Discusses the professional preparation of school library media specialists at Syracuse University using a competency-based approach, highlighting background of competency-based education, development of competency statements and curriculum, and assessment of competencies. Integration of joint competency-based program into two schools and with a…

Curriculum developers assume that tasks to be learned are basically procedural and can be broken down into component elements. This approach may be useful for managing instruction, but it can interfere with the quality of education. True proficiency does not depend on following rules and procedures. (PP)

Identifies the academic competencies and skills required for college success, as prepared by the College Board during phase one of Project EQuality. Lists competencies for reading, writing, speaking and listening, mathematics, reasoning, and studying. Considers successful study skills essential in acquiring all other competencies. (DMM)

Reviews seven factors that will bring about change in the 1980s that will affect the agricultural education profession: (1) changes in the ages of groups with whom vocational agriculture will work, (2) more working women, (3) pressures for accountability, (4) changing teacher attitudes, (5) competency-based education, (6) changing technology, and…

A variety of educational and economic changes can be seen as part of a tendency toward deschooling or modification of the curriculum. One ironic factor is that the skills needed to maintain capitalism have so changed, that in producing them the capacity to critically evaluate its merits is created. (JN)

Effective assessment is crucial to outcome-based learning programs. One choice to be made in such programs is whether assessment of student learning should be carried out within course structures or external to them. Advantages to each approach are suggested. The overall recommendation is for external assessment. (Author/MLW)

Defines competency-based adult education as activities providing coping and life skills, functional literacy, mastery learning, external or alternative high school diplomas, and educational credits for life experiences. Discusses activities in relation to federally authorized Adult Basic Education, minimal testing, Adult Performance Level…

Acceptance of the philosophy of competency-based education in dentistry would allow clinical dental educators to teach better but will require a changed approach to student evaluation and competency assessment that involves both teacher and learner. The move to competency-based dental education must be a cooperative effort within the profession.…

Two approaches to student evaluation in Australian postsecondary technical and further education (TAFE), both vocational and academic, are discussed and their relative merits considered. One approach addresses the cognitive processes and interpersonal attributes of the graduate, and the other focuses on prespecified, observable skills. (Author/MSE)

Program improvement is the theme of eight articles in this issue. Articles discuss collaborative relationships, strengthening programs, outcomes-based education and tech prep, improving adult education, futures studies, program evaluation, and supervised agricultural experience. (JOW)

The article discusses the need for new and different programmatic alternatives to train competent teachers in the future. The relationships between learning disabilities, competency based teacher education programs, and hierarchical theories of human development are explored and preliminary suggestions are offered in hopes of producing alternative…

This paper describes competency-based training and open learning, two methods of teaching/learning that are having a significant effect on the education offered through Australia's Technical and Further Education (TAFE) program. The paper defines competency-based training and open learning and details the broad impact they are having on resource…

The heritage and history of the United States have influenced its consistent tendency toward voluntary adoption of standards achieved by consensus and toward guidelines rather than regulations. Major initiatives have continued to move toward a systematic, if not a centralized or standardized, approach. Over the past 20 years, varying degrees of…

This working paper reflects the conviction that three areas of change are needed if America's higher education system as a whole is to make optimal contributions to the economic health of the country; it is based on the premise that at this time higher education is far from fully contributing to the economic well-being of the United States. The…

This look at competency-based education (CBE) begins by defining competency-based training. The five essential elements are discussed--competencies, criterion-referenced evaluation, provision for individual development and evaluation, requirement of student performance, and student-paced instruction. Facilitating or supporting characteristics are…