• Are we basing the curriculum on industry skill standards?
• How is competence defined in the skill standard?
• Are there examples of skill standard-based curriculum available in the program area in which we are interested?
• What strategies will we use to initiate the changes?
• What is our schedule for development and/or implementation?
• Do we have the appropriate local business partnerships necessary?
• Who will have the primary responsibilities for designing, implementing and managing the program(s)?
• How will we document that learners have achieved competence?
• What barriers/constraints exist in the institution?
• What resources are available to support these changes?

Identify as many key questions as possible early in the process and identify a plan for addressing them. Competency-based curriculum founded on industry skill standards implies a different way to develop curriculum and organize learning. It is critical to the success of your goals that all key constituents have the same understanding and commitment to what that means. It only takes one or two people on the faculty and/or administration to provide the leadership and educate others.

As described in the Overview Section, skill standard-based curriculum is founded on what industry has described, endorsed and validated as the competencies needed to be successful in a given career field and describe the outcomes derived from the standards. These competency standards form the key elements for curriculum development, performance assessment, educational delivery, and certification.

Harris et al describe three potential areas of conflict when designing competency-based curriculum:

• Identification of the appropriate balance between outcomes and the process of attaining them
• The relational balance between the task/technical skills and the foundation and higher-order thinking skills
• The tension between the doing/performing and the cognitive/understanding

It is, therefore, not possible to declare universally where these balances lie and how to effect them. The challenge is for each program designer to address the issues and questions for their own situation.

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Arguably the single most important factor in the success of an educational innovation is the staff. They are the ones who have to implement the new program and their support and commitment to it are essential. CBE/T programs which have been successful elsewhere are those which have developed and provided an effective initial and on-going staff development program for all personnel involved.

A successful program of professional development should include the:

• Involvement of external or internal experts/consultants on industry skill standards and competency-based curriculum
• Development of in-service training/workshops to educate all relevant staff on the characteristics, qualities and requirements of the curricular changes
• Opportunity for each participant to understand and develop skills in the necessary elements of the curricular changes

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Revising an entire curriculum or developing a new one that has all the elements of skill standard-based curriculum can seem overwhelming. You may want to start with a smaller pilot project in which you convert one module or course or develop a new course using the guidelines:

• competency-based
• learner program outcomes
• performance assessment
• integrates technical knowledge and foundation skills

Some faculty have found that an interdisciplinary approach serves as a good pilot methodology as it naturally lends itself to these guidelines.

Two sample interdisciplinary pilots are described on the NWCET web site

Most schools already have program review and accountability methods in place. A competency-based curriculum is easier to evaluate as the outcomes are able to be identified and demonstrated. A curriculum map can be a very useful tool to confirm where and how competencies and outcomes are being addressed. There are many resources that can provide you with useful program evaluation instruments and recommended methods.

Program Evaluation

• A process of determining to what extent learning outcomes are being achieved
• Systematic information gathering for continuous improvement
• The process of delineating, obtaining and providing information about how well goals and impacts have been achieved to guide decision-making and serve accountability needs

  Sample Resources that Specialize in Program Evaluation:

  • The Educational Development Center
    55 Chapel Street
    Newton, MA 02158
    
    
  • The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
    101 SW Main Street, Suite 500
    Portland, OR 97204
    Phone: (503) 275-9500
    
    
  • WestEd
    730 Harrison Street
    San Francisco, CA 94107-1214
    (415) 565-3000
    
    

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Implementation Success Factors

Success Factor 1: Identify your goal(s) for implementation

What is the purpose or end result you want to accomplish? Being very clear about the goals at the outset can minimize the confusion, miscommunication and maximize the use of resources. Curriculum implementation work is best done methodically, building in appropriate training, administrative structures and a solid curricular base. It is important that all involved constituencies (faculty, administrators and staff) are clear about what form the curriculum implementation will take. Will the curriculum results consist of: A new, complete program of study leading to a degree or certificate? An update and transformation of an existing program? The addition of courses or modules to existing programs (IT or other)? The infusion of IT competencies into non IT courses or modules?

Success Factor 2: Ensure an environment for change

Educational administrators in particular have responsibility to create an environment that encourages and fosters appropriate change. What is the model of skill standard-based curriculum to which you have committed? What form of implementation is needed and at what rate should you move? Who is responsible for managing the changes? Plant (1987) suggests there are six characteristics of successful change: Providing assistance to accept change Avoiding over-organization or over-management Communicating effectively Ensuring early involvement of appropriate staff Converting perceptions of "threat" into opportunities Working at developing commitment

Source - Success Factor 2: Plant, R. Managing Change and Making it Stick. Fontana/Colins, 1987.

Success Factor 3: Identify and commit needed resources

One of the key reasons that institutional changes or initiatives fail, is the lack of resources. Resources include: staff time administrative support funding for development, training, implementation, equipment, etc. Too often, the key people who can provide the leadership for the changes are expected to do so without adjustments to their other work responsibilities. Administrative commitment acknowledges the time, effort and expertise it takes to make the major changes in curricular content and learning approaches involved in competency-based curriculum.

Success Factor 4: Identify and address key questions

Success Factor 5: Identify the elements of implementation

Note: If you are working with existing IT curricula, it is most likely that the changes that need to occur to transform the program(s) into skill standard-based are not dramatic. Most IT curriculum already has a primary emphasis on teaching competencies.

Source - Success Factor 5: Harris, Roger; Guthrie, Hugh; Hobart, Barry; Lundberg, David. Competency-Based Education and Training. MacMillan Education, 1995

Success Factor 6: Provide appropriate and adequate professional development

Note: It is important to train the administrators as well as the faculty so that everyone has the same frame of reference.

Source - Success Factor 6: Harris, Roger; Guthrie, Hugh; Hobart, Barry; Lundberg, David. Competency-Based Education and Training. MacMillan Education, 1995

Success Factor 7: Test the results through a pilot project

Success Factor 8: Evaluate the curriculum after it is implemented

Note: See the Model Process section for a description.