This article explores approaches to assessment of competence against nationally recognized units of competency and considers these approaches with regard to the intent of the underpinning units of competency and the notion of compliance with the Standards for Registered Training Organizations (RTOs) 2015, in particular Clause 1.8. Specifically,…

Local comprehensive assessment systems (LCAS) are essential for ensuring equitable learning opportunities for all students. They have the potential to ensure that each and every learner meets high expectations that are set across all content areas. The Vermont Agency of Education held convenings with educational leaders to refine tools and…

Designing innovative high quality educational programmes to meet the workforce needs in emerging interdisciplinary areas of practice can present challenges to academics, students, employers and industrial partners. This paper demonstrates how the Tuning Process successfully helped to construct benchmark learning outcomes and competences in the…

Mapping the curriculum of a professional degree to the associated competency standard ensures graduates have the competence to perform as professionals. Existing approaches to competence mapping vary greatly in depth, complexity, and effectiveness, and a standardised approach remains elusive. This paper describes a new mapping software tool that…

This paper examines a procedure measuring student competencies in numeracy using school-based assessments, and demonstrates how the procedure informs the school system on quality improvement. The sample consisted of 7648 students, attending three different types of urban schools including government, formal private and low cost private in poor…

In this article, author Wendy Kilgore reports that 2016 was a productive year for AACRAO Research thanks to the active and ongoing participation of the members. Eleven research projects were completed in 2016 including 60-Second surveys and three comprehensive projects. The intent of the 60-Second surveys remains the same since its inception. They…

The goals of this study are to identify key competency areas that lead to success in online instruction and to develop a framework that supports professional development and self-assessment. To identify the key competency areas, skills and behaviours presented within current literature were analyzed. Secondly, gaps were identified and levels of…

In this rejoinder, we review contributions by Palmer and Horne of their responses to our earlier submission in this issue. Together, we present a compelling case for the urgent imperative to constructively address the role of master's education as a priority in counseling psychology. We not only need to address pressing threats to the…

U.S. public university system policies were examined to learn how credit hours were determined for asynchronous online education. Findings indicated that (a) credit hour meaning and use are not consistent, (b) primary responsibility for credit hour decisions was at the local level, and (c) no policies exist to guide credit hour application for…

This paper provides a scan of the literature to expand the knowledge base for the field of online, blended, and competency-based education. Authors seek to integrate the core ideas of personalized learning, blended learning, competency education, and standards. The goal of the paper is to explain the nuances of key terms used across the field of…

There is growing consensus in Latin America on the necessity to reorganize the degree profiles in a competence-based and student-centred system, with identified learning outcomes, innovative learning and teaching strategies, and new methodologies for assessing competences which could be useful for students. There is also agreement on the need to…

In the past decade, American professional psychology has taken significant steps toward a unified statement of the competencies that define the practice of psychology, regardless of specialty. The purpose of this article is to explain the current competency initiative in professional psychology and examine its implications and potential impact on…

Teachers encounter immense variety in literary competence among students in their secondary school classrooms. Yet, little is known about how they perceive and deal with this variety. Moreover, little is known about the literary development that students undergo during their school career and the different levels of development that can be…

Discusses benchmarking--finding and implementing the best practices--in business and industry and describes a model that can be used in vocational-technical education. Suggests that benchmarking is a tool that can be used by vocational-technical educators as they strive for excellence. (JOW)

A study of 20 graduate students learning distance education methods found that great variance in idnviudal competence at course begining moved to similar levels at course end. Open-ended verification of competence using behavioral anchors worked well as a self-assessment and benchmarking tool to document growth in learning. (Contains 19…