Devin is joining Encompass as a 2nd grader. He enjoys video games and soccer and says he likes school “sometimes.” His parents share that he had a bit of a hard time in first grade. He often struggled to get through the day, complaining he was “bored” or “distracted.” His parents worry his needs are not being met. 

Devin took a set of tests when he arrived at Encompass; this is what they showed:

Devin has some gaps in reading, but he’s actually achieving above grade level in math. Imagine how frustrating it might be for a student like Devin to be in a traditional 2nd grade classroom: he’d likely experience deep frustration in the reading block, while feeling disengaged during math.

Luckily, a mastery-based learning approach can ensure he gets what he needs and is built to catch him up.

The table below shows his schedule at the beginning of the year. 

As you can see, throughout the day, Devin is able to get personalized instruction in math and reading, while still finding community and consistency with his homeroom peers and teacher. After several weeks in these groupings, Devin’s teachers administer another set of assessments. He makes progress in both reading and math. While he’s still below grade-level expectations in some areas and above in others, his new groupings will be reflective of his needs - accelerating his and his peers’ growth and mastery. 

If Devin was a student at school who didn’t use mastery-based learning, he would likely continue to fall behind in reading, even with school-wide interventions.  In math class, Devin would likely be bored and become disengaged over time because he is above grade level and ready to learn more, but, the pace of his class doesn’t account for this learner variability.