What if educational programs designed curriculum with the end in mind, teaching and assessing only the knowledge and skills necessary for success in the workplace and broader life applications?

Competency-Based Education (CBE) provides an answer to questions such as this one that key stakeholders such as employers, learners, parents, and educators are asking. In this book, the authors offer a Competency Development Process Model (CDPM) with unique features that emphasize the interdependence of competencies, assessments, and a robust learning journey within a fully developed career pathway. Two case examples are used throughout the book to contextualize the CDPM.

There are seven steps of the model: Step 1: Define the Problem Step 2: Establish the Competency Framework Step 3: Draft the Competency Statements Step 4: Establish Competency Measurability Step 5: Develop Competency Assessments Step 6: Adopt and Implement Competencies in Learning Journey and Credentialing Systems Step 7: Evaluate Impact Over Time

The model addresses the importance of situating competencies within a professional learning context using a backward design approach. In doing so, the model aims to elevate the work of designing competencies from merely developing a list of expectations to in-depth analysis and design, with the goal of developing competencies that can be readily used for assessment and career pathway development.

Each step in the CDPM is treated as a chapter, and each chapter identifies the central question that must be answered, provides an overview of the tasks in the step, and illustrates the steps in action through the two case examples. Each chapter concludes with “Your Turn”—guiding questions for the reader to apply the step to their own context.