defining moment in education

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Sparking Change in Teaching Practices

Educators share key moments that catalyzed change.

We know the world is changing. Today’s students spend more time looking at screens than talking to each other. They read and write more than any past generation, yet the bulk of their written communication is on social media . The industries they will enter and the jobs they need preparation to take are ever-changing.

In order to serve our students, we too must change and grow. As teachers, we need not frantically chase the next new thing in education, but we must improve the core of our craft as research, best practices, and the world evolve. But how?

The Systematic Approach

We often think of growth in a gradual and systematic way. We improve incrementally as a result of our school leadership and district systems.

But focusing solely on systems-level change in education is problematic. Researchers examined professional development systems in three large districts and concluded that many were a mirage , noting, “We found no evidence that any particular kind or amount of professional development consistently helps teachers improve.”

Although the research doesn’t mean we must abandon formal professional development, we recognize that in order to truly grow, we must look beyond systemwide options to make change.

The Moments That Change Us

I recently posed a simple question about change on Twitter : “What moments cause us to actually change our practice?”

As the comments rolled in, patterns appeared—each illustrated by powerful stories of real teachers and real change. Many responses showed a picture that was drastically different from our prevailing systematic view. (The responses below have been lightly edited.)

Listen and Respond

Elementary teacher Kory Graham shared, “I think my teaching has always been out there—I’ve never been a great rules follower when it comes to what I do in my classroom. But this answer by a fourth grader on a student survey really hit home, and reminded me to keep pushing the boundaries as much as I possibly can.”

Her student had written, “I did not really enjoy all the talking you did. I enjoy more doing than explaining. I think that next year you should think about letting us figure some stuff out ourselves.” The response struck a chord with Graham and prompted her to move toward change.

English teacher Adrianne Moe described a similar experience: “One day I just got tired of talking. I was tired of performing. I asked myself why I was the one doing all the work when the students were here to learn. After that, I have completely shifted to student-centered everything. If I talk for more than 10 minutes, it’s too much.”

By simply gathering feedback and being open to listening, Graham and Moe experienced moments of change that had a lasting impact on their practices and students.

Soliciting feedback from students and then reflecting on the information they provide can be catalysts for change. Giving students a formal way to offer their suggestions—such as a survey—can be a powerful tool in shaping how an educator approaches change. When change is driven by student input, educators may find deeper engagement and motivation.

Use a New Lens

Secondary English language specialist Bret Gosselin was presented with—and was willing to reflect on—a new view of his former students: “After I left the classroom, I got to work with my former students post-graduation as they tried community college. None of them tested into college level and most failed their developmental courses. I went back into the classroom and changed everything.”

By observing his students in a different environment, Gosselin confronted the results of his teaching and changed “everything.” Finding opportunities to interact with students outside of your typical routine can provide a space for better understanding their needs. A simple practice of observing students outside of your classroom could offer an unexpected insight about how you teach.

Teacher and writer Jennifer Wordsworth changed her viewpoint after an exploration of research: “I researched homework and learning outcomes, realized homework is useless, and stopped assigning everything except reading/spelling and larger projects. I’ll never go back.”

By being willing to challenge an assumption she held, Wordsworth applied research to improve her craft and help her students. Finding relevant research can provide new insights on your practice.

Teacher Brandy Heckman experienced powerful shifts in perspective through an event in her own life. “Becoming a parent changed all of the above. Sheds a whole different perspective on things. Also, seeing the homes of students can shift thinking,” she wrote.

Seeing students as whole people can inspire teachers to make real change.

Create Defining Moments

Each culture has big moments—birthdays, weddings, graduations—and “every last one of them was invented,” according to Chip and Dan Heath. In their book The Power of Moments , they argue that moments provide the spark for change. “In organizations, we are consumed with goals. Time is meaningful only insofar as it clarifies or measures our goals,” they write. “But for individual human beings, moments are the thing.”

The Heaths write that we “can create defining moments” if we’re conscious of them as a tool for change. Although many of the moments described in the Twitter comments above seem random, certain practices can increase the likelihood of transformative experiences. By gathering student feedback, reflecting on our experiences, challenging our assumptions, and seeking to see students through new lenses, we lay the groundwork for important moments to occur. Systems and goals remain important for professional development, but don’t forget the power that moments have to transform.

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Defining Moments, Mindset, and Moving Forward

Jami Fowler-White March 6, 2021 Blog , Self Care Better , Teach Happier

• We are living in a defining moment that will forever change the face of education as we know it.
• In moments like this, mindset is what matters most.
• Move through the change continuum more efficiently by attending to your emotions, setting goals, providing support, focusing on self-care, and trusting the plan.

Over the past month, countless educators have begun welcoming students into classrooms all across the states. I’m sure you have noticed a plethora of responses from teachers exhibiting their feelings regarding resuming in-person instruction as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread rapidly around the world.

As an educator and parent, I honestly don’t know where I stand on this topic. I’ll admit I am torn. While I understand the need to offer in-person instruction and will do all that I can for every student entrusted in my care, there are so many what-if scenarios running through my head that I can hardly focus on what is most important….educating students.

As I sit here attempting to focus, I realize this is one of those defining moments that will forever change the face of education as we know it.

I have been in education for almost twenty-five years. I can’t say that I have ever been more nervous than I am at this particular moment. In forty-eight hours, my district will welcome students back inside of the building. It will be just seven days shy of one full calendar year.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com

Now, I know what you are thinking. I should feel more prepared for this. After all, I have had 358 days to prepare for students to return. But truthfully, mentally I am far from it.

I should be focused on educating young minds. Frankly, I find myself mentally reviewing all of the protocols, expectations, guidelines, and mandates our school has devised to help keep everyone safe and healthy.

This has taken precedent over all other aspects of my job. At almost midnight, I woke with the urge to cross-check seating charts, the restroom break schedules, review pictures of classroom configurations, and the school-wide arrival and dismissal procedures.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I, the other members of our admin team, faculty, or staff have missed that one thing which may result in an unsafe learning environment for us all.

As I click to open the PowerPoint which outlines all of our school-wide procedures, it hits me this is a classic example of how fixed mindset triggers prevent you from reaching your full potential, achieving your ultimate goal, or simply MOVING FORWARD.

My first blog post for this series was on the two types of mindset that Dr. Carol Dweck discusses in her book, appropriately titled, Mindset . I’m reminded of a TEDx where she talks about the power of YET . Dr. Dweck talks about researching how children react when they face challenges that are just slightly more difficult than they are used to.

She speaks of times when students are not as successful as they thought. We should frame it to students by saying they simply haven’t reached their goal yet.  In comparison to adults, specifically educators, we are embarking on unchartered territory. There are challenges ahead that we won’t be able to anticipate.

We must stop attempting to duplicate educational and school-wide practices pre-pandemic.

Life, our children, and even you and I are not the same people that we were one year ago. Every day for the past 358 days, we have endured continuous change, an unspoken type of trauma that has and will forever change the way we live, think, and learn. As we work to move forward, we simply just need to stop, breathe, and remember that our purpose is to educate children.

Yes, we have to follow the CDC guidelines and safety protocols. But when all is said and done, what matters most is that our students are learning. From this moment forward, I am going shift my thinking back to where it should have been all along…instruction, student needs, and helping my staff move forward. This is just one more step that brings us closer to achieving academic success for all students.

Don’t allow those fixed mindset triggers to persist. Push those triggers aside and replace them with “moving forward, I will…” What strategies will you use to refocus, recalibrate, reexamine, and reimagine the educational success of students in your classroom or school?

As we move forward, consider incorporating strategies to help you move through the change continuum more efficiently.

Attend to your emotions.

In the book, Emotional Agility , author Susan David speaks about showing up. She says, “It is often said that 80 percent of success is simply showing up…Showing up means facing into your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors willingly, with curiosity and kindness” (p. 11). Don’t allow your thoughts to continue to replay like a broken record. Acknowledge and face them head-on so that you can move on.

Goal-Setting

Just as we have students do, I encourage each of you to set aside a few minutes each morning to construct academically focused targets for you to dedicate your time and energy to each day. Along with this, consider also using a few minutes in the evenings to reflect on your progress for each goal that you set. If you missed last month’s Better Mindset blog , it contained many helpful tips in this area.

Structure Support

Strive to support your colleagues or staff in putting children first. Our future depends on their ability to learn, grow, and achieve academic success. Encourage your team and colleagues to share successful strategies to support students throughout the building.

Focus on Self-Care

Practice mindfulness , exercise, and spend time with family or friends. I will be spending lots of time writing because it soothes my soul. The final chapter in the second volume of my book series contains many more options that educators can use to focus on self-care. If you are in need of some ideas, this book provides several resources and strategies to help you create a plan to routinely practice self-care.

Trust in the Plan

You, your principal, and the rest of the staff at your school have been planning for this day for a long time. Trust in your school family and your ability to plan, monitor, and execute strategies that will ensure a safe, welcoming, academically-focused environment that builds a foundation for a better tomorrow.

This month’s blog post is not filled with as many research-based strategies as the ones that I traditionally write. I am sharing the tumultuous range of feelings that I have been experiencing. And I am reflecting on how I am working to overcome them. It is my hope that it may help us all begin to progress and do what we know is best for children and just teach.

I believe in each of you and want you to stop concentrating on the what-ifs. Believe in the power of forging ahead and welcoming those students, many who have not been successful during online instruction, back into our buildings so that they can regain a little bit of normalcy and begin to move one step closer to achieving academic success.  Remember this is a critical and defining moment in education.

When history documents the return of students to the classroom, we want to be remembered for our ability to adapt and move forward just as we did this same time last year when our world was forever changed. Educators stood up, stood out, and partnered to create remarkable virtual learning spaces.

Here we are once again working to do the unthinkable, the unimaginable. I know we can and will aim for greatness and achieve nothing less than something remarkable. In moments like this, mindset is what matters most. What strategies will you use to keep moving forward?

David, S. (2016). Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life .

Dweck, C. (2014). The Power of Believing You Can Improve .

