Competency-Based vs. Outcome-Based Education

As a new principal, I realized that I have a tragic flaw when it comes to leadership. To flip an old cliché, my issue is that I often don’t see the trees for the forest. I am a big picture thinker to a fault. As a teacher, focusing on the big picture and having a clear vision of what the end of the school year will look like can be beneficial; however, school administrators definitely need to balance visionary leadership with day-to-day administrative tasks and management. This old cliché can be used to understand many things, which makes it more useful than most clichés, I suppose.

Over the last decade, pedagogy and practice have become increasingly focused on making sure that learning targets are clearly defined for students, that there are success criteria to show students what it looks like to meet those learning targets, and that supports are in place to help students reach those targets. Students are evaluated and graded by how well they meet those targets, and administrative decisions are based on that process and data.

Among the many buzzwords cropping up in education around this new focus, competency-based education and outcomes-based education seem to be rising to the front of policies, research, and implementation. While the two approaches are very similar, they have some contrasts that are important to understand when deciding to move toward a more performance-based pedagogy.

Over the last decade, pedagogy and practice have become increasingly focused on making sure that learning targets are clearly defined for students, that there are success criteria to show students what it looks like to meet those learning targets, and that supports are in place to help students reach those targets. Students are evaluated and graded by how well they meet those targets, and administrative decisions are based on that process and data.

Among the many buzzwords cropping up in education around this new focus, competency-based education and outcomes-based education seem to be rising to the front of policies, research, and implementation. While the two approaches are very similar, they have some contrasts that are important to understand when deciding to move toward a more performance-based pedagogy.

Both of these approaches focus on the idea that students need clearly defined learning targets for them to work toward, students will hit those targets at different rates and need to be allowed the time to get there, and teachers need to be prepared to deal with students who haven’t met those targets yet and with those who have. They change the narrative of what success means from compliance–this student did all their work, came to class, participated, etc.–to one of achievement. They focus on what students can actually do and have actually learned.

Because of this focus on student achievement and flexibility in the rate of that achievement, both of these practices have their merits in research and both have value as we approach the difficult job of educating students.

The differences in these two approaches, however, are important to understand and internalize in order to best serve the students.

Going back to my tree and forest narrative, let’s look at the forest first: competency based education. CBE is focused on the long-term skills that students need to acquire to be successful students going forward in their schooling and engaged and active citizens as they transition into adulthood. In a competency based classroom or school, the learning targets look like vision boards: students will become critical thinkers, students will engage in civics and become active citizens, students will speak truth in their interactions, whether through writing or speaking, etc.

These “big ideas” are what teachers often talk about when asked why they teach. We don’t teach because we want students to write strong thesis statements. We teach because we want our students to change the world.

This lies in stark contrast to the trees, which are part of outcomes based education, where learning targets are singular and specific. They are the individual skills that can lead someone to be a well rounded scholar. Learning targets in an OBE classroom or school are very specific: students will write clear, argumentative thesis statements; students will be able to factor polynomials; and students will be able to discuss the events and policies leading up to the Civil War.

In an outcomes based classroom, students work on individual objectives that, once mastered, hopefully lead to the forest of big ideas and grand competencies. The theory behind this approach is that learning has to occur in small steps in order to see big gains.

As an educator, I have never thought it was wise to embrace only one pedagogical framework or idea. As with many endeavors, a blended approach of different frameworks based on the needs of the moment will produce the best results. Teachers need to look at both the short and the long term, the forest and the trees to have their students find success.

To do this, I propose that we start by defining where we want our students to be when they walk out of our classrooms. What competencies do we want them to have that they can carry on to the next year or into adulthood that will lead them to success? After that, we can build the step-by-step outcomes that they will need in order to reach the competencies. Along with defining the goals, we need to be clear about what success looks like for each of the goals and help students to understand them.

The next step in the process is a cultural shift. Traditionally, students have had a fixed amount of time to master concepts before teachers moved on. In fact, even in my progressive school district that is very focused on performance based learning and assessment, we still have conversations about how to get through all of the curriculum if we have to wait for everyone to master the concepts.

The solution, like the rest of this discussion, is nuanced and very dependent on the classroom and the students. Teachers need to be able to maintain their pacing and provide help for students who are falling behind. Generally, this can be done through an intervention process, whether using groups or a dedicated intervention time. They can also spiral back to topics that have been covered in order to allow students extra time to revisit outcomes that they have struggled with.

Another option is to allow students to have choice in assessment and process. Project based learning with choice is a key component of both competency based and outcomes based education because it allows for students to explore concepts on their own and struggle to find solutions in various contexts. This allows for both intervention and acceleration, which are key in helping students to find success.

Overall, these two approaches to educating students work well in tandem and can be pulled together to move students through the difficult concepts that they must master in order to be prepared for an increasingly complex world. Teachers must be visionary about where they want students to get by the end of the year, seeing the forest clearly and setting those goals. Then, they need to be intentional about finding the individual steps to navigate the way there, one tree at a time.