Direct assessment competency-based education (DA CBE) is a teaching and learning modality that empowers learners to progress at their own pace by prioritizing the mastery of skills and knowledge while making time variable.
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education is a flexibly paced learning model where students earn credentials and degrees by demonstrating what they know and can do, rather than advancing according to a set term or class schedule. Progress is based on mastery, with faculty designing and assessing every step to ensure rigor, inclusivity, and alignment with real-world needs.
At the heart of California Community Colleges’ Vision 2030 is a commitment to expanding access and meeting students where they are. Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education creates a new pathway for students whose lives do not align with traditional term schedules. By offering flexible pacing and innovative assessment methods, this model helps more students balance education with work, family and other responsibilities while progressing toward meaningful credentials and degrees.
How Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Works
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education aligns learning with real-world workforce needs:
- Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education is flexibly paced, allowing students to focus on what they know and earn credentials by demonstrating mastery of clearly defined skills and knowledge.
- Progress is based on what students can demonstrate, not on the amount of time within a term schedule or time spent in a classroom.
- Builds on mastery-based approaches that have been used across higher education and workforce training programs in the United States for decades.
- Faculty define the competencies and directly assess student learning to ensure rigor, consistency, and alignment with academic and workforce expectations.
- Expands access while maintaining high academic standards.
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Programs in California
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs are actively being designed and implemented across California Community Colleges. Through a statewide collaborative, colleges are developing innovative associate degree programs while also informing systemwide policies, practices, and pathways for broader adoption.
These programs represent early implementation efforts and will continue to expand as additional colleges develop Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education offerings.
Colleges currently designing or piloting Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs:
- Bakersfield College
- Coastline College (Management)
- East Los Angeles College
- Merced College
- Mt. San Antonio College
- Shasta College (Early Childhood Education)
- Southwestern College (Automotive Technology)
Key Differences of Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education offers a flexible pathway to earning credentials and degrees by allowing students to progress based on demonstrated mastery rather than a fixed term schedule.
Competency-Based Education refers to how learning is organized. Learning is structured around clearly defined competencies that describe what students need to know and be able to do. Faculty define these competencies and learning expectations.
Direct Assessment refers to how learning is measured in the Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education model. Faculty evaluate student work through applied assessments, and students advance only after demonstrating mastery of each competency.
The comparison below highlights key differences between traditional learning models, course-based Competency-Based Education, and Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education.
How Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Differs from Traditional Learning Models
| Traditional Learning Models | Course-Based Competency-Based Education | Direct Assessment Competency-Based Educaton |
|---|---|---|
| Semesters/quarters and fixed due dates for tests and term papers | Semesters/quarters and more flexible timing for assessments | Students set their own study schedules and choose when to attempt assessments |
| Classes move at the pace outlined in the syllabus handed out at the start of the semester | Class progression generally follows the syllabus, with some flexibility based on competency sequencing and access | Students progress by demonstrating mastery of clearly defined competencies. Progress is flexible, allowing students to move more quickly through familiar material or spend more time building new skills. |
| Typically only provide one opportunity to pass a test. Students study, take the test on the assigned date and either pass or fail | Opportunities to complete or retake assessments are determined by the instructor | Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery. Feedback from faculty helps students strengthen their work before attempting an assessment |
| Students are able to pass a course with a C grade | Students are able to pass a course with a C grade | Students must demonstrate each competency with at least a B grade |
| Final exams at the end of a semester | Students complete applied, performance-based assessments to demonstrate learning | Students complete applied, performance-based assessments that demonstrate what they know and can do |
| Extra classes to reach a credit requirement that may not ladder up to career goals | Competencies and assessments are aligned with workforce expectations and real-world skills | Competencies and assessments are aligned with workforce expectations and real-world skills |
| Financial aid disbursed based on enrollment status, and academic term progression | Financial aid disbursed based on enrollment status, and academic term progression | Financial aid disbursed based on enrollment status, and completion benchmarks in subscription periods |
| Designed around courses organized by discipline, sequenced across semesters | Designed around courses aligned to competencies - best practice is end-end but bottlenecks will still likely occur | Designed around the program itself - end-end |
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs in the California Community Colleges System
California Community Colleges are exploring Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education through a collaborative group of pilot colleges working to design and implement new associate degree programs using this model.
Launched in 2021, the Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Collaborative brings together eight colleges to test and refine how this flexible learning model can work across the system. Participating colleges are developing programs that will help inform statewide policies, guidance, and resources to support future implementation.
These pilot programs are helping the California Community Colleges system better understand how Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education can expand flexible pathways for students while maintaining strong academic standards.
Interested In Learning More?
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs allow students to move at a flexible pace by demonstrating what they know and can do. Instead of following a fixed semester schedule, students complete applied assessments and progress once they have demonstrated mastery.
These programs are designed to fit into students’ lives, making it easier to balance education with work, family, and other responsibilities while continuing to make progress toward a credential or degree.
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs are currently being designed and piloted by the following California Community Colleges.
- Bakersfield College
- Coastline College (Management)
- East Los Angeles College
- Merced College
- Mt. San Antonio College
- Shasta College (Early Childhood Education)
- Southwestern College (Automotive Technology)
Faculty play a central role in designing competencies, developing assessments, and evaluating student mastery within Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education programs.
Faculty interested in how programs are structured can explore the Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Implementation Blueprint, which outlines how competencies, assessments, and program design come together in practice.
Colleges interested in exploring Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education can access implementation guidance and system resources developed through the Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Collaborative.
The Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Implementation Blueprint is the primary resource for colleges exploring program development. It provides guidance on program design, key decision points, and implementation considerations informed by pilot colleges across the California Community Colleges system.
If you're interested in creating your own Direct Assessment Competency-Based program, please reach out to Michael "Billy" Wagner at CBE@CCCCO.edu.
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Implementation Blueprint
The Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Implementation Blueprint provides comprehensive guidance for colleges exploring how to design and launch programs using this model. Developed by the Chancellor’s Office in collaboration with Jobs for the Future, the California Community Colleges’ Foundation’s Success Center and pilot colleges in the Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Collaborative, the blueprint outlines key decision points, program design considerations, and implementation tools to support colleges as they build Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education pathways.