Fowler-White, J. (2021). Educator Reflection Tips, Volume 2: Refining Our Practice

About Jami Fowler-White

Jami Fowler-White is the CEO of Digital PD 4 You, LLC. Over the past two decades, she has served in many capacities in education which include ten years as a classroom teacher, an Instructional Coach, and a Core Advocate with Achieve the Core. She currently mentors First-time and Renewal candidates for the National Board and is a charter member of the National Board Network of Minoritized Educators and Black Women Education Leaders, Incorporated.

Additionally, Mrs. Fowler-White is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and currently serves as an assistant principal in Shelby County Schools (TN). Fowler-White also provides professional development under the umbrella of the National Board and Digital PD 4 You for schools and districts.

She is the author/coauthor of several books including, Educator Reflection Tips, Volume #1, EduMatch’s Snapshots in Education 2020: Remote Learning Edition, The Skin You are In: Colorism in the Black Community, 2nd Edition, and Educator Reflection Tips, Volume II: Refining our Practice.

Jami blogs at DigitalPD4You.com , has a bi-monthly leadership blog on Insight Advance, and writes a monthly blog entitled the Better Mindset on TeachBetter.com She can be contacted via email at: [email protected] and invites you to connect with her on Twitter via @JjJj821

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College Minor: Everything You Need to Know

14 fascinating teacher interview questions for principals, tips for success if you have a master’s degree and can’t find a job, 14 ways young teachers can get that professional look, which teacher supplies are worth the splurge, 8 business books every teacher should read, conditional admission: everything you need to know, college majors: everything you need to know, 7 things principals can do to make a teacher observation valuable, 3 easy teacher outfits to tackle parent-teacher conferences, defining moments are what make good school leaders great.

Back when I was a special education teacher, my principal ended up losing her mother and father in a car accident, all while she was going through chemotherapy and working feverishly to improve our school’s state test scores. Not only did she rise to the occasion, she exceeds expectations, beating cancer, and improving state test scores. Seeing here work 10-12-hour days with all of the challenges that she faced inspired everyone in the school building to dig deep and follow her lead.

My principal had a defining moment in leadership that revealed how resilient she could be. But that’s what effective leaders do. They turn their personal and career challenges into a source of strength and resilience. Therein lies the power of defining moments.

Defining moments help us find our life’s compass, which guides us successfully throughout our lives. Want to learn how to use your defining moments to make you a better school leader ? Let’s look at the 3 steps that you need to follow.

Recognize. The first step is recognizing when you are experiencing a defining leadership moment. Start by reflecting on significant milestones that have occurred throughout your life. These include transitions, significant influences, challenges and pivotal events that changed and defined who you are today. Then we can begin to recognize that these major milestones and challenges were defining moments that helped us become resilient and build meaning in our lives.

Transform. Now moving forward, you have to decide how you will use defining moments in the future. Will you use them as an excuse to give up, or will you power through and use them to build resilience? Defining moments can have a positive or negative effect on our lives, but we get to choose. Most people will want to use them to fuel their desire to examine the past and work actively for a better future.

Disseminate. The last step in using defining moments to make you a better leader is by sharing your stories with others. How does that help? Many of your subordinates may find you intimidating, but when you share your defining moments and how you used them to become the person you are today, it will make you more relatable and inspirational. Also, talking our your journey can be cathartic for you, helping you to process the emotions that you felt, and find strength in your ability to stay resilient.

As we have discussed in this article, defining moments are what make school leaders great . If you follow the 3 steps that I outlined in this article, you will be able to use your defining moments to make you the best school leader that you can be. Do you have any tips for using pivotal moments to inspire future success? If so, post them in the comments section below.

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The Professional Learning Organization for Educators

• Jul 11, 2022

The Power of Moments in Schools:Design Defining Moments to Inspire and Sustain Your School All Year

Updated: Jul 12, 2022

What are defining moments and why are they important?

I vividly remember the first time a parent thanked me for teaching her child. I can recall where I was standing, what the mother and her daughter looked like, and most importantly how it made me feel. Like many teachers, my first year of teaching was challenging and I frequently questioned whether I had made the right choice in becoming a teacher. But in that moment, I knew I was meant to be a teacher and that I would learn how to do this important work well.

Some life moments inspire us and give us new perspectives. According to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of The Power of Moments, “We all have defining moments in our lives – meaningful experiences that stand out in our memory” (2017, p. 4). Many of these moments happen by chance – we meet someone who ends up becoming our soulmate or treasured friend, a mentor helps us discover an interest that leads to a lifelong passion, we experience a moment of insight that causes us to reflect deeply on our core beliefs. We don’t, however, need to wait for peak experiences to spontaneously happen. According to the Heath brothers, “We can be the designers of moments that deliver elevation and insight and pride and connection” (p. 266).

The Recipe for Creating Defining Moments

Based on their research and identification of the characteristics of peak human experiences, the Heath brothers offer a recipe for creating transformative moments in our work and personal lives. According to Chip and Dan Heath, defining moments have at least one of these key elements.

We can apply this recipe in designing exceptional professional learning experiences and events that strengthen school culture. We can create moments that grow our collective resilience and sustain us in challenging times. This recipe empowers us to intentionally plan and orchestrate shared experiences that generate pride, inspire insight, and celebrate the work we do together as educators.

A Defining Moment for New Teachers

Imagine the first-day-of-teaching experience described below. Consider what this experience represents to this novice teacher and how she might draw on these initial feelings and this mindset during the tough days that are part of every teacher’s first year of teaching.

As she arrives in her classroom on the first day of school, Ms. Estrada finds a bright bunch of balloons tied to the doorknob and a “Welcome to our school!” card signed by the entire school staff on her desk. Ms. Estrada’s mentor stops by with a bottle of water and an energy bar. “Congratulations on your first day as a teacher!” she says. “Let me help you get ready for the day.” As Ms. Estrada and her mentor work, the mentor invites Ms. Estrada to talk about her reasons for becoming a teacher and her hopes for the year. Students begin to arrive. The mentor waves goodbye, telling Ms. Estrada to enjoy this milestone day in her teaching career and her first day with her new students.

Later in the morning, the principal stops by to say hi and to talk to Ms. Estrada’s students. She tells the students that Ms. Estrada has spent years preparing to be their teacher. They are visibly proud that Ms. Estrada has already demonstrated how much she cares about them through her commitment and effort. Throughout the day, other teachers pop into the classroom to welcome Ms. Estrada to the school. As lunch time approaches, Ms. Estrada’s mentor brings her a special boxed lunch and invites Ms. Estrada to name three things from the morning that made her smile. In the afternoon, the P.E., art, and music teachers make the class giggle with a surprise performance of a welcome song they have written just for Ms. Estrada.

At the end of the day, Ms. Estrada’s grade-level team brings a plate of cupcakes to her room and spends a few minutes chatting to show Ms. Estrada she is a valued part of their team. Afterwards, as Ms. Estrada tidies the classroom and prepares for the next day, her mentor again assists with simple tasks and invites Ms. Estrada to talk about highlights of the day. Ms. Estrada leaves school thinking, “My colleagues value me and will support me. My work as a teacher matters and I will make a positive difference in my students’ lives.”

A teacher’s first day in her chosen career sets the tone for her relationship with colleagues and signals her place in the school organization. This milestone event is worth celebrating! And celebrations like this benefit the entire school community. The planning and execution of a special first-day-of-teaching experience reminds other teachers of their reasons for choosing to be educators. It helps to build school culture and elevates the teaching profession.

Take a minute to look back at the Key Elements of Defining Moments and notice how they were used to design this first-day-of-teaching experience. You can apply this same recipe to create peak experiences that enrich the experience of school for all members of the school community.

Defining Moments to Strengthen School Culture and Build Resilience

We rely on routines to ensure that our schools function efficiently and effectively. However, this reliance on routines sometimes causes us to forget the importance of peak experiences for personal and organizational wellbeing. Chip and Dan tell us that we can boost our collective mood, create a more positive school culture, and build our stamina and resilience by intentionally and strategically creating peak experiences for teachers and staff.

You’re likely familiar with the diagram below depicting a new teacher’s emotional states across the school year.

All teachers and administrators go through these emotional ups and downs. Teacher appreciation expert Amber Teamann refers to the months of October and February as “the armpits of the school year.” (To tap into Amber’s expertise on school culture, see below.) How might we use the Heath brothers’ recipe to create experiences that remind teachers that the work they do matters during the most challenging months of the year?

Chip and Dan Heath offer this challenge to all of us: If you knew you could make a positive difference in someone’s life – that you could create a memory for them that would last for years – and it would take only a trivial amount of time on your part, would you do it? (p. 158).

The science of designing memorable and meaningful moments can help education leaders improve the experience of school for teachers and students and support us in helping members of our school communities see and become their best selves.

Listen to a Podcast by Dan Heath about how to improve the experiences of students, teachers, and administrators in schools by creating defining moments.

The Power of Moments for Education Podcast

References:

Heath Brothers (2017, October 3). Dan Heath: Is Your School All Practice, No Game? [Video]. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxcKdYZ8RxY

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2017). The power of moments: Why certain experiences have extraordinary impact. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Heath, D. (Host). (2022). [Audio podcast]. The Power of Moments for Education: An audio podcast with Dan Heath about creating peak moments for students. Heath Brothers: https://heathbrothers.com/member-content/defining-moments-education/

Sue Chapman is a professional learning consultant and author of MathVentures: 33 Teacher-Coach Investigations to Grow Students as Mathematicians . Learn more about her at SueChapmanLearning.com and connect with her on Twitter at @SueChapmanLearn.

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Pivotal moments in teaching

Zoom in on specific points to create meaningful learning

By Bradley Ermeling

Vol. 38 no. 3.

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Bradley A. Ermeling

Bradley A. Ermeling ([email protected]) is an education author, research scientist, and international consultant.

EXCERPT FROM ANTICIPATED TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERACTIONS

Teacher: Let’s talk about this painting for a few minutes. Raise your hand and share with the class ONE thing that you noticed in this painting.

Student: I see a SKULL .

Teacher: Why is there a skull? What might the skull represent?  

Elicit responses and discuss: death, mortality, the frailty of human life.  

