Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture descriptors

Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture: Volume 1 Context, concepts and model - http://rm.coe.int/prems-008318-gbr-2508-reference-framework-of-competences-vol-1-8573-co/16807bc66c

1. the possibility to assess the current level of proficiency of learners on each of the competences, with a view to identifying their learning needs and areas for further development; and 2. references for educators which can help them to design, implement and evaluate educational interventions, in formal and non-formal settings. - Wording: descriptors had to be formulated using the language of learning outcomes, starting with one unambiguous action verb and describing an observable behaviour connected with a learning achievement. - Brevity: descriptors had to be short rather than long, ideally no longer than about 25 words. - Positivity: each descriptor had to express ability in terms of a positive statement (e.g. can, expresses, supports), not a negative statement (e.g. cannot, fails to, has limited). Ideally, the aim was to ensure that each descriptor would enable a teacher to say “Yes, this person can do this/has this (value, attitude, skill, knowledge, understanding)” or “No, this person cannot do this/does not have this (value, attitude, skill, knowledge, understanding)”. - Clarity: each descriptor had to be transparent and not jargon-laden, and written using relatively simple grammar. - Independence: each descriptor had to be independent of all the other descriptors. In other words, each descriptor could not have meaning only relative to other descriptors in the set. For this reason, the descriptors avoided using the same statement multiple times to form a set by simply substituting a qualifying word or phrase across the statements (e.g. poor/moderate/good, a few/some/ many/most, fairly broad/very broad) which would have meant that the items were not independent of each other. - Definiteness: each descriptor also needed to describe concrete behaviours or achievements which would indicate whether or not the relevant value/attitude/skill/knowledge/understanding had been mastered by an individual.
 * "A democratic culture relies on citizens having the values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge and critical understanding that are described by the competence model. Two elements are essential to ensuring the development of CDC in learners:
 * In order to meet these needs, the Framework provides descriptors for each of the 20 competences that are contained in the competence model. These descriptors help to operationalise the competences and provide important and useful tools for curriculum planning, teaching and learning, and assessment. Competence descriptors are statements that describe observable behaviours which indicate that the person concerned has achieved a certain level of proficiency with regard to a competence. In order for descriptors to be relevant for curriculum planning, teaching and learning, and assessment, they need to be formulated using the language of learning outcomes.
 * The following criteria were used to formulate the descriptors for the Framework:
 * Using these criteria, an initial set of 2085 draft descriptors covering all 20 competences was produced. These descriptors were progressively reduced in number and refined in their wording using a series of feedback and rating tasks, validation tasks and scaling tasks, in which 3094 educational practitioners drawn from across Europe participated. The data from these tasks were used to identify a set of 447 validated and highly rated descriptors and a smaller set of 135 key descriptors that were judged to be especially useful for indexing the achievement of the 20 competences contained in the Framework model."