Competency Based Education: A Bandwagon in Search of a Definition

Spady, William G.

doi:10.3102/0013189x006001009

Cited by 118 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This suggests growing consensus about the core of student-centered educational reform broadly, and the centrality of these elements to student-centered reforms. Nonetheless, the variation in terminology is noteworthy, particularly to the extent that it both reflects and contributes to imprecision, if not confusion, in how the elements of competency-based education and other student-centered approaches are defined-an issue that is not new, but was recognized some three decades ago by Spady and colleagues (Spady, 1977;Spady & Mitchell, 1977). Echoing this lack of precision, both in language and meaning, is wide variability within and across schools and districts in how competencybased policies and practices are conceived and implemented.…”

Section: Renewed Interest In Competency-based Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating student exposure to competency-based education

Ryan

Cox

2017

EPAA

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Abstract:In recent years, most U.S. states have revised policy by providing schools at least some flexibility to move away from the Carnegie unit system, with its focus on credits and "seat time," toward competency-based policies that link student advancement to mastery of content. Yet, there is little systematically collected information about how competency-based education is implemented, making it difficult to evaluate the impact on student outcomes. Using data from 600 students in grades 9-12 and confirmatory factor analytic techniques, we report initial reliability and validity results from the pilot administration of a survey designed to capture student exposure to elements that have been described as essential to a competency-based, student-centered model for learning and instruction. These elements include mastery-based progression, personalization, flexible assessment, and the development of specific skills and dispositions. Results suggest that the survey offers a way to reliably measure and study variation in the implementation of competency-based education. Importantly, the survey provides a way to capture implementation from the student perspective, leveraging the fact that student reports about their classroom experiences may be a particularly reliable source of information about instructional practice. Keywords: competency-based education; secondary education; structural equation modeling; surveys Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 25 No. 24 2 La exposición de los estudiantes a la educación basada en competencias Resumen: Recientemente, la mayoría de los estados en los Estados Unidos han revisado la póliza educativa con métodos que han proveído flexibilidad para alejarse del sistema de unidades de Carnegie, que se centra en los créditos y el "tiempo en el asiento o escritorio", hacia políticas basadas en competencias que conectan el progreso del estudiante con la materia del contenido. Sin embargo, hay poca información recopilada sistemáticamente sobre cómo se implementa la educación basada en competencias, lo que dificulta evaluar el impacto en los resultados de los estudiantes. Utilizando datos de 600 estudiantes de los grados 9-12 con técnicas analíticas con factores confirmatorios, informamos los resultados iniciales de confiabilidad y validez de la administración inicial de una encuesta diseñada para capturar la exposición de los estudiantes a elementos que se han descritos como esenciales para un estudiante basado en competencias centradas para el aprendizaje y la instrucción. Estos elementos incluyen la progresión basada en el la maestría, la personalización, la evaluación flexible y el desarrollo de habilidades y disposiciones específicas. Los resultados sugieren que la encuesta ofrece una manera de medir y estudiar con fiabilidad la variación en la implementación de la educación basada en competencias. Es importante destacar que la encuesta proporciona una forma de captar la implementación desde la perspectiva del estudiante, aprovechando el hecho de que los informes de los estudi...

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Section: Renewed Interest In Competency-based Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating student exposure to competency-based education

Ryan

Cox

2017

EPAA

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“…The research agrees that a CBE model includes an emphasis on outcomes, a strong pedagogy, the use of interdisciplinary resources, and assessment of a student attainment of competencies across the curriculum (Albanese, Mejicano, Anderson, & Gruppen, 2008;Grant et al, 1979;Hall & Jones, 1976;Johnstone & Soares, 2014;Malan, 2000;O'Connell & Moomaw, 1975;Spady, 1977;Utz & Leonard, 1975). A student demonstrates readiness to graduate when they can demonstrate the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and behavior gained through attainment of the identified competencies (Grant et al, 1979;O'Connell & Moomaw, 1975).…”

Section: Components Of Cbementioning

confidence: 99%

The operational definition of competency‐based education

Gervais

2016

J of Competency-Based Ed

170

107

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BackgroundAs education in the United States pushes for accountability, educational programs across the country are attempting to find innovative ways to measure student learning outcomes. Competency‐based education is one model favorable among many academic institutions and accreditation agencies because it links theory to practice (Clark, Competency‐based education for social work: Evaluation and curriculum issues, 1976; Hall & Jones, Competency‐based education: A process for the improvement of education, 1976; Johnstone & Soares, Change, 46, 2014, 12; Pace, Competency education series: Policy brief one, 2013). The research indicates that there is no standard definition of competency‐based education and agreement on the criteria that encompass this model (Book, All hands on deck: Ten lessons from early adopters of competency‐based education, 2014; Le, Wolfe, & Steinberg, The past and the promise: Today's competency education movement, 2014; Riesman, On competence: A critical analysis of competence‐based reforms in higher education, 1979).MethodsThis research reviewed the literature on competency‐based education and interviewed key informants from various disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon.ResultsThis research constructs an operational definition of competency‐based education and then applies this definition to build an assessment tool to determine the extent that competency‐based education exists in an academic program.

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“…-finally, with reference to Spady (1977) and the 1970s Portland-Project the problems of goal setting and measurement are addressed, with a strong emphasis on the selection of goals and objectives at the local and practical level. '…CBE entails a reconsideration of goals … the mechanisms for reaching the goals must also be re-evaluated … goals originate from the instructors themselves … the movement of goals is from the bottom up instead of from the top down ' (ibid, p.425).…”

Section: The Complexities Of Competence-based Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competence-based Education and Educational Effectiveness

Lassnigg

2016

Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects

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The paper assesses the empirical evidence for outcomes of competence-based education which are envisaged by policy-makers, and gives some interpretations of how the topic is handled in the political processes. This is achieved by a review of the research literature as documented in bibliographical databases which cover academic publications and in more practical material. The searches were generic, and included not only specific competenceexpressions, but also terms as 'outcomes' and 'learning'. The staggering conclusion of this exercise is that there is hardly any evidence for the effectiveness of competence-based education despite the long period since the 1970s when the approach came up in the US.Whether this is an artefact of the operationalization of the outcomes of competence-based education or not, it seems that there is only very little attention to testing the policyassumptions that competence-based education is a worthy educational innovation. As this is quite disturbing, it is recommended that more efforts are being made to prove (or falsify) the putative added value of competence-based education initiatives. Zusammenfassung

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Competency Based Education: A Bandwagon in Search of a Definition

Cited by 118 publications

References 2 publications

Investigating student exposure to competency-based education

Investigating student exposure to competency-based education

The operational definition of competency‐based education

Competence-based Education and Educational Effectiveness

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