Student: I see a SEASHELL thing.

Teacher: What might the seashell symbolize?  

Student: The ocean? Baptism? Travel?

Teacher: Who in the 17th century might be able to travel across the ocean?

Student: Rich people? Explorers?  

Teacher: Who would get the shell from the explorer? Probably the person who financed his voyage. So what does the shell symbolize?

Student: Wealth.

Teacher: Oftentimes shells once housed a sea creature, so what might the empty shell symbolize?  

Elicit comments and discuss: It is a temporary home. We can’t lay claim to the shell any more than a crab could lay claim to it.

Teacher: What else did you notice?

Student: There’s a SWORD .

Teacher: Can anyone tell what kind of sword it is? (It’s a Japanese sword.) What does a sword symbolize?

Student: Violence? Death? Killing?

Teacher: Absolutely! So what is the relationship between the sword and the title of the painting?  

Elicit responses and discuss: The might of arms cannot defeat death.

Bradley Ermeling

• Bradley Ermeling /author/bradley-ermeling Strategic opportunities: Matrix helps principals support multiple teacher teams
• Bradley Ermeling /author/bradley-ermeling Tool: Assistance matrix

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Crisis in Competency: A Defining Moment in Nursing Education

2021, OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing

Advancing the mission of nursing education for a future we cannot yet fully conceive is a daunting task. The rapidly changing healthcare landscape is an exciting world of innovation, digital transformation, and accelerated knowledge creation that offers hopeful, and infinite possibilities to improve patient care, safety, and outcomes. New data suggest a continuing decline in the initial preparedness of new nurses at a time when preparation is most needed. We must adapt and embrace pedagogies relevant to a new generation of learners. In this article, we first describe the digital disruption informed by innovation moving at warp speed, catalyzing necessary and long overdue change not only in healthcare, but in how education is conceptualized and delivered. Leading and promoting the paradigm shift needed for this change is not discretionary as nurse educators strive to enhance the competency of new registered nurses. Leaders in nursing education have initiated efforts to appraise the s...

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Sri Lankan Journal of Nursing

Sunethra Jayathilake

Background and Objectives: Nurses play a crucial role as front-line care providers in every facet of healthcare. Since digital technologies support and augment the quality and responsive healthcare delivery to modern healthcare systems, it is important to assess nurses’ preparedness for digital health to provide better care. This review aimed to synthesize literature on nurses’ preparedness for digital health mainly based on informatics education, competencies, challenges and barriers. Methods: A systematic search and a narrative review were carried out using scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar to reach scientific literature published in the English language published between 2002 and 2022. A systematic method was followed using PRISMA (2009) flow diagram to select the articles, and data were extracted considering factors such as informative, complete and applicable timeliness of articles. Key findings were synthesized via a narrative review under identifi...

New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences

New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences (PROSOC)

Changing values, and educational paradigm, market-driven economic policy, dramatic technology developments, changing learner-educator profiles and roles and the knowledge explosion are rapidly changing health care and educational institutions as well as creating a climate of continuous rapid change. The future of nursing education, to improve and promote the nursing profession, nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training, they should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression, they should be full partners with healthcare professionals, and effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure. A broad search without time limitations was performed in the databases EBSCO, CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, DynaMed and ERIC.As a conclusion, there is required for a change in nursing education and in the learning environment in order to prepare the nurse of the future in a changing health care delivery system with increasing complexity.

Nursing Outlook

Helen Connors

International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences

Society. Integration. Education. Proceeding of the International Scientific Conference May 22-23, 2015

Danguolė Šakalytė

The use of technology in nursing is not new; in fact, nurses have become proficient in utilizing and adapting complex technology into caring nursing practice. Since nurses are the largest group of health care providers, discipline-specific competencies in the use of ICT and other technologies are imperative. This realization has catalyzed the steady development of nursing informatics. Nursing schools demonstrate use of recognized approaches to teaching and learning in their programs, including, but not limited to, adult education, self-directed learning, e-learning and clinical simulation. The article’ aims are to review modernization of nursing education and to assess nurse’ IT competence according to professional skills comparing groups with different educational background and work experience.

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Faces of Learning: 50 Powerful Stories of Defining Moments in Education Hardcover – February 4, 2011

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Everyone has a personal learning story, a time when they became actively engaged in their own education. Maybe it was an especially challenging teacher, or a uniquely supportive environment, or a collaborative classroom. In Faces of Learning , both well-known public figures, such as Arne Duncan and Al Franken, and ordinary Americans recall the moments when they truly learned something.

• Includes stories from people of all different backgrounds and from all over the country
• The stories are grouped into categories by theme like "relevant" and "experiential" to help reveal the common characteristics of what works in education
• Each chapter ends with five things you can do to improve your own learning, that of your students, and of all Americans
• Print length 160 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Jossey-Bass
• Publication date February 4, 2011
• Dimensions 6 x 0.55 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 0470910143
• ISBN-13 978-0470910146
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

From the inside flap.

In Faces of Learning , fifty individuals–from well-known public figures to ordinary Americans–share inspirational stories about transformational teachers, powerful learning environments, and pivotal moments of self-discovery. Taken together, these authors' stories uncover a common understanding of what it feels like and what it requires to discover one's purpose, passion, and capacity for greatness. Edited by Sam Chaltain, this important book is designed to engage us all in a thoughtful consideration of what powerful learning, highly effective teaching, and equitable school systems must look like – and what they can provide for children as a result.

Faces of Learning is divided into five sections–challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential–each of which illuminates a core condition of the optimal learning environment. From social workers to students to the Secretary of Education himself, the individuals whose stories are gathered here help add to the collective wisdom, and help us get closer to answering the only question that really matters: "How can we best support educators in their work to create schools that are more challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential?"

To learn more, to get involved, and to share your own story, visit www.facesoflearning.net.

From the Back Cover

To learn more, to get involved, and to share your own story, visit www.facesoflearning.net .

About the Author

SAM CHALTAIN (www.samchaltain.com) is a Washington DC-based writer, educator, and strategic consultant. Sam has also been a classroom teacher; the national director of the Forum for Education and Democracy, an education advocacy organization devoted to restoring the public purpose of public education; and the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, a national program that helps K-12 principals create more democratic learning communities. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community .

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jossey-Bass; First edition (February 4, 2011)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470910143
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470910146
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.55 x 9 inches
• #5,992 in College & University Student Life (Books)
• #10,343 in History of Education
• #48,211 in Instruction Methods

About the authors

Sam chaltain.

Sam Chaltain (www.samchaltain.com) is a DC-based writer and education advocate.

Previously, Sam was the National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy, an education advocacy organization. He was also the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, a national program that helps K-12 principals create more democratic learning communities.

Sam spent five years at the First Amendment Center as the co-director of the First Amendment Schools program. He came to the Center from the public school system of New York City, where he taught high school English and History. Sam also spent four years teaching the same subjects at a private school in Brooklyn.

Sam's first teaching experience was in Beijing, China, where he joined the faculty of the Foreign Languages department at Beijing Normal University as a visiting lecturer. He taught two American History & Literature courses to third-year undergraduates.

Sam's writings about his work have appeared in both magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post, Education Week and USA Today. A contributor to CNN, Sam is also the author or co-author of six books: "The First Amendment in Schools" (ASCD, 2003), "First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights" (Oxford University Press, 2006), "American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), "We Must Not Be Afraid to be Free: Stories Of Free Expression in America" (Oxford, 2010), "Faces of Learning" (Wiley, 2010), and "Our School: Searching for Community in the Era of Choice" (Teachers College Press, 2013).

Sam has a Master's degree in American Studies from the College of William & Mary, and an M.B.A. from George Washington University, where he specialized in non-profit management and organizational theory. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he graduated with a double major in Afro-American Studies and History.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Mark Rockeymoore

Mark Anthony Rockeymoore (1967 - Present) was born in Paducah, Texas to an Air Force Airman and his wife. He grew up a military brat, moving constantly to different states and the island of Crete, Greece. He joined the Army himself, before returning to civilian life to complete his education. His first book, Temple of the Sky, was released in 2001, as was the collection, Black Hole Soul. Since then, he has had chapters included in a number of collections and has been a prolific blogger and spoken word poet.

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When we think about “defining moments,” we are thinking of moments that have—or ought to have—a wide resonance across the land we now call Canada. Educators already think and teach about these in their classrooms every day. What are moments of significance in our shared histories? What are moments of significance that are perhaps overlooked, or that include generally overlooked or silenced stories, communities, and individuals within them? What makes something significant in the first place, and how do our perceptions of what is significant shift based on our own lived experiences?

Our work is grounded in such moments and the question surrounding them, and our goal is to support educators—especially teaching Grades 6-12 (Sec 1-5 in Québec)—in creating rich learning experiences where students develop the depth & breadth of their thinking and hone their voice & agency.

On this page, you will find a complete list of all our educator resources, including lesson plans, teaching tools, blogs, and more. To explore resources by topic, you can also visit our project landing pages.

In a highly digital and information-rich world, we know it’s essential for students to develop the global competencies of 21 st century learners as identified by CMEC (The Council of Ministers of Education Canada). Defining Moments Canada has designed multiple entry points for teachers to engage their students in learning tasks that encourage proficiency in:

• Primary research,
• Digital storytelling,
• Critical thinking (utilizing the Historical Thinking Concepts),
• Differentiated inquiry, and
• Interdisciplinary perspectives.

These skills are at the heart of our resources, which have been prepared by educators and scholars from across the country with experience teaching and leading in a variety of settings. Some resources are grouped as a series–unit plans, complementary lessons, supporting blogs—and some are stand-alone. Each resource is developed with emergent, inquiry-based essential questions and learning goals that are grounded in the topic and skills, not in specific provincial curriculum. We trust educators to draw the best connections to curriculum and to adopt for the age & stage of their students as is best for their context.

Working with our education partners, Defining Moments Canada is proud to present these resources that prioritize students as drivers of their own learning—with educators learning alongside them—emphasizing collaboration, communication and creativity.

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What is Competency-Based Education?

