How to Understand Approval of Skills
What does an Approved Skill Mean?
Most commonly, a Skill is approved (or badged) when a teacher determines that a particular skill has been sufficiently mastered to consider that skill "done" - approved. LiFT Learning recommends that each learning community develops a shared understanding of what marking a Skill as Approved means. Ideally, this understanding is also shared with your Learners.
A Skill can be marked as Approved in three distinct places:
- In your Classes > Projects space, if you feel that a particular Evidence has met the standards to consider the Skill Approved, you can check the box to the right of Add to Portfolio. Please keep in mind that you are marking the Skill approved, not the Evidence.
- In Classes > Portfolios, when you assess a class skill portfolio, looking at all the evidence and ratings that have accumulated throughout the class, perhaps you determine that the standard to have the skill considered approved has been met. You can check the Approved box in the window that pops up when you open a learner/skill cell. When you close that window, you can tell that skill has been approved in this class when you see the check-in-circle icon in the upper right corner of the cell.
- In the Combined Portfolio, to look at the evidence that has accumulated for a specific skill across all classes and all time, you click on the eyeball icon in the far right column. A new window opens up and list all the evidence that has been tagged to that skill. If you feel that skill now warrants approval, put a checkmark in the box in the upper right corner. When you return to the Combined Portfolio, you will now see a green check-in-circle icon for that skill.
Things to Understand about Approving Skills
- Once a Skill is marked as Approved in either a class or on the Combined Portfolio, that Skill continues to show the green check-in-circle icon in the Combined Portfolio.
- Approved Skills will appear with a badge in LiFT Reports.
- Marking a Skill as approved at the Evidence level (Classes > Projects) does not have any impact on a LiFT-suggested Portfolio Score.
- Marking a Skill as approved at the Portfolio level (Classes > Portfolio) does not have any impact on a LiFT-suggested Class Grade.
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