State Policies to Support
Student-Centered Learning

Publication
July 14, 2022

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • There is growing interest in student-centered learning as an approach to rethinking education systems and instructional design to better support individual learners
  • In recent years, state policymakers have studied the issue and pursued multiple approaches to support schools and districts seeking to shift instructional models toward student-centered learning
  • Trends in recent years represent the continued expansion of student-centered learning policies in the states

With growing interest in student-centered learning as an approach to rethinking education systems and instructional design to better support individual learners, KnowledgeWorks teamed up with Education Commission of the States (ECS) to use their respective policy tracking systems to scan student-centered policies in all 50 states that empower districts to implement student-centered learning.

The policy brief offers an analysis of policy trends, state case studies and key considerations for those interested in a personalized, competency-based system. It also explores the existing foundation of student-centered learning policies by providing information on every state’s policy in three categories:

  1. Assessment of student mastery
  2. Flexible governance
  3. Student-centered learning frameworks

The accompanying scan includes information on state graduate portraits and profiles, graduation requirements and course credit options, and policies permitting flexible school governance.

Read the full policy brief and scan at ECS.

Related Resources

KnowledgeWorks recommended short- and long-term actions for the new administration in four key areas

To adequately prepare students for what’s next, states are grounding graduation requirements in competency-based practices. We found consistency in four…

Jon Alfuth
Senior Director of State Policy

Research tells us assessments in traditional education systems aren’t working. Explore how states can work with the federal government to…

Lillian Pace
Vice President of Policy and Strategic Advancement

Menu

Search