Understanding Competency Based Education
Competency-based education presents a promising solution as district leaders tackle the challenge of ensuring equitable education for all students. Workforce projections from McKinsey Global Institute (2017) and the World Economic Forum (2020) indicate that approximately half of current jobs could be automated by 2025, presenting significant implications for district-wide curriculum planning and implementation. This workforce transformation requires districts to evaluate their educational systems and practices and consider how to prepare students for an increasingly automated future. Traditional time-based progression models, where students advance based on seat time rather than mastery, may no longer effectively serve district-wide educational goals. Districts need strategic approaches that support individualized learning while developing skills that artificial intelligence cannot replicate.
The challenges facing district leaders extend beyond workforce preparation. They must address diverse student needs, including advanced learners, students requiring additional support, and those with varied career aspirations. Additionally, districts must consider how to support students who learn at different paces while maintaining high academic standards. This complexity requires systematic solutions that can scale across entire school systems.
A Strategic Framework for Implementation
Competency based education offers district leaders a systematic approach to address these challenges. The framework allows for differentiated instruction and personalized learning paths while maintaining high standards academic standards.
What is Competency Based Education?
Competencies are the desired knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to succeed in a certain context, such as in a course, school, work, or life. In short, competency-based education (CBE), also known as competency-based learning (CBL), is the student designing and owning their own path and pace in their education based on certain competencies. The National Summit on K-12 Competency-Based Education created a much longer and more detailed working definition of competency-based education as follows (2019):
- Students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.
- Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for students that yields timely, relevant, and actionable evidence.
- Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.
- Students progress based on evidence of mastery, not seat time.
- Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.
- Strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education systems.
- Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable.
According to Justin Reich, professor and director of the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT, competency-based education tries to shift the focus from time spent in the classroom to whether or not students can demonstrate well-defined competencies (2019). The extensive, seven-point definition from the National Summit reveals that competency-based education is a student-centered approach with a goal of equity, allowing students to learn at their own pace and apply their skills to meaningful, experiential ways to display mastery.
This learning through real-world experience and engagement was first introduced by John Dewey in his experiential learning, but it wasn’t until the 1970s with Benjamin Bloom’s work on educational research (1956) that competency based education became popular among researchers. Competency based education has “regained its popularity recently with information technology supporting learners for self-motivated and personalized learning” (Young Han, 2021). But, to be clear, personalized learning and competency-based learning are not synonymous. While often used incorrectly as interchangeable terms, “a competency education system enables personalized learning models by opening the system to allow multiple pathways for demonstrating what a student knows and can do.” In other words, selected competencies, such as critical thinking and self-awareness, are the foundation for the student’s education, but the overarching teaching and learning process and modes are highly personalized.
“In the American context, the competency-based approach is often coupled with other approaches such as personalized learning and student-centered learning, and is also called mastery-based, proficiency-based, and performance-based education” (Patrick, Kennedy, & Powell, 2013), explains Evans, Landl, and Thompson in the journal of competency based education. These alternative names and coupled practices display the vocabulary shift from the traditional teacher-centered, time-based instruction model to a student-centered, outcome-focused emphasis on learning. In the competency-based approach model, students are the agents of their own education and mastery without the goal of time spent on learning.
Competency-Based Education VS Traditional Education
Now, let’s look at competency-based education vs traditional education. Traditional education typically requires sitting for a defined amount of time in a mandatory course while trying to achieve mastery showcased by a single summative event. Instead, holding a “promise as a uniquely powerful model for fostering equity,” competency-based education, grounded in outcomes, allows for learning pathways and timelines that vary from student to student and retaking the assessments until mastery is achieved (Casey & Sturgis, iNACOL; Young Han, 2021).
Research indicates that traditional models often allow progression without demonstrated mastery of key learning objectives. CBE implementation addresses this challenge by establishing clear mastery requirements while providing the flexibility for students to progress at appropriate paces. Modern technology infrastructure enables districts to scale this personalized approach effectively.
Competency-Based Education VS Outcome-Based Education
Next, we’re outlining competency based education vs outcome-based education. Overall, competency based education offers greater personalization and flexibility in pacing, while outcomes-based education provides more structured timelines and clear benchmarks. Outcome-based education begins with a fundamental question: "When students complete their academic path, what knowledge and skills should they possess?" This foundational query guides the development of every aspect of instruction - from course content to teaching methods to evaluation tools. This approach's emphasis on clear target competencies makes it easier to monitor student development, attracting institutions seeking a more organized, results-focused educational framework.
However, the focus on outcomes could lead to teaching to the test rather than mastery of concepts and skill development, and may lead to overlooking individual student needs and creativity. Implementation considerations vary significantly – moving to competency based education will require more professional development for educators in your district upfront, while outcomes-based education aligns more closely with traditional systems, making it easier to implement with less professional development.
Benefits of Competency Based Education
A competency based education model emphasizes skill and competency development and promotes a deeper understanding of concepts. This model encourages students to take ownership of their educational journey and supports their personalized learning through differentiated learning pathways. Students can progress at their own pace once they’ve demonstrated mastery while developing 21st-century skills, and accessing diverse learning opportunities.
Research on student engagement indicates that district-wide competency based education implementation significantly impacts student motivation and achievement. Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset aligns with a competency based education model, showing that students develop stronger perseverance when given opportunities to master challenging content at their own pace (Dweck, 2016). The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards confirms this connection between a growth mindset and student motivation, highlighting that “learners with a growth mindset are certainly more motivated to work hard.”
Challenges of Implementing a Competency Based Education Model
The transition to competency-based education brings several key challenges that districts must carefully navigate. Assessment benchmarking remains a primary hurdle, as district administrators work to design effective evaluation systems. Without clear benchmarking of competencies and their expected levels, districts struggle to develop appropriate learning strategies and assessment tools that work across their schools (AM & HS, 2014).
