PASS
Personalized Assessment of Student Standards, or PASS, allows students to create their own course and get high school credit! 9-12 students will team up with a VTVLC teacher to create a self-designed program that can be project or research-based. We’ll work with your school to ensure you receive graduation credit and support you through the project.
To apply, register for PASS Class. Students can apply to create a PASS class on a rolling basis throughout the year.
PASS Benefits
- Opportunity to learn about a topic uniquely interesting to the learner.
- Proficiency building through self-designed, project-based learning!
- Flexible start and end dates.
- All of VTVLC PASS Teacher/Mentors are Vermont licensed teachers who are dedicated to support the student’s project! They will act as a guide and make suggestions as they complete their project.
Amount of Time
3-5 hours per course, per week
2-6 assignments per course, per week
Hands-on Learning Activities
Discussion based assessments with course instructor, summative assessments, formative assessments
Online Learning Activities
Competing lesson modules, discussions with classmates, reading, listening to audio clips, watching videos
Program Details
Students are mentored through a two-part program to develop a self-designed project and the implementation component where they demonstrate proficiency. Simply put, students work with a VTVLC teacher/mentor who supports and assesses their skills and knowledge gained by completing their self-designed project.
How does PASS work?
All student candidates start with a Project Proposal and Review using the VTVLC PASS process. Once a proposal is submitted, a full review and collaboration meeting is setup with the student’s selected VTVLC teacher mentor. VTVLC then works with the student’s school to ensure maximum alignment to the local proficiency based graduation requirements.
The student’s journey for this project will require them to be very self-directed and maintain strict time management, as they develop and work through the development of the project.
The teacher mentor will be selected according to the embedded academic content area of the project. In addition, students may also have additional mentors who will support the project as part of the PASS team. Each VTVLC Teacher/Mentor is an expert in their field. They are licensed Vermont educators who know their content areas, as well as having a breadth of other “real life” experiences that they can share with the student during the project. Working with a mentor will help the student develop a deeper understanding of the topic they chose.
What you should know
The PASS program allows for flexible start and end dates. Students will be enrolled on the 1st or the 15th of the month.
Each project will have an anticipated end date. The teacher will help build a week by week pace chart for deliverables.
All of VTVLC Pass Teacher/Mentors are Vermont licensed teachers who are dedicated to support the student’s project! They will act as a guide and make suggestions as they complete their project.
“My family took a 3.5 month sabbatical to Southeast Asia which would not have been possible without online courses. I took some courses over the summer and worked with VTVLC to design an independent course which I completed while I was on the road. Without the flexibility of online courses, I wouldn’t have been able to get the credits I did and travel.”