Well-developed models of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) have yielded an impressive array of results over the years. These gains and improvements can be attributed to the convergence of four major factors:
When all four of these factors are implemented Consistently, Systematically, Creatively, and Simultaneously, there is an enormous expansion of what OBE advocates call ‘The Conditions of Success’ for learners of all ages, and remarkable gains in learning and performance occur.
OBE’s ‘Success for All Learners’ Philosophy
The strength, credibility, and impact of OBE’s ‘Success for All Learners’ Philosophy rest on the integrity of its four tightly integrated, synergistic Pillars of Power and:
Here’s how they work together to transform education’s limiting “Conditions of Success.”
OBE’s Paradigm Priority makes:
What and Whether students learn successfully more important than When and How.
OBE’s Two Empowering Purposes commit educators to:
OBE’s Three Underlying Premises express educators’ beliefs that:
OBE’s Four Operational Principles maximize the Conditions of Success when educators integrate them with the other three Pillars Consistently, Systematically, Creatively, and Simultaneously in how and when they teach, assess, and credential students. They are:
When the word ‘Based’ is understood to mean Defined by, Focused on, Designed around, and Organized around, OBE exposes the CBO Syndrome, which is universally misunderstood to be OBE. No part of CBO is OBE! Six of the Syndrome’s many non-OBE elements are:
OBE’s substance-based, criterion-defined Foundation of learning Standards differs in kind, intent, and results from education’s conventional selection-oriented, numbers-driven system of assessment, grading, and credit – thereby opening the door to ‘Success for All Learners.’
