There are countless resources that define competency-based education. This is not one. This step-by-step guide can help any educator who is considering or currently developing competency-based education programs. Learn directly from an experienced expert who has developed and launched programs all over the country for several institutions, including Western Governor's University.
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Competency-Based Education Step-by-Step Guide
1. Competency-Based
Education (CBE)
A practical guide for any school or leader considering CBE.
Step-by-step, we’ll show you how we recommend developing and implementing a
program.
C B E
3. A Phased Approach to CBE
Phase I: Competency-Based Learning (CBL)
Credit awarded on the basis of seat time
Phase II: CBE
Decouple learning from seat time
4. Select Program
Blueprint
Competencies
Select Course-
Level Pilot
Train Faculty Assess Students
Mentor &
Evaluate
Outcomes
Implement
Complete Program
Mentor Students
& Faculty for
Success
Continuous
Improvement &
Quality
Assurance
Phase I: Step-by-Step Guide
to CBL Implementation
5. Select Program
Activities In Practice
Select the program that will
benefit most from CBL
Develop project
implementation plan for
selected program
Form academic committee
Example school implemented the
following 4 programs in the past
year:
Medical Assisting
Medical Billing and Coding
Criminal Justice
Business Administration
6. Blueprint competencies
Activities In Practice
• Ensure that the program
curriculum aligns with
employer needs (outcomes
that matter)
• Identify relevant
competencies
Employer-vetted
Statements of doing and
applied learning - NOT
learning objectives
Competency example from
Medical Assisting program:
“Demonstrate taking
temperature, pulse,
respiration, and blood
pressure.”
Utilized database of
Wonderlic’s employer-vetted
competencies
Discovered that Medical
Assistant courses were missing
about 25% of competencies
that were important to
employers
7. Pilot the First Course
Activities In Practice
Select course for CBL pilot
Academic committee
develops learning objectives
that align with competencies
Academic committee adapts
course syllabus
Academic committee
identifies learning resources
that align with competencies
Medical Terminology
50 students
3 campuses
8. Train Faculty
Activities In Practice
Train faculty to:
Deliver instruction within the
CBL model
Mentor students
Develop infrastructure for
accreditation requirements
Provided professional
development workshops
Involved accreditors early
9. Assess Students for Mastery
of Competencies
Activities In Practice
Develop internally or acquire
from third party
Must be valid, relevant and
reliable
May include examinations,
projects, presentations,
portfolios, etc.
Partnered with Wonderlic
Empirically demonstrated
validity and reliability
Delivered employer-weighted
results
10. Sample Competency Assessment
Question – Medical Assisting
Competency measured: Demonstrate taking
temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure.
13. Evaluate Student Outcomes
Activities In Practice
Medical Terminology - Competencies and
Average Score by Enabling Objective
Competency: Basic
Terminology
N Average
Define homeostasis and its
importance to the human
body
112 78%
Describe body planes,
cavities, regions, and
directional terms
112 60%
Outline the levels of
organization of the body,
including the body systems
112 45%
• Train faculty, mentors and
advisors to use individual
student results to remediate as
necessary
• Identify learning gaps and
determine how to close the
gaps
• Link assessment results to
learning resources
• Adjust program as necessary,
determine to proceed with full
program deployment or seek
alternatives to CBL
• Satisfy CBL accreditation
requirements to measure,
collect and demonstrate
student outcomes
14. Mentor & Evaluate Outcomes
Activities In Practice
Create student-centered
processes
Develop tools to foster
student motivation &
confidence
Validate skills that are most
important to employers
Utilized reports that indicate
each individual’s learning
gaps
Provided students with
targeted online resources to
enhance classroom learning
Mentors provided students
with targeted remediation
15. Assessment Linked to
Learning
Define and spell common terms
related to the nervous system.
16. Implement Complete Program
Activities In Practice
Makes changes per course
pilot findings
Develop project plan and
timeline
Train enrollment and
admissions staff
Ensure that your program is
designed to meet the
requirements of CBL
accreditation
Started development in early
2013
Launched full implementation
in January 2014
Maintains on-going faculty
professional development
17. Continuous Improvement &
Quality Assurance
Activities In Practice
Quality Improvement: Review
data and use to improve
program quality and
consistency of instruction
Identify learning and
performance gaps to make
changes to curriculum and
instruction
Demonstrate continuous
improvement and outline
effectiveness plans to satisfy
accreditation requirements
Holds quarterly meetings with
faculty to evaluate aggregate
assessment results
Identifies competencies and
outcomes that need
improvement
Mentors faculty and identifies
dynamic learning resources to
close learning gaps
18. Top Implementation
Challenges
Identifying, selecting and defining competencies
Need for many Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
Creating relevant, accurate assessment for all competencies
Gathering employer input regarding competencies that matter
Common language – employers can’t easily interpret curricula
Time consuming – need to collect enough input to validate trends
Obtaining instructor buy-in
Instructors’ fear of punitive use of results
Instructors’ confidence that curriculum aligns with direct
assessment
Determining scoring and how to transcript
19. Phase II: Move from CBL to
Competency-Based Education
(CBE)
Step 1: Determine how to manage time and
credit/competencies
Step 2: Apply to Accrediting Agency to obtain
CBE Program Accreditation
Step 3: Approval from Accreditor will allow
application to the Department of Education
20. Summary
After just one year of CBL (Phase I) implementation our example school
achieved the following results:
Enrollment improvement – increased lead conversion by over 20%
Retention improvement - reduced average monthly drop rate by
25%
Student performance improvement – 5% increase in standardized
test scores
Improved employer satisfaction – one local employer paid to send
60 Medical Assistants to this school
21. For more information, please
contact:
Dr. Larry Banks
Director of Competency-Based Education
Wonderlic, Inc
larry.banks@wonderlic.com
Join our discussion group on Linkedin to learn from
others who have already implemented CBE:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6784212
&trk=anet_ug_hm