Archive for the ‘Competency Based Education’ Category

A nimble organization and a flexible degree program: A term‐based competency‐based education case study

Anderson University began re‐designing one of its online degrees using competency‐based education principles in 2015, using almost 2 years to develop the curriculum and implementation plans. The model is designed with maximum flexibility, letting students choose their path to competency at each course rather than developing both subscription and term models. In the term‐based model that […]

New program targets college readiness gap

A new competency-based series of courses aims to tackle the growing college readiness gap and prepare students for success in and after college. WGU Academy, a new independent operating unit from Western Governors University, is intended to help solve the widening college readiness gap. Courses and programs in WGU Academy will give aspiring students an […]

Competency‐based education and higher education enterprise systems

Background Competency‐based education (CBE) as a means of awarding degrees and credentials in higher education has emerged as a student‐centric, personalized academic design with the potential to transform learning; however, the variety that currently exists in program design and delivery has limited the development opportunities for systemic enterprise solutions. To scale, expand, and enhance the […]

Competency‐based education: An evolutionary higher education business model

As new education models emerge in the higher education landscape, constituents and stakeholders increasingly demand greater evidence of the return on investment to the institution. To date, little research has explored and reported the financial underpinnings and outcomes for new models such as Competency‐based Education (Desrochers & Staisloff, 2016, http://rpkgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/rpkgroup_cbe_business_model_report_20161018.pdf). This case study explores and […]

In Real Life: How do CBE systems manage differences in pace?

This article is the sixth in a nine-part “In Real Life” series based on the complex, fundamental questions that practitioners in competency-based systems grapple with “in real life.” Links to the other posts can be found at the end of this article. Competency-based education (CBE) systems meet students where they are and support them to […]

Helping Students Develop Competencies, Teachers Hone Their Own

In competency-based formats, instructors adjust to interacting regularly with students, directing students toward clear learning outcomes and other departures from their traditional practices. Many instructors begin the course-development process by asking themselves what they want students to have learned when the semester ends. Nina Morel, dean and professor of professional studies at Lipscomb University in […]

In Real Life: Who Gets to Decide Which Student Outcomes Matter?

One tell-tale feature that sets a competency-based education (CBE) system apart from a traditional school system is the naming of competencies – specific sets of knowledge, skills, and abilities – that each and every student must master in order to move from one stage to the next. Inherently, this feature can also be one of […]

Download Report: Quality Principles for Competency-Based Education

This publication builds off of the early ideas introduced in the paper In Search of Efficacy: Defining the Elements of Quality in a Competency-Based Education System, developed for the 2017 National Summit on Competency-Based Education. After a series of revisions building on input from experts and practitioners in the field, we have authored this book […]

RAND Education Assessment Finder

The RAND Education Assessment Finder is a web-based tool that provides information about assessments of K-12 students’ interpersonal, intrapersonal, and higher-order cognitive competencies. Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can use it to explore what assessments are available, what they are designed to measure, how they are administered, what demands they place on students and teachers, and […]

Scoring models in competency‐based educational assessment

Assessments can be broadly classified into two categories based on how they are scored: compensatory or conjunctive. Compensatory models allow for strong performance in one content area to compensate for poor performance in another content area as long as the overall score meets the performance standard. Conjunctive scoring models require examinees to meet performance standards […]