AACN defines competency-based education as “a system of instruction, assessment, feedback, self-reflection, and academic reporting that is based on students demonstrating that they have learned the knowledge, attitudes, motivations, self-perceptions, and skills expected of them as they progress through their education.” 

Other organizations define competency-based education differently, including the U.S. Department of Education, which more narrowly defines this term as education “that organizes academic content according to competencies—what a student knows and can do—rather than following a more traditional scheme, such as by course.” Nursing programs are encouraged to institute a process to ensure curricula address the competencies delineated in the Essentials and assess student achievement of those competencies. 

Note: AACN does not require schools to move to time-variable education or organize academic content according to competencies instead of by course. We anticipate most programs will continue to organize academic content by course. Even so, AACN reminds nursing programs that accrediting agencies and state boards of nursing may require notification or approval of substantive changes proposed to implement the Essentials framework, depending on the extent and nature of the proposed changes. 

What CBE is not

• A checklist of tasks
• A one-and-done experience or demonstration
• Isolated in one sphere of care or context
• Demonstrated solely on an objective test

Basic principles of CBE

• Shifts the primary focus of education to the desired outcomes for learners rather than the structure and process of the educational system (Backward design).
• A set of expectations that, when taken collectively, demonstrate what learners can do with what they know.
• Demonstrated across all spheres of care and in multiple contexts.
• Clear expectations are made explicit to learners, employers, and the public.
• A result of determined (planned and repeated) practice.
• Visibly demonstrated and assessed over time by multiple methods and multiple assessors.  

What are the benefits of CBE?

• Makes the student the center of learning and responsible for their learning
• Improves equity by serving diverse learners
• Mitigates bias using formative and focused feedback from multiple assessors using multiple methods Helps the student relate specific courses and learning experiences to the development of overall competencies
• Clarifies faculty expectations regarding student development/performance and allows the faculty to hold students accountable for prior learning
• Relates curriculum and course work to life and professional expectations
• Establishes in an objective way the rigor of the curriculum
• Promotes faculty development about teaching effectiveness – faculty move to the role of coach
• Creates a community of faculty with common goals and expectations for student development
• Provides an overall cohesive framework for course and program design and development
• Improves the quality of nursing education to meet the demands, challenges and opportunities of the future.
• Requires internal motivation, a collaborative culture, and the continuous cycle of using assessment data and our collective wisdom to improve teaching and learning and to assure the competence of our graduates 

Featured Videos

The dean's role in competency-based education.

What is Competency Based Education?

Additional Videos

Dr. Jean Bartels’ Video on Competency-Based Education December 2020 [Video Length - 63 minutes]

Dr. Jean Bartels’ Video on Competency-Based Education November 2019 [Video Length - 23 minutes]

CBE Q&A with Dr. Robert Englander

Dr. Robert Englander is a member of AACN’s Assessment Expert Working Group, which is helping to identify the role AACN should take in addressing competency assessment as well as possible strategies for competency assessment. Read Dr. Englanders recent interview in AACN's Syllabus for more insight on CBE and assessment.

Read the Q&A

CBE Resources

Guiding Principles for Competency-Based Education and Assessment

Webinars & Programs

Giddens, J. (2020). Demystifying concept-based and competency-based approaches.  Journal of Nursing Education , 59(3):123-124.

Kavanagh, J. & Sharpnack, P. (2021) Crisis in competency: A defining moment in nursing education.  OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 26(1), Manuscript 2. Accessible online at  https://www.doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol26No01Man02

Moreau, K.A (2021). Exploring the connection between programmatic assessment and program evaluation within competency-based medical education programs.  Medical Teacher , 43(3):250-252.

Carol Carraccio, MD, MA, Robert Englander, MD, MPH, Elaine Van Melle, PhD, Olle ten Cate, PhD, Jocelyn Lockyer, PhD, Ming-Ka Chan, MD, MHPE, Jason R. Frank, MD, MA(Ed), and Linda S. Snell, MD, on behalf of the International Competency-Based Medical Education Collaborators   Advancing Competency-Based Medical Education: A Charter for Clinician–Educators.   Academic Medicine , Vol. 91, No. 5 / May 2016

Defining Moments: Leadership and Learning How to “Be”

Defining Leadership Moments

Mark Twain famously said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

In the pursuit of transformational leader development, it's valuable to reflect on the specific point or moments in your life that illustrate the essence of who you aspire to be as a leader.

Some people recognize the “defining moments” of their leadership journey early in life. Frances Hesselbein is one of them. Her guiding philosophy is:

"Leadership is not a matter of how to do, but rather a matter of how to be."

Frances learned "how to be" at the tender age of seven in her beloved grandmother’s living room.

Other people have their leadership identity discovery later in life. I was one of them.

Mine came in 2012, when I was invited to serve as a mentor at the Hesselbein Global Summit at Frances' alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. I had just listened to a session about life stories and I was thinking a lot about my father. After a short break it was time for my plenary on multigenerational leadership.

My remarks went smoothly, and then it was time to take questions from the audience. Most were routine and easily answered, until one young woman threw me a curve ball.

She said, "I'm sitting here surrounded by all these accomplished leaders who have done things like started their own non-profits, written books or touched hundreds of people. I haven’t done anything. I don’t feel worthy to be here. How do you know if you're a good enough leader?"

I heard Frances’ voice in my head–"Leadership is not a matter of how to do, but rather a matter of how to be"–and in that moment I recognized my own, “how to be.”

My “Learning How to Be” Moment

A story that had surfaced in my memory just an hour before the student raised the question came pouring out:

I was raised in a small New England town, and had what could be described as an idyllic childhood. It wasn't until high school that I became aware that my family was relatively poor. Although neither of my parents attended college—in fact, my father was a high school dropout—education was highly valued in my house. So was following your passion.

My dad would often say, "I don’t care if you grow up to be a trash collector, but you'd better be the best damn trash collector the world has ever seen." I got the message loud and clear.

I was fortunate to be accepted to a competitive college in the same city where my parents both worked, and this is where I became even more self-conscious about my family's socio-economic status.

I was the only person in my friend group that was a first-generation student. There were so many things I didn't know about, and was too afraid to ask. For the first time I couldn’t rely on my parents for answers—college was a foreign land to them as well.

My friends were the offspring of highly educated professionals, doctors, lawyers etc. My father was a bus driver with a 9th grade education. For reasons I can’t rationally explain, this was a huge source of shame.

For years I would avoid the subject of what my parents did for a living, because I was too embarrassed to say my father drove a city bus. If I couldn’t dodge the question, I would just say he worked in transportation and quickly change the subject.

I routinely prayed that none of my classmates would accidentally get on my father's bus when he was driving a route near our school, or worse–that he would show up on campus for an unannounced visit in his bus driver uniform.

I suppose my fear was of being judged—that what I perceived as lack of ambition in my father's choice of occupation would somehow reflect on me.

It took 12 years and a defining moment to realize that my father's choices did reflect on me—just not in the way I had irrationally feared.

The morning of my father's funeral was sunny and crisp. A perfect October day. A large crowd gathered outside the church as our family car pulled up.

A young woman we had never seen before stood next to a distant relative. The young lady appeared to have Down syndrome. And because our relative was a special education teacher, we thought perhaps she was one of her students.

After the funeral mass, we proceeded to the cemetery for the final burial rites. As the priest concluded the last prayer, the funeral director appeared directly in front of us with the young woman we saw earlier but didn’t know. "This is Karen," she said, "and she would like to say a few words." Karen unfolded a piece of paper and began to read:

"Mr. Ryan was my bus driver. He was the greatest man in the whole world. Every day he drives me to my job at Burger King. I’ve been there for five years. He smiles at me and tells me to have a great day. He gives me hugs. He tells me I do a great job. He made me happy. I'm sorry if I'm crying but my heart is sad. I just want to say to his family thank you."

Answering the student's question about being "good enough," I realized this story comprised my own defining moment:

It doesn’t matter what your title or occupation is. If you can make a positive impact on one other person, that's leadership.

The years of shame for all the things I thought my father hadn't done were replaced with gratitude for the lessons he provided through his steadfast example: Treat all people with dignity and respect. Service over self. Be the best damn bus driver or teacher or whatever the world has ever seen.

My father was a great leader. My only regret is that I didn't come to this realization while he was still alive.

Today I use this defining moment narrative as a touchstone to guide my own leadership behaviors, regardless of what capacity I’m serving in. It serves as an enduring illustration of who I aspire to BE. I keep a copy of Karen’s letter in a frame on my desk, and periodically reflect on my behavior to ensure I am staying true to the vision.

Reflection is an essential ingredient in leader development, but it’s also the most often shortchanged in favor of preparing for and taking on new challenges.

Without making time for deliberate reflection, we miss out on fully making sense of where we’ve been to propel us to new levels of capacity. Discovering at least one moment in time that illustrates who you are at your core is an essential building block in this leadership journey.

Questions to Help Guide Your Reflection

• Can you identify your own defining moment? A transformational experience, observation or story that illustrates who you are or aspire to be as a person and as a leader?
• What are the essential values you discovered in relation to this experience? How have these values influenced your leadership practices and relationships?
• Who were the key figures in your defining moment and what did you learn from them? Have you shared this revelation with them or expressed gratitude?

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A Crisis in Competency: The Strategic and Ethical Imperative to Assessing New Graduate Nurses' Clinical Reasoning

Affiliation.

• 1 About the Authors Joan M. Kavanagh, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, is the associate chief nurse of nursing education and professional development, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. Christine Szweda, MS, BSN, RN, is the senior director, operations of nursing education and professional development, Cleveland Clinic Foundation. For more information, contact Joan Kavanagh at [email protected].
• PMID: 29194297
• DOI: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000112

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess entry-level competency and practice readiness of newly graduated nurses.

Background: Literature on success of new graduates focuses primarily on National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) pass rates, creating a false and incomplete picture of practice readiness.

Method: Posthire and prestart Performance-Based Development System assessments were administered to more than 5,000 newly graduated nurses at a large midwestern academic medical center between July 2010 and July 2015.

Results: Aggregate baseline data indicate that only 23 percent of newly graduated nurses demonstrate entry-level competencies and practice readiness.

