Teaching and Learning in Oregon (pdf)
- Funding and Sponsors
- Other Resources
Workshops & Events
The BEC offers workshops and events in support of quality teaching and learning.
