Assessment of Competency-Based Instruction. Summary Report.

The extent to which competency-based instruction (CBI) has been implemented in postsecondary-level vocational-technical education programs and courses throughout Texas was assessed. Questionnaires were mailed to the occupational education deans/directors of 69 public community and technical college campuses. Each dean/director distributed the questionnaires to each occupational program chair/leader and one instructor of each occupational preparation program. Forty institutions returned completed questionnaires. Although more than 90% of the responding institutions were using competencies from the workplace when developing their curricula, less than 40% were using occupational competency examinations to determine students' achievement of the competencies. The biggest barriers to implementation of CBI were as follows: faculty members' fears that CBI will make new demands on their time, no provision of release time for faculty to develop a CBI system format, and few state-provided incentives for development and maintenance of CBI. It was recommended that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board establish and use program standards for CBI and conduct or contract for professional development activities and/or programs to develop the knowledge and skills needed to implement and maintain CBI. (Appended are the first-round Delphi scores, sample assessment questionnaires, list of participating community and technical colleges, and model for evaluating CBI.) (MN)