First-ever systemwide guide to launching competency-based education (CBE) to meet the dynamic needs of employers

Kentucky Community and Technical College system partners with C-BEN to share lessons learned and help state systems align learning with in-demand skills

The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) announced today the launch of a comprehensive guide for state higher education systems across the nation interested in implementing competency-based education (CBE). In response to a desire to help learners acquire the knowledge and skills that employers are actively seeking, CBE focuses on student learning and the application of that learning — what they know and can do — rather than time spent in class. Planning for Postsecondary Competency Based Learning: A Field Guide to Reimagine a System-Wide Approach to CBE distills the key lessons and implementation guidance from an 18-month planning process developed by C-BEN, implemented by KCTCS, and documented by Barbara Endel Consulting.

“The project provided us an opportunity to take a hard look at ourselves to determine how we can streamline our processes to become more efficient and student friendly. Our goal is always to do what’s best for students,” said Dr. Paul Czarapata, KCTCS President. “It’s extremely important that we support what our business partners need as well, which is getting students through the pipeline quickly. That’s why I’m excited about the possibility of flexible learning models that can be prototyped and scaled.”

C-BEN’s consulting team worked with KCTCS working groups — composed of 100+ faculty, staff, and administrators from across the 16 colleges within KCTCS — bringing them through a comprehensive planning process for creating and launching CBE programs. The work establishes how community colleges can use CBE to help learners acquire the competencies — knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors — that the labor market demands.

“CBE is a tool needed now more than ever to help adult learners succeed in today’s workplace, accelerating their career prospects and economic mobility.” said Dr Amber Garrison Duncan, EVP at C-BEN. “Our work with KCTCS is about unlocking opportunities for more Kentucky students and creating a best-in-class guide for other state systems to provide all learners the opportunity to earn a credential that is more flexible, relevant, and valuable.”

The Field Guide was prepared by Barbara Endel, PhD and Maggie Snyder — to help scale and share the learning from KCTCS’s work for other systems considering adopting CBE. The guide’s objective is to showcase the change management approaches and lessons learned. The guide includes a quick start section to help college leaders, faculty, and staff understand the planning phases of work, while detailing how Kentucky’s system developed the timelines and processes. The approach in Kentucky included workforce development, academic programs, and general education and ways to integrate these siloed departments into cross-functional CBE programs.

“The future of work depends on the future of learning,” said Barbara Endel. “We believe this guide will be tremendously valuable to so many colleges and systems who know that today’s models must be more flexible. We showcase the research-based process developed by C-BEN with examples from Kentucky, as more and more colleges join the CBE movement.”

The project was funded by a grant from Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit organization committed to investing in initiatives that support learners from low-income backgrounds in their pursuit of postsecondary education and workforce training opportunities. Ascendium’s investment in this project demonstrates a commitment to exploring diverse pathways into postsecondary education and workforce training, which includes CBE.

“This field guide is a great resource for colleges, higher education systems and state education agencies that are considering a systemwide implementation of CBE and are curious about how it can be organized, timed and scaled,” said Maryann Rainey, a program officer at Ascendium. “It’s our hope that this resource will advance conversations about CBE and how it can provide an equitable on-ramp for many learners, particularly learners from low-income backgrounds.”

About the Kentucky Community & Technical College System

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is Kentucky’s largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky’s largest provider of workforce and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. Our colleges are united in their commitment to making life better for our students, communities and the citizens of Kentucky. To date, KCTCS has served one million Kentuckians.

About the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN)

C-BEN is a network of institutions, employers, and experts who believe competencies can unlock the future of learning — making postsecondary education and training more flexible, responsive, and valuable. We support stakeholders across the spectrum of competency-based learning, from institutions and employers who want to embed competencies into their existing programs to those looking to design full competency-based degree programs from the ground up. Across all our work, our aim is to make education and training more flexible, responsive, and valuable. Learn more at https://www.cbenetwork.org or @CBENetwork.

About Barbara Endel Consulting

Barbara has over twenty-five years of experience working on the advancement of economic mobility for adult learners. The practice is grounded on the conviction that scalable, sustainable innovation in community colleges and workforce development must be designed and implemented with attention to the human dimensions of change. Dr. Endel has partnered over the past with KCTCS and other community colleges and state systems in a variety of adult learner initiatives.

About Ascendium Education Group

Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color and veterans. Ascendium’s work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all. For more information, visithttps://www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org.