Integration of Competency-Based Assessment in Current K-12 Assessment as a Way of Promoting Equity in Education

Introduction

Studying the integration of competency Based assessment in current k-12 assessment as a way of promoting equity in education is relevant to the school in the following ways; First, the district school will be able to produce students who arte of national and global competitiveness. Many educators feel that having competence-based assessments will provide a means to satisfy the requirement for strong alignment to the needs of society and employees and ensure proper assessments. Through competency-based assessment, the student is able to focus on a specific area of study. This model allows students to learn and show their abilities at their own pace hence they are comfortable and have a higher chances of possessing the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes before they graduate (Labs, 2017). The school would therefore produce credible graduates who will cover the niche that is present in their respective societies. In conclusion, the graduates, the society and the employers will all be satisfied because the graduates have practical skills required. Second, students come from diverse societies, those who come from low-income backgrounds become disadvantaged because they may not afford extra training after graduating. It is therefore important to have a competence-based assessment to ensure that the graduates are well equipped for the job industry (Khalidi Mohammed, 2016). Therefore, competence based assessment would ensure that there is equity in education for students of any socio-economic background. Third, competence based assessment incorporates the society and the industry, to determine the specific requirements that the students should meet thus bringing in corporation and coordination.

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The reasons for selecting the topic "Integration of Competency-Based Assessment in current K-12 Assessment as a way of promoting Equity in Education" include the following: First, the students who graduate directly from high school are found not to perform as expected meaning that they are not well prepared by these institutions of learning. Study shows that graduates from senior high school have to undergo some training before they can be absorbed into the job market for them to perform as required. This therefore means that the K-12 assessment system has inadequacy in properly preparing students to enter into the job market. The inadequacy is because the focus of the current K-12 assessment is on having knowledge rather than having practical skills (Klein, 2017). In conclusion, it is necessary to introduce some form of competency evaluation in the K-12 assessment. Second, the current K-12 assessment has failed brings in the imbalance in education, since graduates who cannot afford extra training after school become irrelevant to society and economy. Third, the current k-12 assessment is rigid since the students follow some predefined system that emphasizes on knowledge, competence-based assessment is flexible since the period, and system to follow is defined according to the requirements and needs of the student, society and the industry (Klein, 2017).

The topic of integrating competence-based assessment is a form of alternative assessment. Alternative assessment are techniques which can be used in the setting of instruction and can easily be integrated into the normal schedules of the educational setting. Why is this so? Competence based assessments enables the determination of the strengths and the weaknesses of each student, so that they can focus on an area of strength (Denman, 2018). Competence-based assessment also offers a variety of means to determine the abilities of a student and it is not focused on the student's knowledge.

Utilization of technological tools, facilities, and skills by educators in the classroom improves the educator's ability to deliver by replacing the traditional methods to the technology-oriented and learning thus increasing the chances of the school to achieve its goals. Several strategies may be used by the educators to integrate technology into the classroom activities. The strategies include:

First, introduction of special technological tools can be used to enhance learning of students with special needs. Students who have special needs that have been identified need special technological facilities and tools in the classroom to ensure that they learn like the rest of the students. The most common disability that is experienced in class is the reading disability, this is prominent among students who suffer from dyslexia. The students therefore are unable to properly communicate with the other students and the educators while in classroom while reading (Robbie, 2017). The available technological remedy for this includes speech recognition tools which is able to reproduce clear wordings of what the student is saying so that the other students and the educator can easily comprehend what he or she is reading. Inclusion of speech recognition is important to all students in general since they are able to capture their ideas easily by replacing the use of keyboard to type their ideas.

Second, use of multimedia presentations. The use of audio-visual tools in classroom promotes better understanding because the students are able to get the picture of a scenario as it is shown in the presentations. Multimedia presentations such as videos are enjoyable hence capture the concentration of the students' thus better understanding. This involves acquisition of projectors or screens, computers, and speakers for voice projection.

Third, the educators can implement use of online lesson supplements in the teaching process. The educators can supplement their teaching materials with online supplements which may be available to the students. The educator may also provide the students with online research assignments and online sources thus developing the digital skills that the students have. Online information from credible sources reduces the boredom of studying from a single source and are therefore useful for further reference and study. Online evaluation such as submission of assignments for plagiarism and grammar check improve the literal skills of the students and the quality of their work.

References

Denman, R. I. (2018). Alternative Assessment.

Khalidi Mohammed, H. M. (2016). Competency-Based Assesment: from Caonceptual Model to operational tool.

Klein, D. d. (2017). Competency-Based Education: A Policy Primer. Cappella University.

Labs, S. (2017). Understanding Competernce-Based Education Toolkit.

Robbie, A. (2017, April 18). For Students with Special education Needs, Speech Recognition Technology has the ability to unllock new Opportunities. Retrieved from ITProPortal: http://www.itproportal.com