Resource requirements present another challenge. Districts need substantial investment in staff development programs, as teachers are often not equipped to implement competency-based curriculum unless they experienced it themselves. This includes building teacher capacity in curriculum design, identifying needed competencies, performance expectations, and measurement criteria. Teachers also face significant time constraints, as developing and implementing competency-based instruction requires extensive planning and individualized student attention. Programs must be longitudinal, offering ongoing support and mentoring to prevent teachers from reverting to traditional teaching methods.
Cultural adaptation plays a crucial role in success. The shift from passive to active learning requires different infrastructure and a change in both teacher and student mindset. Districts must help teachers overcome the tendency to "teach as we were taught" through regular capacity-building workshops and professional development. These sessions allow educators to reflect on the benefits of competency-based approaches, identify challenges, and learn from successful implementations across different schools.
A particularly significant barrier emerges when states attempt to implement competency based education while simultaneously maintaining accountability systems that reward traditional time-bound, attendance-based, and standardized testing models. Even well-designed CBE pilot programs struggle to gain traction when funding and recognition remain tied to conventional metrics that fundamentally conflict with competency-based approaches. This misalignment of incentives often undermines the systemic changes necessary for successful CBE implementation.
Examples of Competency-Based Education Practices
Let’s look at some real-world examples of how, across the country, districts have successfully implemented competency based education programs in their classrooms:
- Flow Day: Students get to pursue passion projects tailored to their individual interests. This idea was practiced by Kelly Brady, the former Director of Mastery Education for the Idaho State Department of Education who has also written about competency-based learning.
- Video Essay: Teachers can assess students’ understanding of a topic in this formative assessment, and give meaningful, timely feedback on competencies (Thoeming, 2017).
- Digital Portfolios: Students can collect and save artifacts digitally to highlight a “project’s development, its revisions, and its completion as evidence of learning [allowing] students to demonstrate mastery authentically, providing space for them to reflect on stumbling blocks and the ways in which they overcame them” (Thoeming, 2017).
- Data Talks: An opportunity for students and teachers to create meaning from information gathered during an assessment. “If an exam showed that a student struggled with identifying theme, for instance, I would come to the data talk prepared with learning strategies and together we would develop a plan for remediation” (Thoeming, 2017).
- Cross-Curricular Projects: For a summative assessment, a student can plan a school improvement project that involves performing research, writing a proposal, creating a budget, and drafting a rendering. The above diagram from the Great Schools Partnership highlights how a cross-curricular competency based education model works in practice and this resource from the Illinois State Board of Education provides examples of a cross-curricular approach.
Examples of Competency-Based Education Schools
Schools and districts across North America have successfully implemented competency based education programs, each adapting the model to meet their unique community needs.
Latin School of Chicago
The Latin School applies competency-based approaches in their foreign language programs, grouping students by ability rather than grade level. This flexible grouping allows students at different ages to learn together based on their language competencies, moving beyond traditional year-based progression. Their Chinese language teacher observed how this system encourages students to take ownership of their learning, with students independently identifying and seeking additional practice in areas where they need improvement.
The school's commitment to competency-based learning is further reflected in their Portrait of a Latin Learner, which defines five key competencies: Curious Explorers, Inclusive Collaborators, Critical Thinkers, Creative Communicators, and Change Makers. This framework enables consistent monitoring of student growth across all divisions and promotes alignment between curricular and co-curricular activities.
East Greenbush Central School District
East Greenbush Central School District practices competency-based education through its Portrait of a Graduate framework, which moves passed traditional academic metrics to focus on five essential competencies:
- Confident Learner
- Effective Communicator
- Adaptable
- Empathetic
- Critical Thinker
Each competency includes specific, measurable skills that students develop throughout their educational journey.
For example, under the Confident Learner competency, students engage with content while utilizing a growth mindset – a key principle of competency based education. The district developed this framework through a collaborative community process, involving teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community members, ensuring the competencies reflect both local needs and 21st-century skills. East Greenbush’s approach exemplifies how competency-based education programs can be customized to serve specific community aspirations while maintaining high academic standards.
Canadian Education Systems
Entire educational systems have embraced competency-based approaches in Canada. Quebec's Education Program for the Secondary Cycle, implemented in 2005, integrates competency development and assessment across all grades and subjects.
Similarly, British Columbia's 2015 curriculum redesign emphasizes concept-based and competency-driven approaches, focusing on developing competent thinkers and communicators through flexible, personalized learning experiences.
Outcomes of Competency-Based Education
Studies show that competency based education has a positive relationship across all content areas and at all levels and results in “positive affective outcomes for students and teachers” (Anderson, 1994). A report (sponsored by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation) that explores the competency based education movement and its outcomes gives one of the most succinct accounts of the positive outcomes of competency-based education (Le, Wolfe, and Steinberg, 2014):
Students at the Center, an initiative of Jobs for the Future, presents evidence concluding that students are more engaged, more motivated, and achieve better learning outcomes—including the skills, knowledge, and expertise needed for success in college, career, and civic life—under four key conditions: education is personalized to their needs; they can advance upon mastery of clear learning targets; they have a range of learning opportunities in and out of school; and they have voice, choice, and agency in their learning experiences.
With proper support, these positive educational outcomes are already succeeding across the US. Differentiated and personalized instruction is now an achievable reality.
Recent social and political changes have influenced the adoption of competency based education in US school districts, providing schools with options to meet students' individual needs equitably. As society evolves, education systems are adapting, and competency-based education in daily lessons and school policies offers one approach to meeting these changing needs.
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