Not too long ago, C-BEN released their Quality Standards for Competency-Based Educational Programs in draft format.  Previously, Western Governors University had released a CBE course quality rubric.  In the Quality Matters Rubric released in 2014, standards were included and codified to apply to competency-based courses.

This increased emphasis on codifying quality in CBE programs is valuable work towards transparency and ensuring that the movement is able to communicate the value of the programs to accreditors, the DOE, and higher education at large.  Few classroom programs would be able to meet the rigorous standards described in these documents.

Other quality tools can provide valuable and applicable guides for the development of CBE programs, including Universal Design for Learning, the Essential Quality Standards 2.0 from eCampusAlberta, Blackboard Exemplary Course Rubric, iNACOL’s National Standards for Quality Online Courses V2, and OLC’s Quality Scorecard.

As we see CBE being addressed as a modality, as opposed to a stand-alone effort, how will we see these quality tools converge?