CLARK FORK — Junior and senior high school students in Clark Fork have the chance to incubate a fledgling educational model. They are part of the first group of schools that will participate in the newly created Idaho Mastery Education Network.

"The Idaho Department of Education selected 19 applicants that represent a wide and diverse array of schools and locations and will be supported by Kelly Brady, director of Mastery Education," according to a press release from the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Mastery education takes a different approach than the traditional system currently in place, according to the release.

"In a mastery education system, students advance to higher levels of learning when they demonstrate mastery of concepts and skills regardless of time, place or pace. Advancements in technology, coupled with evolving workforce demands, require students be given opportunities to achieve at a flexible pace, whether advancing beyond standard mastery or requiring additional support to achieve mastery," according to the Department of Education.

"In Idaho, we define mastery education as a system of personalized, differentiated learning where students progress based upon a demonstration of mastery of competencies and content, not seat time or the age or grade level of the student," said Kelly Brady.

Despite the school being newly named a cohort in the program, principal Phil Kemink of Clark Fork Junior/Senior High said his staff has been testing mastery education since the start of this school year with good results.

"It’s actually going awesome. We’ve found that certain subjects are working better than others. In some subjects, some of the kids are far beyond where they would normally be (with the traditional program)," Kemink said. "We had kids that didn’t do well in classes for various reasons. Some of those D-F kids are now A-B.”

Some additional benefits of the mastery educational approach include the development of critical thinking, student empowerment, and improvement of student and teacher relationships, Brady said.

"We’re lucky because we’re a small school anyway, and we get to know the kids very well," said Kemink of his 105-person student body. "We’re making individual learning plans for every kid in the school."

Kemink also said the program is designed to benefit all students, even those who are not particularly self-motivated.

"The teachers have the ability to grab those unmotivated kids and move them along," he said.

As an incubator school for IMEN, Clark Fork Junior/Senior High makes the final call on whether or not to adopt mastery education.

"Right now it’s a go, and we will be one of the pilot schools for the state. Everyone is working together, trying to make this work," said Kemink. "Later, we will decide whether to adopt the program permanently."