Competency-Based Teacher Certification Programs in Florida -- MYTH or Reality?

Abstract

What is competency-based teacher education and what implications does it hold for inservice teacher preparation and eventual certification? According to Houston^, it is best defined as a program that has emphasis on objectives which are known to the student prior to instruction. Activities are then designed to contribute to the student's demonstration of the objec tives, and evaluation is in terms of accomplishment of these objectives. This implies that a series of com petency requirements could increase in complexity and scope as the teacher gains experience. More simply stated, competency-based programs involve preparing teachers for specific performance competencies and certifying them on the basis of collected evidence^.