Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . In this recent MultiBriefs exclusive , I reported on how competency-based learning (CBL) systems continue to take hold across the nation. According to the International Association of Online K-12 Learning (iNACOL), 49 out of 50 states currently have policy language in place to support CBL systems in schools and school districts. Competency-based learning is sometimes referred to as mastery learning, proficiency-based learning, and, to a lesser degree, standards-based learning. It is part of a larger movement known as personalized learning, a philosophy which puts students at the center of their learning, and encourages schools to identify multiple pathways for student learning and achievement. In effective competency-based schools, the following is true: ●        Students advance upon demonstrated mastery. ●        Competencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives that empower s

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . As a child, I was always enamored with books and movies that let me imagine what the future would look like. I wasn’t excited about the idea of traveling on spaceships from planet to planet with the crew on Star Wars, and I didn’t care so much about flying a car like the people from Back to the Future 2. Maybe I was afraid of heights. I did, however, love the idea that one day computers would be as smart (or smarter) than humans. That day has been slowly creeping up on us, and we haven’t even noticed. Perhaps it is because we don’t have robots walking around our home and our office, looking like “us.” Remember the character “Data” from the Star Trek the Next Generation series? He was my favorite! My interest as a child was always centered around examples of artificial intelligence, also known as “AI.” By definition, AI can be any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same act