Seeing so many parents, particularly of middle schoolers and high schoolers, saying their kids are failing and they just cannot motivate their kid to do school work. I keep wondering why we aren’t looking for new ways to determine competency.

Last week my kid reminded a teacher that his learning challenges make it hard for him to take traditional notes during online learning. The assignment was to turn in notes. The teacher asked him to stay after class and talk about what he learned.

It was perfect. He demonstrated competency through a method that did not require him to do something he struggles with. And the teacher knows he was listening and learning.

Of course learning is harder during a pandemic, with all the distractions of home. Last week a ran across our desk, my son missed a lesson as we all screamed. If that happened in class all the students would miss the lesson instead of just my kid. Multiply that by 30+ homes.

But kids can and are learning remotely. I just wonder how much we adults are learning about ways to measure learning that don’t look like the traditional assignment completion model which has always favored some kids’ learning styles.