Conclusion: New data suggest that we are losing ground in the quest for entry-level competency. Graduates often are underprepared to operate in the complex field of professional practice where increased patient acuity and decreased length of stay, coupled with a lack of deep learning in our academic nursing programs, have exacerbated a crisis in competency.

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Nursing Education Practice Update 2022: Competency-Based Education in Nursing

Lisa s. lewis.

1 Duke School of Nursing, Durham, NC, USA

Lisa M. Rebeschi

2 School of Nursing, Quinnipiac University, North Haven, CT, USA

3 College of Health Professions, Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Introduction

Competency-based education (CBE) is increasingly emphasized in nursing. Professional organizations and regulatory bodies are calling for radical transformation in nursing education along with increased emphasis on developing clinical judgment.

This practice update article provides a brief history of CBE in a variety of educational settings including health professions education and demonstrates the value of CBE strategies. The article also provides examples of the application of CBE to nursing education.

CBE offers the opportunity to enhance interprofessional education, increase the use of simulation, and improve clinical judgment in new graduate and advanced practice nurses.

The Shift Towards Competency-Based Education

As nursing education programs begin to shift towards competency-based education (CBE), it is important to understand the impetus for this curricular transformation. Nursing roles are evolving in response to changes in healthcare delivery emphasizing health equity, improving population health, and caring for an increasingly diverse and aging population ( National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021 ). In order to best prepare students, there is an imperative for nursing programs to create deliberate learning experiences that equip graduates for the changing healthcare landscape. As noted by Giddens and colleagues (2022) , “academic nursing has an obligation to transform nursing education in alignment with the current and future needs for healthcare” (p. 16).

The Essentials documents published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) have guided curricular development across baccalaureate and higher degree programs since the mid-1980s ( AACN, 2019a ). In response to shifts within healthcare delivery, AACN began revisions to the Essentials documents in 2018. Since that time, collaboration between academe and practice has resulted in a reimagination of curricular standards for nursing education including the framework of CBE. AACN's Vision for Academic Nursing ( 2019b ) offers a plan of action including utilization of a competency-based model for educating the next generation of professional nurses.

AACN (2021a) has created a framework with ten domains and eight core concepts with associated sub-competencies within each of the domains (see Table 1 ). Deliberate learning activities will be developed within each of the defined competencies. Additionally, the CBE model is envisioned with two levels: level one for entry level programs such as baccalaureate degree programs and level two for advanced level programs such as masters or doctoral level programs. The new Essentials are designed to provide a transparent and stable understanding for faculty, students, and employers with regards to the competencies of graduates across programs.

Table 1.

AACN Domains for Nursing and Concepts for Nursing Practice.

Note. Adapted from American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2021b) . The essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education.

Key landmark reports have set the stage for the shift towards competency-based nursing education. One such report was the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report titled Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation . Benner and colleagues ((2009)) asserted that nursing education must be overhauled and suggested revolutionary curricular changes in an effort to transform nursing education. One of the major findings from their study of nursing education was that nurses are undereducated based upon the needs of practice and that the gap between academe and practice was much too great. One of the clear recommendations of the report was the need to contextualize new nursing knowledge within the practice setting and include experiential learning environments across curricula.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (previously known as the Institute of Medicine) reports regarding medical errors have also contributed to the call for CBE. In 2000, the report titled To Err is Human: Building a safer health system illuminated the need for change with the fact that up to 98,000 patients die each year due to medical errors. As the largest group of healthcare professionals, nurses are at the forefront of patient care and have the opportunity to ensure quality. By 2010, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) made specific recommendations for changes in nursing education including increasing the number of nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level, removal of scope of practice barriers, interprofessional collaboration, and expansion of leadership opportunities for nurses.

Finally, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) conducted a practice analysis in 2013 which highlighted the increasingly complex healthcare environment and the need for strong clinical judgment and decision-making skills. In 2005, del Bueno's study of initial new graduate preparedness revealed that only 35% of new registered nurses were deemed safe. More current research by Kavanagh and Szweda (2017) indicate that only 23% of new nursing graduates are competent with basic clinical judgment skills despite passing the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Unfortunately, “we are continuing to lose ground in the preparedness of New Graduate Registered Nurses (NGRNs) at a time when it is needed most” ( Kavanagh & Sharpnack, 2021 ). The NCSBN has completed several phases of research in order to create a new examination, known as Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), to assess new graduates’ readiness for clinical practice. Complex hypothetical, real-world clinical cases will be used for graduate's demonstration of clinical judgment. The NGN NCLEX exam is scheduled to launch in Spring 2023.

In summary, there have been a number of forces driving the shift towards CBE. As academic nurse educators, we must embrace the opportunity to prepare new graduates for their transition to professional practice and advanced professional practice. CBE, an approach that has been used effectively in a variety of educational settings, will propel novel approaches to enhance the outcomes of nursing education programs. This practice update article will present a definition and brief history of CBE in a variety of educational settings, including health professions education. The article will go on to explore the future of CBE in nursing education and give examples of how CBE may be incorporated in the nursing curriculum.

Competency-Based Education: An Established and Effective Strategy

There is a wide assortment of definitions for CBE that have evolved over the past 70 years. During this time, teaching has moved from a traditional model of grade-based educational objectives towards more of a learner-centric model ( Gravina, 2017 ; Ten Cate, 2017 ). Today's learner-centric model is consistent with individualized learning plans designed to achieve mastery or competency. Bloom's hierarchical classification of different levels of cognition, originally published in the 1950s and used in education at all levels, supports this progression. Bloom's taxonomy is often used to classify learning outcomes, and thus to structure learning and the assessment of learning. The 6 levels of learning range from lower-level skills such as remember and understand to higher order skills of apply, analyze, evaluate, and create ( Anderson & Krathwohl, 2000 ).

Teacher education embraced CBE in the 1960s with innovative primary teacher education ensuring graduates were adequately prepared for their teaching roles and then vocational programs adopted CBE in the 1970s ( Kellogg, 2018 ). Also, in the 1970s, Alverno College pioneered CBE in higher education and graduated the first ability-based learning class in 1977 ( Alverno College, 2022 ). In the 1990s, other universities and colleges in the United States including Regents College (now Excelsior), DePaul College, Charter Oak State College, Thomas Edison State University and Western Governors University expanded on the original work of Alverno College ( Bushway et al., 2018 ). These institutions embraced CBE as they started looking for new ways to serve adult learners and give them credit for their prior knowledge and experience ( Bushway et al., 2018 ). In the late 1990s, professional associations started advocating for CBE. The Association of American Medical Colleges’ Medical Schools Objectives Report advocated for CBE, and six competencies were identified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties ( Saud & Chen, 2018 ). Throughout the 2000s, CBE became widely used in postgraduate medical education using the acronym CBME for competency-based medical education ( Ten Cate, 2017 ). CBE has been embraced by other healthcare disciplines such as social work. The Council on Social Work Education first presented professional competencies and encouraged CBE in the 2008 Education Policy and Accreditation Standards ( McGuire & Lay, 2020 ). In 2010, Benner et al. called for the redesign of nursing education to graduate nurses with the authority, as well as the responsibility, to practice and expose nursing students to competency evaluations.

Throughout the 2010s, wide-spread adoption of CBE in the United States was hampered by differing definitions of CBE and concerns about qualifying for federal student financial aid ( Bushway et al., 2018 ; Kellogg, 2018 ). While the United States Department of Education released guidance to address funding qualifications, work continued to define CBE and the associated competencies at the professional levels ( AACN, 2021a ; Bushway et al., 2018 ; McGuire & Lay, 2020 , Saud & Chen, 2018 ).

Part of the difficulty in defining CBE was that there was no consensus on the definition of competency or how to measure competency ( Lurie et al., 2011 ). While the term competency is often used interchangeably with mastery, skill, proficiency, competent, and competence, CBE is more than skill development and demonstrating mastery of the skill ( Gravina, 2017 ; Holmes et al., 2021 ; Ryan et al., 2022 ; Ten Cate, 2017 ). Despite the lack of consensus on a definition, there has been generalized agreement that CBE provides learners with personalized support for their learning needs, meaningful assessments, and measurable objectives so the learner can apply the knowledge, skills, and abilities toward current and future workforce needs ( Bushway et al., 2018 ; Holmes et al., 2021 ; Saud & Chen, 2018 ; Ten Cate, 2017 ).

Within nursing, the AACN (2021a) released the culmination of the work of an expert task force convened in 2018 which includes a definition of nursing CBE and associated competencies with the definition of CBE as:

Competency-based education refers to a system of instruction, assessment, feedback, self-reflection, and academic reporting that is based on students demonstrating that they have learned the knowledge, attitudes, motivations, self-perceptions, and skills expected of them as they progress through their education ( AACN, 2021b ).

AACN membership endorsed these new AACN essentials in April 2021, with the AACN call for nursing programs to shift toward CBE in baccalaureate, master's, and doctor of nursing practice programs and has provided tool kits and other resources to assist with the transition ( AACN, 2021b , 2021c ).

The integration of CBE into curricula reflects the evolution of both CBE and its definition. While there is general agreement that CBE has clearly defined learning outcomes that establish level of competence, rigorous assessment of those outcomes, and flexible timeframes, the method of CBE implementation varies from program to program ( Bushway et al., 2018 ). For example, CBE has been integrated into traditional time-based learning, credit-hour model of learning (sessions or semesters) with traditional faculty assignments while other higher education CBE programs offer rolling admission, flexible timelines, and non-traditional faculty assignments ( Bushway et al., 2018 ; Gravina, 2017 ). CBE can be integrated at the course level, used as a gate toward progression through the completion of a degree as is seen in some prelicensure programs, at a program level where CBE has been integrated throughout the entire curriculum for a particular degree program, or where CBE has been integrated university-wide for all program degrees ( Bushway et al., 2018 ; Gravina, 2017 ).

