Using a Competency Model for Curriculum Development and Enhancement Competency models assist curriculum developers to: Develop competency-based training objectives and outcomes Tailor courses to specific student populations or industry needs Evaluate and update existing program content Identify gaps between curriculum outcome objectives and employer expectations. Competency models have a variety of applications that support curriculum development, evaluation, and enhancement.

Using a Competency Model to Conduct Curriculum Gap Analysis Basic Steps Indentify the competencies of interest on your competency model  Identify the courses which participants might take under your curriculum For each competency of interest, identify the course in which that competency is taught. Consider: To what extent are all the needed skills/information for that competency taught? How will you know if participants gain the skills and knowledge needed? Identify any competency for which there is no course. These are your “gaps”. Consider: Where else might they get this information or skill? Is there a course which could include this information or is an additional course needed? We’ve observed that education partners from a variety of fields have found the models useful for curriculum gap analysis. The models are being used a tool with which to compare existing curriculum to make sure the curriculum is teaching the skills that industry needs.

Assessment Worksheet Form This is a sample form demonstrating how you can use a model for curriculum assessment. By converting the models to spreadsheet format and creating columns for the courses in an education program, we have a basic curriculum assessment worksheet.

Long-term Care, Supports, and Services Competency Model The Long-term Care, Supports, and Services Competency Model is available for download in Excel format on the Competency Model Clearinghouse. http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/pyramid.aspx?LTC=Y

LTCSS Model in Spreadsheet Format From here, we can develop a curriculum assessment worksheet for the Long-term Care, Supports, and Services industry.

Sample Assessment Worksheet Courses Competencies This is an example developed by education partners in the geospatial technology field. This form uses the Geospatial Technology Competency Model to create an education program assessment worksheet. The courses are listed in columns on the right. Each course is evaluated on how effectively it prepares students with the competencies in the model. Partners in the geospatial field are using the Geospatial Model to support: Program assessment Program development Articulation

Sample Articulation Worksheet The chart demonstrates how the model is being used to compare two courses from different community colleges for articulation. 7

Resources Find existing curricula and resources on the: Competency Model Clearinghouse – Resource Database: http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/search.aspx Read about what others have done: Competency Model Clearinghouse – Case In Point Stories http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/use_detailInfo.aspx?id=632 GeoTech Center Sample Tools http://www.geotechcenter.org/Projects/Research-Projects/Geospatial-Technology-Competency-Model-GTCM2 These resources provide further explanation of the ‘how to’: Competency to Curriculum Toolkit - Columbia University School of Nursing http://www.sphtc.org/Compt_to_Curric_Toolkit.pdf Curriculum Development Toolkit - National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies http://nwcet.org/products/Toolkit/step1.asp The Competency Model Clearinghouse has a Resource Database, which can be searched for curricula, competency models, and other resources to inform curriculum development. Case In Points Stories on the CMC provide example of how others have used models to support curriculum development. There are also several resources on the Web that provide more detail about how to support your projects.