Competency-based education (CBE) refers to online and hybrid courses and programs that offer credit or degrees based on evidence of student learning, or competencies, rather than on the amount of time spent in a course. Students work at their own pace, receive personalized academic support, and demonstrate mastery as they progress through their…

U.S. public university system policies were examined to learn how credit hours were determined for asynchronous online education. Findings indicated that (a) credit hour meaning and use are not consistent, (b) primary responsibility for credit hour decisions was at the local level, and (c) no policies exist to guide credit hour application for…

Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released by the National Governors Association. This brief shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to: (1) Build…

Schools are facing tight budget times that call for doing more with less and finding ways to innovate, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and accelerate reform. At the top of the ideas for increasing productivity is moving ahead with efforts to personalize learning, leaving behind an instructional system modeled on the American factory of the…

The national goal of increasing postsecondary credentials, to improve both equity and economic competitiveness, requires a fresh look at how to recognize learning in noncredit workforce education and training. The credit hour has long been the standard academic currency in postsecondary education. Despite its weakness as a measure of learning, in…

A full year of progress in advancing education reform across America is documented in each of the Foundation for Excellence in Education's Annual Reports. The illustrated pages of the 2014 report, provide data-rich updates on Excellence in Education's work to advance student-centered policies in more than 40 states, all aimed at improving learning…

Improving teacher quality in early education is a major part of ensuring young children's school readiness and closing the achievement gap. This is the book decision-makers and administrators need to begin developing coordinated, effective teacher quality systems--ones that not only get teachers ready for the classroom, but also promote continuous…

This exploration into competency-based innovation at the school, district, and state levels suggests that competency-based pathways are a re-engineering of this nation's education system around learning--a re-engineering designed for success in which failure is no longer viable. This discussion draws on interviews and site visits with innovators…

A staff development process, the Basic Skills Articulation Plan (BSAP), has been used by the Franklin County (Ohio) Department of Education to meet state-mandated educational goals. BSAP and its results are summarized. (MT)

The literature on competency-based human resource (HR) management provides a strong case for moving from a jobs-based to a competency-based approach to human resources. There is agreement in the literature (Dubois, Rothwell, Stern, & Kemp, 2004; Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999) on the benefits of using competencies throughout HR systems and impact…

Urges teachers who have replaced teacher-planned and implemented instruction with less effective instruction because of the Ohio Proficiency Tests to recast their teacher role from passive technician to that of proactive decision-maker. (NH)

The grade-level instruments that comprise this social studies component of the model competency-based education (CBE) assessment package for Ohio have been constructed to assist teachers in assessing student attainment of competencies with the best assessments possible. The package notes that the individual district may use these instruments as…

The model competency-based education assessments for mathematics have been developed in cooperation with the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) task force for implementing National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards for Grades 1 through 8. Three types of assessment for each grade are presented. The first type of model…

Urges educators to make the Ohio Proficiency Tests work for their program rather than against it. Claims that by placing the learner outcomes of the test into an inquiry-based context, it is possible to structure classrooms so that teachers do not compromise teaching and learning but students still do well on the tests. (NH)

Relates the procedures and findings of a study of minimum competency programs (MCPs) in four Ohio school districts, focusing on: (1) operational definitions of MCPs; (2) the effects of MCPs on student achievement; and (3) the usefulness of the evaluation model used in the study for local evaluations. (AYC)