What is Competency-based Grading?

Competency-based grading is a type of standards-based grading that incorporates aspects of mastery grading while structuring learning into bundles or tiers that are associated with specific grades (Towsley and Schmid 2020). Three defining traits of competency-based grading are using learning objectives that are distilled down to finer-grained learning targets, providing students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery, and basing the course grade on not only the number of standards met but also on specific levels of mastery for the standards (Towsley and Schmid 2020). Most often in competency-based grading, the instructor creates different tiers or bundles of assignments and assessments that are aligned to the specific learning objectives (Bonner 2016). For each assignment in a bundle, students are required to achieve a specific mastery level (80%, 90%, etc.) and then the overall grade is based on the number or type of assignments that are successfully completed (Bonner 2016). Thus, students select the number of assignments to complete for each standard which determines their overall grade in the course.

Benefits of Competency-based Grading

Competency-based grading has been shown to increase student learning, engagement, and ownership of their learning (Simonds et al. 2017). In a study of competency-based grading in a physics course, all students improved when competency-based grading was implemented but women and first-generation students had the highest gains with lower failure rates (based on DFW rates) when compared to traditional grading systems (Richard et al. 2022). Additionally, surveys on student perspectives of competency-based grading compared to traditional grading indicated that students experienced less stress and learned more when competency-based grading was used (Simonds et al. 2017, Towsley and Schmid 2020). Students also reported that competency-based grading helped them learn better time management and planning skills as they were required to work on projects and assignments at their own pace, but still met the requirements for the grade they wanted in the course (Simonds et al. 2017).

Possible Challenges with Competency-based Grading

One of the largest challenges for competency-based grading is explaining the new grading system to students. Because competency-based grading is often very different from grading systems used in most of the courses students have taken, it is essential for instructors to explain the new system to students and provide details on how this system will benefit their learning. Instructors need to repeat instructions, grading requirements, and retake policies to ensure students understand how their grade will be determined, how assignments are included in bundles or tiers, and how resubmissions are done in the class (Towsley and Schmid 2020). The most common complaint students made was frustration with competency-based grading when it is not well explained (Simonds et al. 2017, Towsley and Schmid 2020). In addition to issues with student buy-in, implementing competency-based grading can also be time-consuming, difficult to implement if resources are limited, and may require additional training to implement correctly. Instructors need to commit a large amount of time to developing and aligning learning objectives to class activities, assignments and assessments which can become labor-intensive (Simonds et al. 2017). Most forms of competency-based grading provide students with rubrics that contain the learning objective or other criteria necessary to meet mastery. Thus, instructors need to create new rubrics or revise old rubrics for all assignments or assessment which is time-consuming (Simonds et al. 2017). Additionally, some instructors found the evaluation of student work to be more time-consuming than in traditional grading systems, especially when students are given multiple opportunities to resubmit assignments to meet mastery (Simonds et al. 2017). For some instructors, the lack of classroom resources or learning spaces that allow students to engage in active learning and self-paced projects can be a hindrance to adopting competency-based grading (Simonds et al. 2017). Furthermore, instructors may need professional development or similar training to help them move to a student-centered approach necessary for competency-based learning and grading (Simonds et al. 2017, Towsley and Schmid 2020).

How to Implement Competency-based Grading

Competency-based grading begins like most other types of standards-based grading with the creation of the student learning objectives and alignment of these objectives to the assignments and assessments used in the course (Towsley and Schmid 2020). Once this is completed, the instructor needs to determine which of the learning objectives are critical for student learning and which are helpful but not required. Dividing learning objectives in this manner allows the instructor to determine the bundles or tiers used in the competency-based grading framework. Assignments and assessments are then placed into bundles or tiers for one or more learning objectives with different bundles or tiers representing different grades for the learning objective, unit of study, or course (Table 1; Bonner 2016). Rubrics or other types of detailed instructions are provided to students to aid in their ability to meet mastery on each assignment (Simonds et al. 2017). Additionally, instructors need to incorporate methods for students to resubmit assignments or retake assessments to meet mastery on these tasks. Students are then given autonomy on how many and to what level of competency they complete assignments or assessments with higher grades earned by completing bundled items that included higher performance (higher percentage accurate on assignments), more assignments, or additional components. Thus, students determine the grade they want for the unit or course by completing the assessments in the bundle for a specific grade (Table 1).

Table 1. Example of Competency-based Grading using Bundles for determining Student Grade within a specific unit. Students must earn all parts of a bundle to earn the grade associated with that grade bundle.

Grade	Unit Assignments	Unit Project	Unit Exams
Bundle 1 Requirements to earn a C in the course	Complete five of the assignments at 70% accuracy	Complete the project by addressing five of the components	Earn at least a 70% on each learning objective in the unit exams
Bundle 2 Requirements to earn a B in the course	Complete seven of the assignments at 80% accuracy	Complete the project by addressing eight of the components	Earn at least an 80% on each learning objective in the unit exams
Bundle 3 Requirements to earn an A in the course	Complete ten of the assignments at 80% accuracy	Complete the project by addressing all ten of the components	Earn at least a 90% on each learning objective in the unit exams

Although these steps will help with developing a course using competency-based grading, the following resources may also be helpful when first designing and implementing competency-based grading.

• “How We Grade and Why: Five Steps for Fusing CBL and Grading.” By Jason Cummings at Global Online Academy
• “Issues and Priorities in Competency-based Education” by the XQ Institute
• “What is Competency-based Education? A Beginner’s Guide for Students” by Will Erstad at Rasmussen University

Alternative Grading for College Courses was written by Michelle Larson. Published to the website January 20, 2023.