Hossler and James (2021) offer the example of Western Governor's University (WGU), which utilizes a classic CBE model in their programs, including nursing. Students progress through the program at their own pace, advancing when they demonstrate competency, independent of the time spent mastering that competency. WGU employs a non-traditional model of faculty assignments, separating those who teach and mentor from those who evaluate students. This model decreases potential bias on the part of the evaluators, who did not create the learning experiences and do not know the students. The authors make the case that the WGU model of CBE is effective and economical ( Hossler & James, 2021 ).

The variable time CBE model used by WGU can be difficult to implement in traditional academic environments, which structure tuition and learning experiences around a semester or quarter calendar. Indeed, the AACN specifies that they do not expect schools adopting the new Essentials to offer variable time education or to reorganize their curricula by competencies ( AACN, 2021a ). Galura and Warshawsky (2022) describe their experience using the AACN Essentials to revise a doctor of nursing practice curriculum, offering CBE within the traditional structure of a time-bound program of semesters. An initial gap analysis, accomplished by mapping their curriculum to the new Essentials , informed changes to permit students to be evaluated on competencies throughout the program. This required the development of new courses, revision of existing courses, and creation of new clinical practice experiences. It also required inclusion of intentional opportunities for students to demonstrate competencies repeatedly, in different contexts, throughout the program ( Galura & Warshawsky, 2022 ).

The Future of Nursing and CBE

The shift to CBE offers solutions to old challenges while simultaneously creating opportunities for innovation. Some of the areas that CBE affect include program accreditation, funding of higher education, preparation for licensure examinations, interprofessional education (IPE), and the use of simulation.

Although the AACN is the professional organization for baccalaureate and graduate level schools of nursing, their Essentials documents have been influential on nursing programs at all levels ( Giddens et al., 2022 ). It is highly anticipated that nursing programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), AACN's accrediting arm, will be required to use a competency-based curriculum for all undergraduate and graduate programs with the next revision of CCNE's Standards, Procedures & Guidelines; other schools will likely find the new Essentials valuable to guide curricular change. Schools embarking on curricular change for multiple programs may take this opportunity for cross-program collaboration and teaching, as the baccalaureate and graduate level competencies are organized into consistent domains and concepts ( Lacasse & Miller, 2022 ).

CBE offers an effective strategy for preparing nursing school graduates to successfully complete the licensure exam ( Hossler & James, 2021 ; Wolf, 2022 ). As mentioned previously, the NCSBN's new NGN will focus on measuring clinical judgment. CBE, which emphasizes repeated opportunities to demonstrate competencies across populations and patient care settings, gives learners the ability to develop clinical judgment ( Saud & Chen, 2018 ).

Nurses work in teams with a variety of other health professions, thus, IPE has been increasingly valued. CBE is widely used in health professions education. IPE educators use a framework for collaborative practice that describes competencies for health professionals working in teams ( Interprofessional Education Collaborative, 2016 ). The future of IPE may expand to include identifying profession-specific competencies and aligning them with IPE activities.

Simulation has been demonstrated to be an effective clinical learning strategy for nursing students ( Hayden et al., 2014 ). Despite recommendations that programs may successfully substitute as many as 50% of clinical hours with simulation, a recent survey of nursing programs in the United States showed that schools average 9%–17% ( Smiley, 2019 ). Meanwhile, one of the reasons that qualified students are refused admission to nursing programs each year is the lack of clinical sites ( AACN, 2022 ). Simulation not only can mitigate the problem of insufficient clinical sites, it can also create multiple opportunities for nursing students to demonstrate competencies across varied population and patient care settings. CBE is likely to lead to an increase in the use of simulation.

In addition to innovations and solutions, CBE brings challenges and questions, particularly around logistics. Curricular change is labor-intensive and slow, and faculty may initially struggle to operationalize CBE principles. Fortunately, there are many resources available and many colleagues who are engaged in this work.

The task of transitioning from the current curriculum to a CBE curriculum may initially seem overwhelming. It will be necessary to include faculty with a variety of areas of expertise, and to work collaboratively on a shared vision for the program. The AACN offers an implementation toolkit with sample templates for curriculum mapping as well as specific resources for activities and assessments ( https://www.aacnnursing.org/AACN-Essentials/Implementation-Tool-Kit ). Exemplars included in these tool kits address questions each program will have when moving to CBE such as:

• How to implement CBE personalized learning within the time limited program (semester or quarter structure, and set duration of the program)?
• How to meet the needs of learners who have different competency levels at the starting point?
• How to support learners moving at different rates toward competency?
• How to create rigorous assessments that adequately assess competencies?
• How to determine grades? Should the program change to pass/fail grading? If so, how exactly should passing be defined?
• How to ensure that implicit or explicit bias does not influence the definition or assessment of competencies?

CBE may require more consistent assessments, and a more structured or even master curriculum to decrease the faculty burden of creating standardized assessments that rigorously test competency without implicit or explicit bias ( Gravina, 2017 ; Holmes et al., 2021 ; Hossler & James, 2021 ; Westervelt et al., 2021 ). Faculty in a university setting may struggle to balance these requirements with an expectation of autonomy and academic freedom that is desired with the university setting. Nurse educators are familiar with the challenge of balancing education for the entire professional role with education for the licensure exam; CBE poses a similar challenge.

Both nursing and nursing education are scientific fields, ever evolving and changing as evidence is discovered and disseminated. CBE offers an innovative approach for nursing education that can address the need to enhance clinical judgement and can integrate with IPE.

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs: Lisa S. Lewis https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5330-9747

Lisa M. Rebeschi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2427-3674

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​Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere

The pandemic changed families’ lives and the culture of education: “Our relationship with school became optional.”

By Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris

Sarah Mervosh reports on K-12 education, and Francesca Paris is a data reporter.

In Anchorage, affluent families set off on ski trips and other lengthy vacations, with the assumption that their children can keep up with schoolwork online.

In a working-class pocket of Michigan, school administrators have tried almost everything, including pajama day, to boost student attendance.

And across the country, students with heightened anxiety are opting to stay home rather than face the classroom.

In the four years since the pandemic closed schools, U.S. education has struggled to recover on a number of fronts, from learning loss , to enrollment , to student behavior .

But perhaps no issue has been as stubborn and pervasive as a sharp increase in student absenteeism, a problem that cuts across demographics and has continued long after schools reopened.

Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic, according to the most recent data, from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute . Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason.

Source: Upshot analysis of data from Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute. Districts are grouped into highest, middle and lowest third.

The increases have occurred in districts big and small, and across income and race. For districts in wealthier areas, chronic absenteeism rates have about doubled, to 19 percent in the 2022-23 school year from 10 percent before the pandemic, a New York Times analysis of the data found.

Poor communities, which started with elevated rates of student absenteeism, are facing an even bigger crisis: Around 32 percent of students in the poorest districts were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year, up from 19 percent before the pandemic.

Even districts that reopened quickly during the pandemic, in fall 2020, have seen vast increases.

“The problem got worse for everybody in the same proportional way,” said Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who collected and studied the data.

Victoria, Texas reopened schools in August 2020, earlier than many other districts. Even so, student absenteeism in the district has doubled.

Kaylee Greenlee for The New York Times

The trends suggest that something fundamental has shifted in American childhood and the culture of school, in ways that may be long lasting. What was once a deeply ingrained habit — wake up, catch the bus, report to class — is now something far more tenuous.

“Our relationship with school became optional,” said Katie Rosanbalm, a psychologist and associate research professor with the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University.

The habit of daily attendance — and many families’ trust — was severed when schools shuttered in spring 2020. Even after schools reopened, things hardly snapped back to normal. Districts offered remote options, required Covid-19 quarantines and relaxed policies around attendance and grading .

Source: Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute . Includes districts with at least 1,500 students in 2019. Numbers are rounded. U.S. average is estimated.

Today, student absenteeism is a leading factor hindering the nation’s recovery from pandemic learning losses , educational experts say. Students can’t learn if they aren’t in school. And a rotating cast of absent classmates can negatively affect the achievement of even students who do show up, because teachers must slow down and adjust their approach to keep everyone on track.

“If we don’t address the absenteeism, then all is naught,” said Adam Clark, the superintendent of Mt. Diablo Unified, a socioeconomically and racially diverse district of 29,000 students in Northern California, where he said absenteeism has “exploded” to about 25 percent of students. That’s up from 12 percent before the pandemic.

U.S. students, overall, are not caught up from their pandemic losses. Absenteeism is one key reason.

Why Students Are Missing School

Schools everywhere are scrambling to improve attendance, but the new calculus among families is complex and multifaceted.

At South Anchorage High School in Anchorage, where students are largely white and middle-to-upper income, some families now go on ski trips during the school year, or take advantage of off-peak travel deals to vacation for two weeks in Hawaii, said Sara Miller, a counselor at the school.

For a smaller number of students at the school who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, the reasons are different, and more intractable. They often have to stay home to care for younger siblings, Ms. Miller said. On days they miss the bus, their parents are busy working or do not have a car to take them to school.

And because teachers are still expected to post class work online, often nothing more than a skeleton version of an assignment, families incorrectly think students are keeping up, Ms. Miller said.

Sara Miller, a counselor at South Anchorage High School for 20 years, now sees more absences from students across the socioeconomic spectrum.

Ash Adams for The New York Times

Across the country, students are staying home when sick , not only with Covid-19, but also with more routine colds and viruses.

And more students are struggling with their mental health, one reason for increased absenteeism in Mason, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Cincinnati, said Tracey Carson, a district spokeswoman. Because many parents can work remotely, their children can also stay home.

For Ashley Cooper, 31, of San Marcos, Texas, the pandemic fractured her trust in an education system that she said left her daughter to learn online, with little support, and then expected her to perform on grade level upon her return. Her daughter, who fell behind in math, has struggled with anxiety ever since, she said.

“There have been days where she’s been absolutely in tears — ‘Can’t do it. Mom, I don’t want to go,’” said Ms. Cooper, who has worked with the nonprofit Communities in Schools to improve her children’s school attendance. But she added, “as a mom, I feel like it’s OK to have a mental health day, to say, ‘I hear you and I listen. You are important.’”

Experts say missing school is both a symptom of pandemic-related challenges, and also a cause. Students who are behind academically may not want to attend, but being absent sets them further back. Anxious students may avoid school, but hiding out can fuel their anxiety.

