The rapid and widespread adoption of competency-based education (CBE) has brought into sharp focus long-standing tensions built into education systems, particularly for graduate and professional schools. We all share the desire to produce graduates equipped to respond capably in a rapidly changing world. However, many of us struggle with the…

This exploration into competency-based innovation at the school, district, and state levels suggests that competency-based pathways are a re-engineering of this nation's education system around learning--a re-engineering designed for success in which failure is no longer viable. This discussion draws on interviews and site visits with innovators…

This article is an attempt to state an understanding of the notion of a competency as an educational objective. A competency is defined as the ability to use a concept or theory as a tool for some purpose. It is distinguished from the more general ability to judge which tool is best to use for a given purpose. A professional training program or…

A major problem in competency-based education is the lack of clarity in defining competence. This monograph describes the levels of competence used in developing competency-based educational programs and provides a taxonomy that can be used in developing competency-based instruction. The taxonomy includes four levels. Level 1 includes specific…

Basic definitions, conceptual clarity, and analyses of the organizational and social implications of various competency-based education approaches are badly needed. (Author/EB)

Defines skill, performance, and competency, relates the concept of competency based education to the intent of the Hart Bill, the Stull Bill or AB 65, i.e., to insure that students master and perform basic skills of communication and computation, and considers some underlying assumptions that are the basis of educational legislation. (Author/RK)

A review of the literature base on competency-based education (CBE) as it relates to vocational education (competency-based vocational education or CBVE) is presented in this information analysis paper. The following topics are discussed: differences between traditional and competency-based education; growth and breadth of CBVE (including…

This handbook is designed to provide uniform criteria and a support system to help individuals involved in curriculum-related functions within a school system to implement the Wisconsin Competency Based Occupational Curriculum Data System (WisCom). (The WisCom system is a complete support system for curriculum development and management that…

In Australia the usual evaluation of whether a student will perform adequately as a doctor is a subjective evaluation of his clinical performance, usually at the completion of five or six years at medical school. The evaluation is performed on an inadequate and uncontrolled patient sample and appears to be subject to many errors. Recent work…

Developed as part of a New Hampshire project entitled "Curriculum Activity Planning for Schools," this manual supplements the project guide (CE 021 833) on how to establish components for a competency-based vocational secondary school curriculum. The essential components for curriculum development are classified in an introductory…

Many people believe that a lack of clear goals has limited the quality of education in America, where local school districts have traditionally been responsible for setting educational standards. Working in isolation, schools have failed to reach consensus on goals and standards, and teachers are hard-pressed to motivate students to achieve. The…

This booklet outlines federal and Ohio guidelines regarding tech prep programs. Presented first is a map depicting the 24 Ohio consortia developed during the 4 phases of statewide planning of tech prep in Ohio. The next section of the booklet, which is devoted to federal provisions regarding tech prep, includes the definition of tech prep…

This guide is a developmental document that contains working definitions of terms and commentaries on them. Intended for those working or interested in vocational education and training (VET) at any level, the guide introduces the concepts and terminology associated with work-based learning in VET, offers assistance to readers trying to understand…

A collection of reports and case studies of second language instruction for proficiency includes: "Language Teaching and the Quest for the Holy Grail" (Theodore V. Higgs); "The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines: A Historical Perspective" (Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro); "The Proficiency-Oriented Classroom" (Alice C. Omaggio);…

Attempts to define the essence of the PBTE approach, analyzes the absence of a research base connecting teacher behavior and student learning and the inadvisability of construing teacher education as a problem of developing effective teachers, as well as arguing that PBTE is a political and educational movement. (Author/RK)