Competency Based Interview Preparation Guide

Competence indicates sufficiency of knowledge and skills that enable someone to act in a wide variety of situations. Because each level of responsibility has its own requirements, competence can occur in any period of a person's life or at any stage of his or her career.

Competency based education or learning is an approach to teaching and learning more often used in learning concrete skills than abstract learning. It differs from other non-related approaches in that the unit of learning is extremely fine grained.

Human resource management model which addresses job performance. This approach fosters increased training, skill building, job satisfaction and other measurements and leads to improved hiring practices.

The following definition provides elements of a high quality competency-based approach:
★ Students advance upon demonstrated mastery
★ Explicit and measurable learning objectives empower students
★ assessment is meaningful and a positive learning experience for students
★ Students receive rapid, differentiated support
★ Learning outcomes emphasize include application and creation of knowledge

The core element of a competency-based approach is that students progress to more advanced work upon demonstration of learning by applying specific skills and content. The most important implications of this design principle include:
★ Students are advanced to higher-level work upon demonstration of mastery, not age.
★ Students work at levels that are appropriately challenging.
★ Students are evaluated on performance.
★ Some students may complete courses more rapidly than others.
★ Teachers guide students to produce sufficient evidence to determine proficiency.

In competency-based practices, a course is organized into measurable learning objectives that are shared with students. Students take responsibility for their learning, thereby increasing their engagement and motivation. The implications of this design principle include:
★ The relationship between student and teacher is fundamentally changed.
★ The unit of learning becomes modular.
★ Learning expands beyond the classroom.

In a competency-based model, the traditional approach to assessment and accountability "of learning" is turned on its head with assessments "for learning." Formative assessments are aligned with learning objectives. Students receive immediate feedback when assessment occurs. This is used to encourage students to return to difficult concepts and skills until they achieve mastery. It is essential that assessments are student-centered in which students are assessed on material with which they are familiar. In order for competency-based pathways to offer high-quality education, the following must be put into place:
★Schools embrace a strong emphasis on formative assessment.
★Teachers collaborate to develop understanding of what is an adequate demonstration of proficiency.
★Teachers assess skills or concepts in multiple contexts and multiple ways.
★Attention on student learning, not student grades.
★Summative assessments are adaptive and timely.

The core idea of a competency-based model is that all students will master the desired competencies. This requires a rapid response capacity on the part of educators to support students when they are stuck or begin to disengage in frustration. Educator capacity, and student's own capacity to seek out help, will be enhanced by technology-enabled solutions that incorporate predictive analytic tools. This element is essential to a competency-based system. Without it there is risk that the current inequities will be reproduced.
★ Pacing matters - Although students will progress at their own speeds, students that are proceeding more slowly will need more help
★ Learning plans capture knowledge on learning styles, context and interventions that are most effective for individuals students
★ New specialist roles may develop in educator and instructional support roles, providing high quality interventions when students are begin to slip behind
★ Online learning can play an invaluable role in providing feedback to teachers on how students are proceeding

Competencies emphasize the application of learning. A high quality competency-based approach will require students to apply skills and knowledge to new situations to demonstrate mastery and to create knowledge. Competencies will include academic standards as well as lifelong learning skills and dispositions:
★ Competencies and learning objectives are designed so that demonstration of mastery includes application of skills and knowledge.
★ Assessment rubrics are explicit in what students must be able to know and do to progress to the next level of study.
★ Examples of student work that demonstrate skills development throughout a learning continuum will help students understand their own progress.
★ Lifelong learning skills designed around students needs, life experiences, and the skills needed for them to be college and career ready.
★ Expanded learning opportunities are developed as opportunities for students to develop and apply skills as they are earning credit.

One of the most powerful roles a state can play is creating collaborative space for the development of competencies and learning objectives. As states come face to face with the implementation of the common core state standards, many opportunities and questions arise:
★ Well-designed competencies
★ core competencies
★ lifelong learning competencies