Imagine walking into an 8th-grade science classroom and hearing a discussion among students about a challenging assignment they recently completed. A pilot program in 18 Tennessee schools develops agency through competency-based education. Students in Beth Hines' 8th grade physical science class at West Collierville Middle School in Tennessee are…

Students often enter higher education academically unprepared and with unrealistic perceptions and expectations regarding academic competencies for their studies. However, preparedness and realistic perceptions are important factors for student retention. With regard to a proposed model of five academic competencies (time management, learning…

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one's own choices, is considered central to children's development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the…

Undergraduate research and creative activities are established high-impact practices that provide students with both advanced knowledge of their academic disciplines and the ability to apply that knowledge to creatively answer questions. At the center of these experiences, is the close relationship between a student researcher and a mentor. Using…

The competency-based model implies a process of humanization of education that diversifies content, focusing in this case on the development of the civic and artistic competence of the students. This paper presents the CIVABLES Program designed within the framework of teaching and research collaboration between the University and the Primary…

One of the most pressing concerns identified in current European educational discourse is about the transitions of students from school to higher education and from educational institutions to the labour market. Government anxieties over the precariousness of the future has led to increasing regulation and measurement of "skills" and…

During the past 20 years, the afterschool field has been held accountable in varying ways--first, on the ability to provide safe places for young people to spend time while their parents work; then, on success in helping to improve participants' academic achievement as a supplement to the school day. Today, measuring success in afterschool…

In this essay the author argues that today's resurgent focus on noncognitive skills, especially for low-income students, may unfairly mask cognitive deficiencies and work to relieve our society of its duty, at which we are currently failing, to help low-income children improve their lives by improving their cognitive skills. The author points to a…

The competence and learning outcomes approach, which intends to improve effective performance of academic staff and students, is becoming dominant in today's higher education. This was quite different 15 years ago. This contribution aims to offer insight in the reforms initiated and implemented, by posing and answering the questions why the time…

This qualitative study used focus groups to identify the knowledge about the "Arts du Cirque" Program implemented in a primary school and to explore perceptions of its impacts. Data are based on the discourse of school staff members, parents and other members of the community of an elementary school. The impacts on students are…

A review of the literature in social sciences instruction which deals with developing student competence and increasing student motivation is presented. Tables identifying four teacher and student behavior models are included. (Author/DB)

In May, 1991, the North Carolina State Board of Education, as part of the Quality Assurance Program, established a computer proficiency requirement for graduation that was then modified in 1995 and made effective beginning with the graduating class of 2001. Students who were in the eighth grade during the 1996-97 school year and thereafter must…

This article describes a framework for the design and implementation of a competency-based curriculum for graduate management education. The article also outlines how this model has been implemented at one university in the context of a graduate degree in human resource management. Among the significant challenges discussed are the identification…

This paper describes a unified effort at Central College (Pella, Iowa) to insure that graduates in all content areas achieve competency in the communication skills of reading, writing, and speaking. The discussion focuses on how the program was set up, what its components are, how all the faculty contribute, the positive impact of the…

Describes Systematic Competency Based Group procedures as a technique integrating group counseling and human development training for children. Proposes that the procedure allows pupil progress to be assessed in a life-role activity, and enhances the acquisition of basic communication skills. (JAC)