And schools have also seen a rise in discipline problems since the pandemic, an issue intertwined with absenteeism.

Dr. Rosanbalm, the Duke psychologist, said both absenteeism and behavioral outbursts are examples of the human stress response, now playing out en masse in schools: fight (verbal or physical aggression) or flight (absenteeism).

“If kids are not here, they are not forming relationships,” said Quintin Shepherd, the superintendent in Victoria, Texas.

Quintin Shepherd, the superintendent in Victoria, Texas, first put his focus on student behavior, which he described as a “fire in the kitchen” after schools reopened in August 2020.

The district, which serves a mostly low-income and Hispanic student body of around 13,000, found success with a one-on-one coaching program that teaches coping strategies to the most disruptive students. In some cases, students went from having 20 classroom outbursts per year to fewer than five, Dr. Shepherd said.

But chronic absenteeism is yet to be conquered. About 30 percent of students are chronically absent this year, roughly double the rate before the pandemic.

Dr. Shepherd, who originally hoped student absenteeism would improve naturally with time, has begun to think that it is, in fact, at the root of many issues.

“If kids are not here, they are not forming relationships,” he said. “If they are not forming relationships, we should expect there will be behavior and discipline issues. If they are not here, they will not be academically learning and they will struggle. If they struggle with their coursework, you can expect violent behaviors.”

Teacher absences have also increased since the pandemic, and student absences mean less certainty about which friends and classmates will be there. That can lead to more absenteeism, said Michael A. Gottfried, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. His research has found that when 10 percent of a student’s classmates are absent on a given day, that student is more likely to be absent the following day.

Absent classmates can have a negative impact on the achievement and attendance of even the students who do show up.

Is This the New Normal?

In many ways, the challenge facing schools is one felt more broadly in American society: Have the cultural shifts from the pandemic become permanent?

In the work force, U.S. employees are still working from home at a rate that has remained largely unchanged since late 2022 . Companies have managed to “put the genie back in the bottle” to some extent by requiring a return to office a few days a week, said Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford University who studies remote work. But hybrid office culture, he said, appears here to stay.

Some wonder whether it is time for schools to be more pragmatic.

Lakisha Young, the chief executive of the Oakland REACH, a parent advocacy group that works with low-income families in California, suggested a rigorous online option that students could use in emergencies, such as when a student misses the bus or has to care for a family member. “The goal should be, how do I ensure this kid is educated?” she said.

Relationships with adults at school and other classmates are crucial for attendance.

In the corporate world, companies have found some success appealing to a sense of social responsibility, where colleagues rely on each other to show up on the agreed-upon days.

A similar dynamic may be at play in schools, where experts say strong relationships are critical for attendance.

There is a sense of: “If I don’t show up, would people even miss the fact that I’m not there?” said Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, the commissioner of education in Connecticut.

In her state, a home visit program has yielded positive results , in part by working with families to address the specific reasons a student is missing school, but also by establishing a relationship with a caring adult. Other efforts — such as sending text messages or postcards to parents informing them of the number of accumulated absences — can also be effective.

Regina Murff has worked to re-establish the daily habit of school attendance for her sons, who are 6 and 12.

Sylvia Jarrus for The New York Times

In Ypsilanti, Mich., outside of Ann Arbor, a home visit helped Regina Murff, 44, feel less alone when she was struggling to get her children to school each morning.

After working at a nursing home during the pandemic, and later losing her sister to Covid-19, she said, there were days she found it difficult to get out of bed. Ms. Murff was also more willing to keep her children home when they were sick, for fear of accidentally spreading the virus.

But after a visit from her school district, and starting therapy herself, she has settled into a new routine. She helps her sons, 6 and 12, set out their outfits at night and she wakes up at 6 a.m. to ensure they get on the bus. If they are sick, she said, she knows to call the absence into school. “I’ve done a huge turnaround in my life,” she said.

But bringing about meaningful change for large numbers of students remains slow, difficult work .

Nationally, about 26 percent of students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic.

The Ypsilanti school district has tried a bit of everything, said the superintendent, Alena Zachery-Ross. In addition to door knocks, officials are looking for ways to make school more appealing for the district’s 3,800 students, including more than 80 percent who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. They held themed dress-up days — ’70s day, pajama day — and gave away warm clothes after noticing a dip in attendance during winter months.

“We wondered, is it because you don’t have a coat, you don’t have boots?” said Dr. Zachery-Ross.

Still, absenteeism overall remains higher than it was before the pandemic. “We haven’t seen an answer,” she said.

Data provided by Nat Malkus, with the American Enterprise Institute. The data was originally published on the Return to Learn tracker and used for the report “ Long COVID for Public Schools: Chronic Absenteeism Before and After the Pandemic .”

The analysis for each year includes all districts with available data for that year, weighted by district size. Data are sourced from states, where available, and the U.S. Department of Education and NCES Common Core of Data.

For the 2018-19 school year, data was available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For 2022-23, it was available for 40 states and D.C., due to delays in state reporting.

Closure length status is based on the most in-person learning option available. Poverty is measured using the Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. School size and minority population estimates are from NCES CCD.

How absenteeism is measured can vary state by state, which means comparisons across state lines may not be reliable.

An earlier version of this article misnamed a research center at Duke University. It is the Center for Child and Family Policy, not the Center of Child and Family Policy.

Final Four brings women’s basketball to one defining moment

Not since magic vs. bird has the sport been so redefined..

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark participates in a practice session Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, site of the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Morry Gash/AP

There seems to be this belief that we are in a moment.

One that hasn’t ever been experienced before. Not like this. Women’s college basketball has taken over — for the moment — the sports world. It’s it . Caitlin Clark (solo) is Taylor Swift, Angel Reese (solo) is Bey. Together — dating to last year’s NCAA final — they are this generation’s Bird vs. Magic. And, if old enough, you remember how their moment changed the game. Changed sports.

This weekend will be the beginning of the test to see the role sustainability has in this moment. The NCAA Women’s Final Four and championship games are now on the clock to carry on the Telfar bag the Elite Eight (the back half, specifically) brought on this G4 flight. The 12.3 million who decided to join the watch party for Monday’s ‘‘greatest night in basketball’’ powered the ‘‘Elite Four’’ between Iowa/LSU and USC/UConn to ‘‘where were you when this happened?’’ status.

The returns: More than the 2023 NBA Finals (all except one game), more than the World Series (any game), more than the Orange, Cotton and Peach bowls of 2023, more than the football installments of the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC championship games, more than any regular-season college football game in 2023 with the exception (of course) of Thee v. M (also known as Ohio State vs. Michigan).

More than any women’s or men’s college basketball game ever watched on ESPN. More than any women’s college basketball game watched in the history of the sport.

Now we enter into the moment’s moment. When everything that’s been happening to, with and because of what we’re watching reaches its crescendo. The games. The storylines. The dynamics interwoven into who will play for the championship and then who will win it. The beloved vs. the villain dynamic, the good girls vs. the evil empire dynamic, the Cinderella vs. the undefeated dynamic, the racial dynamic (Black vs. white for the title).

It’s a marketing, advertising and PR dream for the NCAA — and the WNBA. It’s basketball’s dream scenario. It’s everything. And judging by the year-over-year, week-over-week, round-over-round surge in public interest, we’ll all be here for it. (Almost all. There’s other millions-over-millions who will be under lock, key, hypnotism and hype of WWE’s WrestleMania 40 this weekend.)

There aren’t too many recent moments in sports where everything unfurls to perfection to uplift an entire sport. Tiger’s entrance onto the PGA Tour comes to mind; having Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battling for Grand Slam tennis titles for years is another that jumps out, along with Serena and Venus’ unapologetic impact and reign at the same time in the same sport; and, up until a few weeks ago — maybe there’s still time for the gambling incident with his interpreter not to be held against his legacy — Shohei Ohtani’s welcome to American baseball would be considered the latest to the list. But the time basketball is having now because of the women playing it can, at this very moment, be considered on par with all of the above.

Theirs, once this weekend is over, can be looked at as a symbol of permanence.

Whatever happens, whatever the outcome of this year’s NCAA Tournament, one thing is certain: The word ‘‘magnitude’’ will be tossed around and will be attached to the words ‘‘of the moment’’ often to emphasize what it is we are exactly in. It will then, after all of the confetti falls Sunday, be purposely aligned with the words ‘‘women’s game.’’ It will be our responsibility to reflect on that phrase and digest it ‘‘as is’’ or to look at it as a reflection of ourselves and how we’ve found a way to narrow an amazing sports conversation around gender. And how we all specifically attached ‘‘women’’ to any and most comments, commentary and feelings we had about what’s been happening with basketball recently and made it a gender-exclusive thing.

It will be our moment to check ourselves.

When LeBron James came into the NBA, we were told that we would all be witnesses. And we were. So with this latest historic, needle-moving ‘‘moment’’ in sports — damn the gender — in which we all currently exist and are a part of, if no longer witnesses, what are we?

Staley likes to preach to her players that they should ‘‘play free.’’ Time has arrived for us to ‘‘think free.’’ Just because Caitlin and Gabbie and MiLaysia and Te-Hina and Aziaha and Saniya and Paige and Aaliyah (and Angel and JuJu and Rickea and Flau’jae and Hanna and Madison and Dyaisha) all happen to be women we know on a first-name basis now, please don’t get it twisted that they don’t deserve more than the attention we’re giving them in this moment they created.

Let the ‘‘magnitude of the moment’’ — their moment — be about this generational elevation of the game, not just about the gender of the hoopers hooping.

• Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers is a rematch years in the making
• South Carolina remains cautiously optimistic in Final Four matchup against N.C. State

National News | Total solar eclipse: Schools in its path…

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National news | total solar eclipse: schools in its path prepare for a natural teaching moment.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

CLEVELAND — Seventh-grade student Henry Cohen bounced side to side in time to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” playing in teacher Nancy Morris’ classroom, swinging his arms open and closed across the planets pictured on his T-shirt.

