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Matter Academy describes Nevada competency-based pilot work and plans to scale classroom practices
Summary
Staff from Matter Academy described participation in the Nevada Department of Education competency-based pilot, outlining classroom structures, portrait-of-a-learner development, and plans to expand practices across its campus network in the coming school year.
Matter Academy staff and leaders told the SPCSA on June 25 about their experience participating in the Nevada competency-based learning pilot and their plans to extend those practices across three campus sites.
Olivia Carbajal, principal of Matter Academy Mountain Vista, introduced the team and praised the staff’s work. Danielle Ranney, who represented Matter Academy during the pilot, said the initiative asked participating districts and schools to adopt a portrait of a learner and to organize work around seven competencies: learner agency, assessments, learner supports, mastery, flexible learning paths, equity and standards-aligned competencies.
Instructional coach Alana Jackson described how the school’s launch cohort focused on classroom structures that allow students to demonstrate mastery, provide student voice and choice, and integrate social-emotional strategies aligned with the school’s MTSS program. Matter Academy created focus teams that conducted classroom walkthroughs, collected artifacts and synthesized evidence to prioritize areas for improvement.
The school reported that the pilot helped it identify manageable, targeted changes rather than wholesale overhaul: teachers already practiced many elements of competency work, and the school’s next steps include building rubrics, coaching new teachers on classroom management while increasing student autonomy, and using PLCs (professional learning communities) to spread practices among campuses.
Why it matters: Colorado-style or competency-based approaches are intended to give students clearer routes to demonstrate learning and to reduce chronic absenteeism by increasing student agency. Matter Academy said the pilot aligned with its MTSS strategies and that staff will continue professional development and summit participation next year.
SPCSA board members thanked the Matter Academy team and encouraged other charter schools to consider participating in pilot cohorts in future rounds.
