Assessing Student Learning in a CBE Program

What does it mean to truly assess student learning?

For many, assessment conjures images of tests, quizzes, and grades — measures of what a learner can recall or reproduce on a given day. Competency-based education asks a different and more expansive question: not simply what a learner can demonstrate in the moment, but who they are becoming over time.

Competency-based education models reinforce the idea that teaching is not about what happens at the front of the classroom. It is about what learners gain through engaging in a course. Developing a competency-based course or program requires that we frame outcomes from the learner’s perspective. Such outcomes ask not what the professor will teach, but what the learner will know, do, value, and live out as a result of their preparation.

In MLC’s program, assessments of learning fall into four interconnected domains: Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Behaviors. These domains are not hierarchical and are not independent of one another. Knowledge informs skill. Skill reinforces attitude. Attitude shapes behavior. Together, they capture the full picture of what it means to be prepared for called work in WELS public ministry — to serve students, families, and congregations with competence, integrity, and faith.

Over the next four posts, we will explore each domain in turn, offering a clear definition, example outcomes, and example assessment strategies. We invite you to consider how these four domains together answer the question that animates everything we do: not just what our learners know, but who they are becoming as Christian educators.