Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a revised approach describing occupational competence, with particular reference to its application in two European countries at the level of specific occupational fields and in relation to the models used in national vocational education and training (VET) systems. Design/methodology/approach: An…

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) hold great potential for applications in summative and formative assessment by providing discrete multivariate proficiency scores that yield statistically driven classifications of students. Using data from a newly developed diagnostic arithmetic assessment that was administered to 2032 fourth-grade students…

The integration of decision-making competence or comparable constructs into science education has been strongly enforced during the last twenty years. Germany captured the tendency with the introduction of national standards for science education that included a domain that refers to decision-making competence. This domain--"evaluation and…

This paper gives an overview of research on modelling science competence in German science education. Since the first national German educational standards for physics, chemistry and biology education were released in 2004 research projects dealing with competences have become prominent strands. Most of this research is about the structure of…

Proposing an alternative to the American model, intergovernmental reform initiatives in Europe have developed and promote a comprehensive European model of skill formation. What ideals, standards, and governance are proposed in this new pan-European model? This model responds to heightened global competition among "knowledge societies"…

The key issues, alternatives, and implications for developing countries to consider when designing systems to define occupational standards, related training standards, and assessments were analyzed. The analysis focused on the following issues: the rationale for development of standards; clarification of definitions, terminology, and assumptions;…