Draws upon a case study of a community college program review to examine the application of a competency-based approach to the process of curriculum design. Suggests that competency-based curriculum development shifts the basis for decision making from teacher knowledge to an objectified accounting system of employers and curriculum technicians.…

Traces the roots of outcome-based education in mastery learning. Considers such obstacles as lack of reform preconditions, poor understanding of program features, teacher resistance, teacher domestication, staff mobility, and routinization. (SK)

Competency-based models such as Britain's National Vocational Qualifications should not be adopted for adult education professional development. The values underlying competency models are incompatible with the values of reflective practice, such as ownership of curriculum and entitlement to lifelong learning. (SK)

Trainers must understand and be prepared to convince others that writing is a set of work behaviors that can readily be taught by modern, competency-based, adult learning technology. Trainers should focus on learners, define job-related writing behaviors, use behavior to teach behavior, and provide positive feedback. (JOW)

Summarizes recommendations of a subcommittee of the American Geriatrics Society's Education Committee concerning core competencies for physicians caring for older patients. Competencies are organized into those concerned with attitudes, knowledge (basic science and clinical), and skills. (DB)

Describes Baltimore Learning Communities, a school reform project that includes a competency-based model based on the competencies identified by the Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). (JOW)

The focus of education today is on producing graduates who can function competently in the real life work situation, thus challenging teachers to produce students who are self-directed and self-motivated lifelong learners. The clinical contract is an effective learning strategy in aiding students to become more self-directed and confident. In…

Presented in the guise of a hypothetical school board meeting, this information is intended to summarize the elements of competency based education (CBE) in a way that is easy to read and will increase understanding of its potential for improving education. It is aimed at state departments of education, school districts, and schools. Organized as…

Many educators think that the end result of minimum competency programs has been the lowering of the quality of learning by most students. It appears that once minimum competencies are held up as the expected level of attainment for all students, there is a tendency to aim all instruction toward those competencies to the exclusion of a wider range…

Minimum competency testing programs present educational decision makers with a new opportunity to reconsider some fundamental issues in American public education. First, what is the goal of our elementary and secondary educational system? In particular, one must consider the role that minimum competency testing plays in the struggle for equality…

Task performance measures are criterion-referenced tests that can improve the effectiveness, accountability, and control of vocational training programs. They provide the means for basing instruction and evaluation on job performance requirements rather than arbitrarily derived subject matter. (JOW)

Argues that the concepts of competency and performance must be separated. Contends that a student's actual competency level is not accurately reflected through standard performance measurements. Demonstrates how competency levels might be assessed more accurately through the use of multiple sources of data and innovative assessment programs. (BSR)

Persistent problems in the formal preparation of educational administrators and the background of the 1983 American Association of School Administrators (AASA) guidelines are briefly discussed prior to the presentation of an overview of the guidelines themselves. As specific competencies and skills are presented, the rationale for each is set…

An exploration of performance-based education is focused through these questions: What image of human beings does it project? What image of professionals does it project? What purpose does it serve? What image of knowledge does it project? (CT)

Presents a scheme for the development and implementation of an effective counseling program for manpower trainees and adults in similar programs. Describes a competency-based curriculum for the training of Canada Employment Centre (CEC) counselors developed by the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission. (JOW)