Competency Assessment: Designing Timely, Practical, and Holistic ...
1. October 20, 2008 Competency Assessment: Designing Timely, Practical, and Holistic Assessments at Ontario Colleges
2. CIITE Overview Colleges Integrating Immigrants to Employment (CIITE) Vision: Internationally trained immigrants have access to programs and services in the Ontario college system that build on their qualifications and expedite their securing employment commensurate with their skills and knowledge
3. CIITE Overview Objective: To improve the support structures and services colleges provide to skilled immigrants. Focus: The development and implementation of systemic solutions to address barriers to immigrants’ rapid entry into the workplace. Result: Improved services for skilled immigrants Supported by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration of the Government of Ontario Developed, led, and implemented by Ontario colleges A multi-phased strategy for modifying and refining college systems and programs
4. CIITE History Phase 1: December 2003 – December 2004: Identify barriers ITIs face in the Ontario college system Phase 2: September 2005 – December 2007: Develop and test selected immigrant focused practices and services in the college system Phase 3.1: April 2008 - March 2009: Implement immigrant focused practices and services in the Ontario college system
14. What does CIITE mean by Competency Assessment? (cont’d) The CIITE Competency Assessment Project design was based on two key assumptions of what is required to conduct viable, sustainable assessments of skills and experience in Ontario colleges. First, college competency assessments should be replicable across the Ontario college system so that ITIs can access assessment accordingly, and colleges can affordably offer appropriate assessment. Second, competency assessments should be based on program and professional requirements.
16. Competency Assessment Project The Competency Assessment Project was funded near the end of CIITE Phase 2 (2007). CIITE is currently in Phase 3, which began in April 2008. Phase 2 Competency Assessment : Project Timeline: February 2007 – December 2007 Participants: Algonquin, Boreal, CAPLA, Centennial, Conestoga, CRTO, Fanshawe, George Brown, Humber, La Cité, Niagara, OACETT, Seneca, St Clair, and Sheridan Key deliverable: Develop outlines of models that will assess the knowledge and skills of ITIs by program rather than on a course-by-course basis in Respiratory Therapy (regulated) and Mechanical Engineering Technologist (unregulated)
17. Results of Phase 2 Competency Assessment Results: A Competency Assessment model (see handout) and recommendations resulting from project work and research. The recommendations are listed below: 1. Pilot the design of two competency assessment models in a regulated and unregulated profession. Competency assessment models have been designed for both a regulated (Respiratory Therapy) and unregulated (Mechanical Engineering Technologist) profession. In order to prepare to pilot these models, colleges need to validate a List of Competencies for two pilots and develop a project plan for implementation of the pilots in selected colleges. Preliminary work has also been done to establish the List of Competencies to be tested in a pilot . 2. Increase the ability of colleges to deliver flexible programs. Competency assessment allows an ITI to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in a holistic way, in order to recognize these skills and knowledge and to make informed decisions about areas that require gap training. If competency assessment is to be successful in Ontario colleges, colleges must be able to deliver their programs in a flexible manner that allows an ITI to take only the courses s/he needs to meet program and/or professional standards.
18. Phase 2 Results Cont’d . 3. Develop college capacity to provide methods of recognition that correspond to flexible programming. Colleges currently have residency requirements that require a certain percentage of credits be taken at a college in order for that institution to grant a credential. These requirements are a barrier to ITIs who only require specific areas of development and may not wish to enrol in a college program. Colleges should re-examine residency requirements in order to provide a credential to ITIs who successfully complete a competency assessment. 4. Examine the opportunity to develop regional centres of assessment. Competency assessment is an expensive process and needs to be sustainable. Rather than preparing all colleges to complete competency assessments in each profession, regional centres of assessment should be designated. These could be coordinated through a central competency assessment office that would provide both colleges and candidates with a central point of administration. Assessment should be available in both official languages. 5. Colleges undergo discussions at all levels (faculty, management, etc.) with regard to the issues, implications, and opportunities for competency assessment in Ontario colleges. The implementation of competency assessment in the Ontario college system provides se. Colleges need to engage in discussion in order to make informed decisions on the adoption of competency assessment.
19. Phase 3.1 Overview The competency assessment activity in Phase 3.1 is developing, validating and piloting the model in two occupations: Respiratory Therapy (RT) and Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET). Teams of experts in each profession have developed the professions’ ‘List of Competencies’ to be tested, as well as assessment tools. These will be validated by employers, regulatory bodies, and/or professional associations before being piloted in the colleges in the last three months of Phase 3.1.
20. Phase 3.1 Participants MET – Algonquin, Conestoga, Fanshawe, George Brown, Georgian, Humber, St. Clair, Sheridan and OACETT in an advisory capacity RT – Algonquin, La Cité, Fanshawe and the CRTO in an advisory capacity
26. Update on Respiratory Therapy Competency Assessment The Respiratory Therapy project has worked closely with the regulatory body, the Council of Respiratory Therapists of Ontario (CRTO) in ensuring that the checklist of competencies meets the most up-to-date regulations and policies. Currently, the team is developing the assessment tools. The assessment will have three levels of testing: written, simulated, and clinical. A candidate has to be successful at each level of simulation in order to move on to the next. The pilot is set to begin in January 2009.
32. Candidate meets with Assessor and they determine a plan of assessment for competencies where there is lack of documentation (no course outline or skill learned on the job).Competency Assessment Process
44. (Depending on the gaps, ITIs may be eligible to earn a diploma at the college. For example, if ITIs have to take enough courses to meet the residency requirement at the college, they may be eligible for a diploma.)
45. In the LoA it will state that the candidate’s skills and knowledge are equivalent to the competencies a student would acquire in a college Mechanical Engineering Technologist (MET) program.
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48. What are the implications for roll-out of competency assessment in Ontario colleges (cost, access to qualified Assessors, tools)? Is there opportunity to collaborate with other organizations to improve access to competency assessment for ITIs?Contact: Rebecca Carnevale - Project Manager Carnevale@collegeconnect.on.ca T: 416.351.7530 x. 3200
