Move On When Ready Training
Arizona recognized the need to embrace a new approach to education, one that would prepare students for postsecondary education, while acknowledging that the traditional seat time schooling method could be improved.
Enter Move on When Ready, an initiative designed to help schools and educators designate plans that enable students to graduate high school better prepared for college or the workforce.
The Move on When Ready New Leader Kickoff, hosted by the Center for the Future of Arizona, brought together educators and administrators across Arizona to learn more about the initiative while networking with fellow educational leaders throughout the state.
CFA’s Megan McWenie presented the attendees with information on the initiative, as well as instruction on how to implement and maximize Cambridge programs at the participating schools.
Those in attendance collaborated in groups to share new ideas, along with revelations and frustrations they have had along the way, and to learn from each other’s experiences with the program.
Move on When Ready schools implement Cambridge programs to achieve a student-centered curriculum that prepares students not just for tests, but for life.
Cambridge programs are standards-based aligned instructional systems that articulate college and career-readiness while providing assessments that gauge those measures. Move on When Ready schools prioritize transparent standards and assessments, making learning expectations clear to students and teachers while also providing detailed feedback about student progress and performance.
The initiative serves as a student-centered approach that veers from the traditional state-wide curriculum and standardized tests by prioritizing mastery of course concepts and material over seat time by introducing schools with a curriculum that matches the testing and metrics used to evaluate student performance.
Students in Move on When Ready schools who demonstrate college-readiness in all core subject areas may earn their Grand Canyon High School Diploma. The Grand Canyon Diploma recognizes a student as prepared for college-level coursework and opens up education and career options for students within and beyond high school.
Artensia Kennedy, an academic advisor at Imagine Prep Coolidge, attended the New Leader Kickoff and spoke about the advantages for students who are pursuing their Grand Canyon Diploma.
“The biggest advantage is to assist the students who are Grand Canyon Diploma ready, who will be getting their Grand Canyon Diploma and seeing them move on and be successful after high school,” Kennedy said.
“Because they are able to get that Grand Canyon Diploma,” Kennedy continued, “they can go out of state with it and do other things as well. So, it does have prestige in Arizona, but it’s also a good diploma when you go outside of Arizona as well.”
Schools from Phoenix to Tucson and Yuma to Kingman - 32 schools in total - participate in the Move on When Ready initiative, which the Arizona State Board of Education implemented in 2010 and selected the Center for the Future of Arizona to oversee.
Through supporting initiatives like Move on When Ready, programs like Cambridge, and novel ideas such as the Grand Canyon Diploma, the Center for the Future of Arizona is devising innovative ways to improve the future of education in Arizona.