Outlines what should be done before and during the analysis and design stages of the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) instructional systems design/development (ISD) process to increase the alignment of electronic learning (e-learning) content with performance. Provides an example with a system for developing…

Discusses models and strategies to integrate academics in secondary vocational training programs. Recommends that academic credit move toward being competency-based much like its vocational counterpart. (JOW)

Potential pitfalls in implementing a competency-based, mastery model of computer-based training are mixing self-pacing and classroom instruction, failing to control entry and exit, failing to align curriculum, dealing with conflicting values about teaching, applying conventional test reliability measures to mastery tests, and coping with…

Describes three approaches to performance-based preparation programs for school administrators: administrative internships, practicums involving a school management or leadership project, and practical assignments. Lists competencies a school administrator should have and advantages of performance-based education. (DMM)

In reply to "Educational Foundations for Tomorrow's Information Scientists" (Bulletin of ASIS, June/July 1989), which identifies 10 key concepts as educational foundations for information science, it is argued that paradigms found in computer science education and the dimension of human information processing further complicates the…

Reviews development of competency-based standards for National Vocational Qualifications in purchasing as well as criticisms of the competency-based concept related to higher order skills, subjectivity, atomism, and imprecision. Argues that validity of qualifications lies in practitioner involvement in development; their value is in personnel…

Describes a proposal developed at Wichita State University for a basic library skills competency test for undergraduates to be followed by a multioptioned program designed to enable every student to eventually pass the test. Reasons for the proposal's failure to be accepted are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Suggests that "competence" is a component of power-knowledge practices that regulate adults through a process of self-regulation. Argues that competency-based education is a means of producing consent without using oppression or force in reproducing the social order. (SK)

An interview with the director of the recently established International Center on Outcome-Based Restructuring explains that outcome-based education focuses on defining, pursuing, and ensuring success with the same high-level outcomes for all students. (MLF)

Competing pressures on Australian educational managers include pressure to implement competency-based training, to manage using the industrial model, and to husband resources, conflicting with traditional educational goals, government policies, and demands for accountability. (SK)

This paper, on the potential contributions of performance science to education, defines performance and performance science, distinguishes between behavior and performance, presents tactics for presenting instruction, presents tactics for designing training, and outlines how to decide which accomplishments are valuable enough to include in a…

This literature review examines seven issues: describing minimum requirements for qualifications, distinguishing qualification levels, recognizing prior learning, using short courses, recording competency-based assessment results, keeping records of individual achievement, and deciding whether to record exact competencies. Recent movements to…

Responding to Gregory Cizek's critique of the "faddishness" of direct assessment methods, this article urges a more constructive debate about the pressing issues of costs versus benefits, the place of face validity in test design, the differing needs in assessment data reporting, and assessment methods that actually improve school…

Outlines the main features of competency-based education and compares three programs: Holland College, Prince Edward Island; Northeast Metro Technical College, Minnesota; and Richmond College, Victoria, Australia. Finds that adequate and updated resources and preparation and continuing development of teachers are necessary. (SK)

Part-time youth workers (n=128) participating in a youth leadership training program in Northern Ireland evaluated their training, which integrated traditional curriculum with competency-based methods. A synthesis of the two methods effectively met learning needs and also led to improvements in the youth program. (SK)