Greenhurst Elementary School students are about to finish their first year learning under Idaho's Mastery Education program.
Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra toured Greenhurst on Tuesday.
"Basically, it's just a focus on the student and best meeting their needs where they're at," Ybarra said.
Mastery Education students are still required to study local and state curriculum, but they're allowed to learn at their own pace.
"When they master a standard, then they can move on to the next standard," Greenhurst second grade teacher Rachel Lightfoot said.
Instead of holding students back from advancing to information above their grade level or forcing students to move on from a subject before they're ready, Mastery Education students reach goals on a personalized timeline.
"They're able to graph their goals to see how they're improving throughout their education," Lightfoot said.
Idaho schools are allowed to choose whether to incorporate mastery-based learning in their classrooms.
"It's a different type of learning; it's personalized learning," Ybarra said. "This is just one other option within the traditional setting to offer school choice to our students."
For more on Mastery Education click here.
