Competency-based, Performancebased, Direct-assessment: What’s in
a Name?
Beth Castiglia, Ph. D.
Dean, Larry L. Luing School of Business, Berkeley College
Conceptual Framework

Innovation Drivers
◦ Disruptive innovation
◦ Mass customization
◦ Consumer mentality
Implications of “breaking the credit
hour”
◦ Workload
◦ Units of learning
◦ Resource
allocation
◦ Salary structures
◦ Financial aid
◦ Transfer policies
◦ Degree
definitions
How we got here
 Cost
◦
◦
◦
◦
of higher education
Increase of 429% over past two decades
Cost disease
Competitive arms race
Inability to leverage technology
Changing student population

Nontraditional is the new traditional

1 in 5 people in the US have some college
credit but no degree

80% of US institutions are nonselective
Slow pace of change

How much difference is a classroom
today from one 70 years ago?
◦ Single faculty member dispensing “knowledge”
◦ Learning measured by completing a course
◦ Students expect to spend approximately 4
years earning degrees
Higher Education in the Press

Government regulators demand
accountability

2013 Obama’s domestic policy plan:

“…Consider value, affordability, and student outcomes in
making determinations about which colleges and universities
receive access to federal student aid…”
Change is coming.
But how will we get there?
Unbundling of Instruction

What do colleges do?
◦ Provide content knowledge
◦ Help students develop skills
◦ Provide socialization
◦ Provide degrees from accredited institutions
Content knowledge

Reformation similarities

Internet

Colleges and Universities do not have
a monopoly on dispensing knowledge
Skills development
 Technological
enhancements
Scaffolding
Adaptive learning
Self-paced learning
Socialization--
Accreditation

Determines value of degree

Determines Title IV eligibility

Competency-based education became
popularized when the Department of
Education first allowed such programs to
be accredited in Spring 2013.
Some distinctions
 Competency-based
 Performance-based
 Direct
assessment
Competency-based

Still “map” assessments to course
equivalencies

Instead of measuring progress based on
time, award credit based on
demonstration of skills learned.
Examples

Western Governor’s University

University of Wisconsin Flexible Option

Northern Arizona University’s
Personalized Learning
Performance-based

K-12 model initiated in the 1980s

Developed in response to early calls for
accountability
Direct assessment

Federal definition: … “an instructional
program that, in lieu of credit hours or clock
hours as a measure of student learning,
utilizes direct assessment of student learning,
or recognizes the direct assessment of
student learning by others.”
Examples

Southern New Hampshire University’s
College for America

Capella University’s FlexPath program
Direct assessment programs
feature:
 No
traditional courses
 No teaching professors
 No grades
 No deadlines
 No credit hour requirements
Landmarks in Direct Assessment

2005: Higher Education Reconciliation Act
(HERA) opened the door for college’s to
participate in federal financial aid
programs by directly assessing student
outcomes without consideration of time
spent in a classroom
Landmarks in Direct Assessment

2006: Regulations published defining
direct assessment and outlining the
procedures and requirements for an
institution that offers such programs to
use Title IV funds
Landmarks in Direct Assessment

July 31, 2014: DOE publishes Federal
Register notice inviting institutions to
apply to participate in one or more of
four experiments under the Department’s
“Experimental Sites Initiative”
Landmarks in Direct Assessment

December 19, 2014: DOE publishes a
follow up letter:
◦ Subject: Competency Based Education
Programs – Questions and Answers
◦ “We have received numerous questions regarding the
requirements of providing Title IV, HEA student assistance
to students enrolled in competency based educational
programs”
Questions addressed

What makes a CBE program different
from traditional academic programs?

Are there differences between credit
hour CBE and direct assessment
programs?
An example: College for America
(Southern New Hampshire University)
No courses
 120 competencies defined by rubrics
 Mastery demonstrated by completion of
tasks that are assessed by faculty
reviewers
 Students begin a competency at any level
 $2,500/year
 Accredited by NEASC

What all CBE programs have in
common:

They provide the student with the
opportunity to demonstrate knowledge.
Where we are

Lumina Foundation- Competency-Based
Education Network (C-BEN)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Accreditation Issues

Accreditors faced with assessing learning
in increasingly disaggregated and highly
complex educational institutions.

Accreditors need to think about their
relationship with innovation.
Further questions

Should there be multiple levels of
accreditation for institutions, programs,
courses, competencies…?

Might there ultimately be two paths to
accreditation: the traditional institutional
one and the CBE one?
Conclusion

Competency-based education tied to
credit hours is (relatively) easy to
understand by both insiders and the
public.

Direct assessment is much more difficult
(albeit “purer”) to sell on campus – and
to the DOE and accreditors.
Questions?