Henry and other classmates at Cleveland’s Riverside School were on their feet, dancing during a session of activities tied to April’s total solar eclipse. Second-graders invited in for the lessons sat cross-legged on the floor, laughing as they modeled newly decorated eclipse viewing glasses. Dioramas with softball-sized model earths and moons and flashlight “suns” occupied desks and shelves around the room.

Henry said his shirt reflected his love of space, which he called “a cool mystery.” The eclipse, he said, “is a one in a million chance and I’m glad I get to be here for it.”

Second-grade student Jose Byrd (black t-shirt with sun) and classmates try out eclipse viewing glasses that they decorated at Riverside Elementary School in Cleveland on March 14, 2024. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Students don eclipse viewing glasses in Cleveland elementary school teacher Nancy Morris’ classroom on March 14, 2014 for a lesson on the upcoming total solar eclipse. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Students take in a lesson at the Williamsville North High School planetarium in Williamsville, N.Y., on March 18, 2024, in preparation for the upcoming total solar eclipse. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Seventh-grade student Henry Cohen wears a shirt picturing the solar system as he takes part in activities at Riverside Elementary School in Cleveland in preparation for the upcoming total eclipse of the sun. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Abdulrahman Aljabri, 14, uses a flashlight as students experiment with shadows at Riverside Elementary School in Cleveland on March 14, 2024. Students are learning about the upcoming total solar eclipse, a topic that has challenged and inspired teachers in and near the eclipse’s path. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Second-grade teacher Denise Novak watches students decorate eclipse viewing glasses at Riverside Elementary School in Cleveland on March 14, 2024. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Planetarium Director Mark Percy leads a lesson at the Williamsville North High School planetarium in Williamsville, N.Y., on March 18, 2024, in preparation for the upcoming total solar eclipse. Teachers in or near the path of totality say they have worked to come up with educational and engaging lessons for the rare event. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

For schools in or near the path of totality of the April 8 eclipse, the event has inspired lessons in science, literacy and culture. Some schools also are organizing group viewings for students to experience the awe of daytime darkness and learn about the astronomy behind it together.

A hair out of the path of totality, the school system in Portville, New York, near the Pennsylvania line, plans to load its 500 seventh- through 12th-grade students onto buses and drive about 15 minutes into the path, to an old horse barn overlooking a valley. There, they will be able to trace the shadow of the eclipse as it arrives around 3:20 p.m. EDT.

It required rearranging the hours of the school day to remain in session, but Superintendent Thomas Simon said staff did not want to miss out on the learning opportunity, especially at a time when when students experience so much of life through screens.

“We want them to leave here that day feeling they’re a very small part of a pretty magnificent planet that we live on, and world that we live in, and that there’s some real amazing things that we can experience in the natural world,” Simon said.

Schools in Cleveland and some other cities in the eclipse’s path will be closed that day so that students aren’t stuck on buses or in crowds of people expected to converge. At Riverside, Morris came up with a mix of crafts, games and models to educate and engage her students ahead of time.

“They really were not realizing what a big deal this was until we really started talking about it,” Morris said.

Learning about phases of the moon and eclipses is built into every state’s science standards, said Dennis Schatz, past president of the National Science Teaching Association. Some school systems have their own planetariums — relics of the 1960s space race — where students can take in educational shows about astronomy.

But there is no better lesson than the real thing, said Schatz, who encourages educators to use the eclipse as “a teachable moment.”

Dallas science teachers Anita Orozco and Katherine Roberts plan to do just that at the Lamplighter School, arranging for the entire pre-K- through fourth-grade student body to watch it together outdoors. The teachers spent a Saturday in March at a teaching workshop at the University of Texas at Dallas where they were told it would be “almost criminal” to keep students inside.

“We want our students to love science as much as we do,” Roberts said, “and we just want them understanding and also having the awe of how crazy this event is.”

Wrangling young children may be a challenge, Orozco said, but “we want it to be an event.”

In training future science teachers, University at Buffalo professor Noemi Waight has encouraged her student teachers to incorporate how culture shapes the way people experience an eclipse. Native Americans, for example, may view the total eclipse as something sacred, she said.

“This is important for our teachers to understand,” she said, “so when they’re teaching, they can address all of these elements.”

The STEM Friends Club from the State University of New York Brockport planned eclipse-related activities with fourth-grade students at teacher Christopher Albrecht’s class, hoping to pass along their passion for science, technology, engineering and math to younger students.

“I want to show students what is possible,” said Allison Blum, 20, a physics major focused on astrophysics. “You know those big mainstream jobs, like astronaut, but you don’t really know what’s possible with the different fields.”

Albrecht sees his fourth-grade students’ interest in the eclipse as a chance to incorporate literacy into lessons, too — maybe even spark a love of reading.

“This is is a great opportunity to read a lot with them,” Albrecht said. He has picked “What Is a Solar Eclipse?” by Dana Meachen Rau and ”A Few Beautiful Minutes” by Kate Allen Fox for his class at Hill Elementary School in Brockport, New York.

“It’s capturing their interest,” he said, “and at the same time, their imagination, too.”

Associated Press writer Patrick Orsagos contributed to this report.

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Wwe wrestlemania 40 sunday: roman reigns losing and 5 smart booking decisions.

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Cody Rhodes will headline WrestleMania for the second straight year. (Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty ... [+] Images)

WWE WrestleMania 40 is halfway in the books, with WrestleMania Saturday delivering a memorable show that set the tone for Night Two of the flagship show.

The Rock and Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins so that Sunday’s main event of Reigns vs. Rhodes will now be contested under “Bloodline Rules.” Meanwhile, Rhea Ripley retained her Women’s World Championship against Becky Lynch and Sami Zayn ended Gunther’s incredible 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion.

WWE’s announced crowd of more than 72,000 fans could be topped once again tonight on WrestleMania Sunday, when Rhodes will look to “finish his story” while Seth Rollins will defend his World title against Drew McIntyre and other top stars, like Bayley, LA Knight and Randy Orton will be in action.

Saturday was a well-booked show, but how should Night Two go? Here are five smart booking moves WWE must make on WrestleMania Sunday.

Randy Orton Wins the United States Championship

Logan Paul won the United States Championship last November at WWE Crown Jewel, and since then, he’s defended his title exactly once, defeating Kevin Owens by disqualification at the 2024 Royal Rumble.

As great as Paul is in the ring and as recognizable as he is outside of it, he’s simply not around enough to justify being the United States Champion. Kevin Owens would make a fine United States Champion too, but that’s simply a case of been there, done that with Owens, who’s held that title three different times.

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Putting the US title on Orton, however, could do wonders for that championship in much the same way that Gunther’s Intercontinental title reign has done. Orton remains one of the top stars in all of pro wrestling and would instantly improve the prestige of the US title as a full-time star with a ton of name value.

Paul is great as an all-around performer and so is Owens, but Orton—the most accomplished WWE star of the three—is the right man to hold the US title at a time when it needs a reboot driven by a marquee star.

Bayley Finally Gets Her WrestleMania Moment

As accomplished as Bayley is as a former Raw, SmackDown and NXT Women’s Champion, she hasn’t really gotten that unforgettable WrestleMania moment that so many other top stars have.

Now, it’s time.

Bayley’s lengthy storyline with Iyo Sky and the rest of Damage CTRL is one of the best-booked angles in all of WWE this WrestleMania season, with Bayley turning babyface after five years as a heel. Judging just by crowd reactions, it’s easy to see that WWE’s diehard fans are salivating at the thought of Bayley picking up a massive title win on the biggest stage in pro wrestling.

And that’s precisely what should happen, with Bayley defeating Sky to get that spotlight that she’s earned with her stellar performances over the past decade.

LA Knight Get His First WrestleMania Victory

LA Knight isn’t as hot as he was just a few months ago, but he’s certainly not a lost cause. It’s just that a non-title singles feud—even with someone as great as AJ Styles—feels like a bit of a letdown, even to Knight himself , given that Knight was reportedly in contention to face Logan Paul for the United States title instead.

With such a logjam in the world title scenes on Raw and SmackDown, Knight’s surest bet at capturing gold was the US Championship. Now, however, his best-case scenario is a WrestleMania victory over the legendary Styles, which should be an absolute no-brainer at this point.

Knight will benefit from such a high-profile win, and ideally, this will help position “The Megastar” for a championship feud in the near future.

Drew McIntyre Beats Seth Rollins, Then Damian Priest Cashes In

As is the case with Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins’ long-term WWE future isn’t crystal clear due to a shaky contract status . In an ironic twist, however, his WrestleMania 40 opponent, Drew McIntyre, is in essentially the exact same situation .

So, what’s the out here? Well, that's where “Mr. Money in the Bank” Damian Priest comes into the mix.

The clock is ticking on Priest’s MITB contract because he won it on July 1, 2023 and must cash it in by that date this year. Why not do it at WrestleMania 40? With neither Rollins nor McIntyre under a new long-term deal with WWE, it’s difficult to envision either star holding Raw’s World Heavyweight Championship for the long haul.

Priest hasn’t really been booked as a top star, but he’s got to cash in sooner or later. If he does so after McIntyre topples Rollins, he would create an instant WrestleMania moment, bring some prestigious gold to the Judgment Day and potentially set the stage for a babyface turn.

This scenario would also work if Rollins retained and Priest cashed in to remain a villain.

Cody Rhodes Defeats Roman Reigns And Finishes His Story

When Cody Rhodes lost to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 last year, it looked like WWE made a colossal mistake.

Of course, WWE has been able to rebound, essentially repeating Rhodes’ journey to WrestleMania 39 en route to WrestleMania 40. Imagine, then, how terrible of a booking decision it would be if WWE put all this time and effort into Rhodes “finishing the story” only for Rhodes to, well, not finish it.

Reigns’ historic title reign has been wildly intriguing, sure, but it’s only one part of The Bloodline saga, especially with The Rock inserting himself into the mix. The next logical step for The Bloodline’s epic is for Reigns to lose the Universal title that has defined him for nearly for nearly four years and then descend into a downward spiral when he no longer has his championship.

In other words, Rhodes—especially after being pinned by The Rock on WrestleMania Saturday—must finish his story at WrestleMania 40, and any other outcome would be nothing short of a booking disaster.

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