Originally Posted by spaghetti
We are headed that way here. Just preliminary now, but the idea we have been sold is that rather than grades that don't really tell anyone what you do and don't know (I love how the "old" system is always presented as useless), you have a list of competencies. So, for example, in high school, if you can get an A in the class without understanding a big chunk, while excelling everywhere else, the competency based system will show weakness as well as strengths, and colleges will have a much better idea how the applicants are doing, especially because the standards are expected to be standardized.

People here that love it, REALLY love it and are pushing it hard as the answer to all that ails the school system.

That is what we have. It is supposed to give employers a better idea but if it took 3 attempts to get an achieved it doesn't record that and it doesn't record failed subjects. It also makes no allowance for hard versus soft subjects. The strict wording issues I have struck have been post secondary.

In theory it is more flexible than our old system but in practice you have to go at the speed of your class. We have a final exam component to help standardise across schools nationally and the exams are only once a year so while in theory you could move quicker the system is not set up to allow it.