Large-scale performance assessment programs are a longstanding reform tool. However, standard setting can be a challenge for assessment programs that use primarily non-standardized assessments. The purpose of this paper is to extend this field of research by explaining the standard setting methodology applied to one more recent instantiation of a…

In the work of the authors with states over the years, they have observed that most follow a similar process when they develop policies or guidelines to support statewide implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL), such as establishing learning goals or standards for student social and emotional competencies, or providing guidance to…

In 2018, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) opened rulemaking on the Standards of Effective Practice, which are the core set of knowledge and skills that all teacher candidates in Minnesota teacher preparation programs learn. Opening these regulations has created the opportunity for Minnesota to start rethinking how…

In 2008, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), responsible for the quality assurance of all qualifications, embarked on a review of all qualifications between Levels 1 and 6 on the 10-level National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The review process mandated the reviewed qualifications to be founded on outcome statements of graduate…

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs developed addiction competencies for clinical mental health counseling students. This article highlights these competencies, provides an overview of current addiction training, and describes methods to integrate addiction education into curricula.

Education aiming at students' competence development asks for new assessment methods. The quality of these methods needs to be assured using adapted quality criteria and accompanying standards. As such standards are not widely available, this study sets out to examine what level of compliance with quality criteria stakeholders consider…

This paper discusses certain developments in education policy in the European Union since the implementation of the Lisbon strategy. Greater focus on lifelong learning as a means of increasing the competitiveness of the European Union, and establishment of several new, efficient policy tools (above all the "open method of coordination")…

Purpose: This article aims to take up a mirror image-oriented position of the EQF and the announced ECVET system. It seeks to be concerned with the effects that the EQF transformation process into the respective NQF might have on the underlying systems of vocational education and training. Design/methodology/approach: A comparison is drawn between…

During the last thirty years, National Qualification Frameworks have emerged as an attempt by the state to "manage" the relations between education, training and work. Drawing on South African experiences of ten years of development of a competency and outcomes based National Qualifications Framework (NQF), this paper highlights the…

Competence-based approaches are frequently adopted as the key paradigm in both formal or non-formal education and training. To support the provision of competence-based learning services, it is necessary to be able to maintain a record of an individual's competences in a persistent and standard way. In this paper, we investigate potential issues…

The UK educational assessment landscape is changing, characterised by attempts to create more flexible pathways through learning. This has led to attempts to formalise the comparative relationships between different general and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF), the Framework for Achievement and the Framework…

Setting high standards will not cause excellent student performance. Standards must be set for the everyday work teachers expect of students. Work-design standards are needed to protect students from pointless teacher-generated work. Greater coherence and focus for learning will occur if secondary schools are designed backward from worthy tasks…

Interviews with 45 key informants involved in development of Britain's National Vocational Qualifications attributed failure to achieve better implementation to institutional constraints: political imperative to manage high youth unemployment, inadequate accountability and supervision, lack of mechanisms to compel implementation, and weakness of…

This document describes the National Education Health Standards, which are based on numerous documents and the experience of various other education standards development groups. The goal of the standards was to develop for schools what would be a framework for "world class" health education. The standards are a framework for schools to…

Career-technical educators face three issues in credentialing through assessment. First, the occupational credentialing domain is large and evolving, and a clear understanding of it is a prerequisite to considering adoption of a credential. Three types of credentialing are registration, certification, and licensure. Credentialing organizations are…