CBE Glossary
The following terms are useful in understanding the various components of a competency-based system of learning or education.
Competency: an explicit, measurable, transferable learning objective that empowers students
District Competency: an overarching, district-wide, transferable learning objective
Course Competency (sometimes called Reporting Standard): a course- or grade-specific competency that aligns with the district competencies
Standards (state- or national-level): concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education
Learning Progression: sequence of teaching and learning expectations across multiple developmental stages, ages, or grade levels
Includes the "building blocks" of content and skills that students must understand in order to achieve the full standard
Learning Targets (sometimes called "I can" statements or learning objectives): statements that describe in student-friendly language what learners will know and be able to do
Learning Targets can describe the end goal (standard) and/or the learning steps along the way
Proficiency Scale: a collection of related learning targets and scores for determining a student’s current level of performance on a given standard or competency
Assessment: methods or tools used to evaluate or measure learning progress
Formative Assessment (not graded): used to monitor student learning to provide feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning
Because formative assessment is done while students are learning or practicing a topic or skill, they are generally low stakes, meaning they have little or no point value toward an overall grade
Interim Assessment (graded): a hybrid between formative assessment and summative assessment, interim assessments are "checkpoints" after a period of practice during a unit that allows a teacher to measure student progress toward a learning target or goal while also providing feedback for students to continue their learning toward the end standard or goal
Because interim assessment is done after students have had practice in a specific skill or topic, they are generally scored and contribute to an overall grade, although to a lesser extent than summative assessments
Summative Assessment (graded): used to evaluate student learning against a standard or goal at the end of a defined instructional period—typically at the end of a unit, course, semester, or school year
Think of summatives as a "summary" of the learning
Performance Task: an assessment task that asks students to apply their learning to a new and authentic situation as means of assessing their understanding and ability to transfer their learning
Standardized Test: primarily associated with large-scale tests administered to large populations of students, but standardized tests are any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, and is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the performance of individual students or groups of students
At GWRSD and MES, we use ExactPath (reading and math), Acadience (literacy), and the state assessments (NHSAS and SAT for math, English/Language Arts, and Science)
To view our most recent state assessment results, please click here