Assessment of competences in school. A state of the art

The introduction of a common core of competences and knowledge in French, Luxembourg, Belgium, Swtzerland and Canada (Quebec) education systems was initially met with resistance, generating much debate and controversy. However, despite some political hesitation, the overall objective of the common core has since been firmly established as a central component of the curriculum and has not been challenged by the new majority. By contrast, the widespread use of competences booklets (livrets de compétence) has raised many questions, with assessment often being construed as giving concrete expression to the question of competences in class. Although a number of studies have provided a more detailed view of what educational competences may be, competence assessment remains a major issue in French education. In seeking to move from traditional knowledge-based assessments to a greater focus on competences, educational policy makers appear to have opted for incremental changes to avoid a traumatizing and therefore potentially ineffective revolution. However, in choosing this approach, there is a risk of distorting the real changes that competence assessment is designed to bring about. After a brief overview of debates surrounding the question of competences, this study will describe the main characteristics of competence assessment in areas where there appears to be a consensus among French and francophone scholars and experts. The study also highlights the difficulties of reconciling traditional forms of educational assessment with what competence assessment in an educational context ought to be, thus raising the issue of the role of grades or marks.