Editorial for JCBE

This Volume 6 second issue follows on the heels of JCBE’s special issue on The Future of Learning & Work: How Focusing on Competencies will Support Equitable Economic Recovery. I want to thank Stacey Clawson from Jobs For the Future (JFF) for her tireless efforts as the guest editor-in-chief as well as her colleagues, Ashley Bliss Lima and Mara Lockowandt, for their support as guest Associate Editors. What a wonderful way for JCBE to kick off 2021 and Volume 6. This issue contains four themed miniclusters with seven manuscripts of original research, one commentary, one article on an emerging issue, and one additional editorial (aside from the one I am writing at this moment). It is such an interesting mix of ideas, discoveries, questions, and perspectives!

The first minicluster consists of two manuscripts focused on health care and an editorial with recommendations for the future related to CBE. The first manuscript by Dr. Vasquez from the Van Andel Institute and his colleagues at the University of Michigan delve deeply into the foundations of Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) in contrast with Competency-Based Higher Education (CBHE) in their article entitled The parallel evolution of CBE in medical and higher education. The authors examine issues of affordability, access goals, barriers to CBE, and a discussion of assessment and standards setting work in CBME. The second article continues with the healthcare theme by exploring how CBE nursing programs successfully reduce costs and maintain or improve the quality of education as measured by NCLEX pass rates. The authors, Dr. Hossler and his colleague, Dr. James, at Western Governors University, underscore the importance of evaluating quality, cost, and time to completion as measures of CBE effectiveness in their article entitled Competency-based nursing: Reducing cost while maintaining or improving quality. This minicluster of healthcare themed articles concludes with an editorial by Dr. James entitled Three US post-COVID legislative, regulatory, and higher education recommendations: Future considerations for policy, compliance, accreditation and curricula. The author proposes three recommendations showing how CBE can positively impact college enrollment declines resulting from educational disruption due to COVID-19.

The second minicluster of manuscripts relates to the High School to College journey with an article of original research, a commentary, and an emerging issue. Mr. McPherson explores the experiences of middle and high school teachers in his article entitled A Metamorphosis of an Educator: A hermeneutic phenomenology study of the perceptions and lived experiences of the 6-12 educator in transitioning from teacher-centered to student-centered Learning. Situated in the mastery-based learning context in Idaho, the author explores changes in philosophy of education, methods of teaching, and teacher–student relationships that occur when shifting from teacher- to student-centered practices. The second manuscript is a commentary by Dr. Gauthier on the need to think about career and technical program content and facilitation in his article entitled Community college pathways conflict. His assertion is that more blended and flexible pathways are needed to connect competencies across disciplines and apply to core content. The minicluster concludes with an emerging issue by Mr. Carlgren entitled Competency-based curriculum transition: A conceptual framework. The author examines the boundary between high school and college through the lenses of policy, practice, and process. The framework may be a useful tool for designing curriculum when incorporating competencies that lead to changes in educational practice.

The third minicluster addresses issues related to assessment in CBE. In the first manuscript, Dr Lafave and colleagues at the Mount Royal University faculty of Health and Community Studies in Alberta, Canada, speak to evidence-informed practice (EIP) in undergraduate healthcare education in their manuscript entitled Concept mapping towards competency: Teaching and assessing undergraduate evidence-informed practice. The authors review CBE methodology and introduce concept mapping as a strategy to deepen student understanding of a critical competency in health care. The reliability and validity of the grading rubric is also presented. The second manuscript also presents a validity study by Dr. Hayes and colleagues at Western Governors University entitled Transparency of cognitive complexity in performance assessment: A validity study. The author discusses the difference in cognitive complexity presented to student in a performance assessment prompt as compared to its scoring rubric. The author suggests that a good quality rubric is a valuable student aid to demonstrating competency.

The fourth and final minicluster contains two manuscripts of original research coming from diverse settings and fields of practice. The first manuscript by Dr. Ahmed at the Assiut University and colleague, Dr. Sayed from Sohag University, presents the process of developing Competency-Based Training (CBT) of teachers in an article entitled An extensive model for implementing competency-based training (CBT) in TVET teacher training system for Assiut-ITEC, Egypt. The authors discuss improvements in education and training teacher competencies to develop facilitation skills and teaching practices underpinned by a description of the training curriculum and its assessment. The final manuscript by Dr. Rawboon and colleagues in Japan and Thailand is entitled Future competencies for three demanding careers of industry 4.0: Robotic engineers, data scientists, and food designers. What an intriguing way to conclude this issue by identifying the competencies for each of these careers and by pointing us toward the future of CBE as it broadens and deepens its impact on these promising career opportunities.