Vocational teachers must address provincial curricular outcomes, vocational accreditation requirements, and current vocational practices in their teaching and assessment. In doing so, they must prepare their students for the written summative assessments required for trade certification while teaching the students the technical skills necessary…

Competency-based learning (CBL) systems are becoming more common in K-12 schools across the United States. A range of studies demonstrate the effectiveness of CBL for students, but less research focuses on the manner in which CBL is being adopted in teacher education. This self-study, using Reform-Oriented Collaborative Inquiry protocol, offers…

This article troubles a pervasive concept within higher education studies: authentic assessment. Authentic assessment is well-established within higher education, and yet its common usage leaves it limited in possibility. Often understood as a practice focused on tasks, where assessments represent a 'reality' beyond universities, authentic…

Cheating attracts a significant amount of attention in conversations about assessment, and with good reason: if students cheat, we cannot be sure they have met the learning outcomes of their course. In this conceptual article we question the attention given to cheating as a concept and argue that the broader concept of validity is a more important…

The centrality of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in competency-based medical education (CBME) is predicated on the assumption that low-stakes, high-frequency workplace-based assessments used in a programmatic approach will result in accurate and defensible judgments of competence. While there have been conversations in the literature…

The Republic of the Marshall Islands Public School System, requested information about alternative assessment evaluation, including detail on performance and competency-based assessment. In response, this high-level scan from the Region 19 Comprehensive Center identifies example tools and measures along with key resources and references. Also…

With increased interest in outcomes-based assessment in sport management programs, the Specifications Grading model can be implemented within individual courses to facilitate the process. Specific requirements that are articulated at course onset with explicit directions, samples of high-scoring work, and access to evaluation rubrics can set…

Medication administration errors (MAEs) present a significant risk for harm to patients and healthcare providers alike, yet little is understood about how nursing students conceptualize MAEs. Similar risks for harm are faced in the aviation industry, yet they have transformed into a highly reliable organization (HRO) using the threat and error…

Although there is no globally accepted definition to guide micro-credential activity in higher education, many seek to boost the employability prospects of earners. To do this well, micro-credentials need to indicate skills and competencies. Assessment ensures those skills and competencies are verified, enabling trust and communication in the…

Students need far more than traditional academic skills to succeed in school, work and civic life. Decades of discussion about the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that facilitate success in the information age have produced consensus that students should learn 21st century competencies. However, many schools struggle to meaningfully…

This exploratory paper considers the practical and theoretical implications of a graded system of assessment in competency-based training within the Australian Vocational Education and Training System. The characteristics of competency-based training are considered and the possible relationships to graded approaches are discussed. The discussion…

New Hampshire's Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) innovative assessment system uses student scores from classroom performance assessments as well as other classroom tests for school accountability purposes. One concern is that not having annual state testing may incentivize schools and teachers away from teaching the breadth of…

Australian educators teaching in the early years of formal schooling find themselves grappling with the dilemmas of preparing learners to sit performance-based assessments in later years and their sense of pedagogic responsibility towards designing competency-based assessment. Studies have explored this tension in the primary and middle years…

What if educational programs designed curriculum with the end in mind, teaching and assessing only the knowledge and skills necessary for success in the workplace and broader life applications? Competency-Based Education (CBE) provides an answer to questions such as this one that key stakeholders such as employers, learners, parents, and educators…

Digital creativity, the use of digital tools and technologies to explore creative ideas and new ways of displaying your ideas, research or work, is emerging as an important competency for graduates across many disciplines. The development of digital creativity competency in domains traditionally perceived as being less creative, including the…