Calbright has reimagined higher education – changing the way students enroll, classes are taught, and eliminating barriers to success for working-age adults pursuing education and better careers.
To achieve this, Calbright also needed to reimagine how students are assessed. Calbright students are not graded the way students at traditional colleges are. Assessment and grading at Calbright is individualized to a degree that is almost unprecedented in higher education. There are no letter grades, or even “pass/fail.” Instead,students keep working on developing their skills, without penalty, until they demonstrate mastery in each one. This is known as “competency-based education” – or CBE.
“Traditional grading does not serve learning because it is not a clear communicator of skill,” said Jessica Schaid, a member of Calbright’s Curriculum and Assessment Development faculty. “Letter grades mostly measured how well students learned to play the game of school – a game that, for many working-age adults who are now students again, was shaped by structural inequities, racial inequities, and systemic bias. At Calbright, assessment is designed to make skills visible. We achieve this by recognizing what adult learners already bring with them and helping them translate those skills where they matter.”
The process of mastering skills goes as quickly or as slowly as it needs to, based on the students’ needs. Further: each student has a personal course of study designed specifically for them, and is assessed on the strengths and learning that they personally bring to the classroom.
No two Calbright students are the same, so no two Calbright student journeys are the same.
It’s an approach that is both “high tech” and “high touch,” utilizing automation and AI where it’s effective so that Calbright’s faculty are free to provide more personalized attention where it’s essential for each student.
Your Experience Matters
Calbright’s programs are designed around the experiences and knowledge that each student already has. Every student’s program of study is personalized before they even begin taking classes. Even in the same program, no two students’ pathways will be exactly the same.
When new students enroll in a Calbright program they are given an automated pre-assessment designed to evaluate their knowledge and skill levels – determining what each student already knows and can already do. These assessments are specifically aligned with professional standards that are highly valued in industry (like CompTIA or Salesforce certifications) and that hiring managers look for.
Each student’s program pathway at Calbright is personalized, based on the results of this exam – their learning path is tailored specifically to their strengths and learning needs. This adaptive approach means that:
- Every student can move as quickly as they are able: Students who already demonstrate mastery in a subject area are not required to take it as part of their program. They’ll still be evaluated on it – but they are only required to spend time studying those areas that they need to learn.
- Every student gets the support they need: Students who need extra help in an area will receive personally targeted instruction and resources designed to help them.
This ensures that instructional time is focused, efficient, and equitable, empowering learners to progress at a pace that reflects both their goals and readiness. Empowered learners are also better students – they learn and retain more. Assessment can be a significant part of that.
“At its best, assessment isn’t about grades or compliance; it’s about feedback that empowers students and builds confidence,” said Shannon McCarty, Calbright’s Vice President of Learning and Instruction. “When students understand where they are and where they’re going, they’re better equipped to take charge of their learning. Effective assessment highlights the path forward, making readiness visible and progress achievable.”
Learn By Doing
As part of their personalized plan of study, students complete knowledge checks and self-paced exercises using automated tools that offer immediate feedback without requiring instructor grading. In addition, students engage in a significant number of virtual labs – the kind of applications that demonstrate their ability to not just remember facts but apply them in creative and practical ways. The hands-on lab work requires the time and attention of a faculty member, who works in the industry, to see what students are really capable of. It’s like having personal mentorships with industry experts.
For many students, this is supplemented by work-based learning, internships, and apprenticeships that students can get through Calbright. Working with companies to do real-world work, at a professional level, to learn-by-doing, add to their resumes, and gain valuable career contacts.
So a significant amount of the assessment students get within their programs will not be about what they can remember but what they can do – “show me,” rather than “tell me,” and guided individually by instructors.
Don’t Take A Final Exam – Build A Portfolio
When students have demonstrated mastery in all of their key skills they’ll go on to their final assessment, which isn’t a “test” but a portfolio project – using their education to solve challenges they’ll face in their industry. Nothing about this final project will be automated: It will be entirely guided and evaluated by a faculty member giving them individual attention and feedback.
In some programs, students can even tailor their capstone projects to the jobs they already have. If they’re taking Calbright’s program in project management they can develop a project for their current job; if they’re in the Data Analysis program, they can use data that is relevant to the industry they’re in.
And of course, they can also design their capstone projects around the kind of jobs they want to apply for, giving them a portfolio piece that will be relevant to their future employers – an extra way of demonstrating “here’s what I can do” in their job search.
Calbright gives them enormous flexibility. What’s non-negotiable is that their final project, whatever it is, demonstrates all the skills and mastery they need to show in order to complete the program and earn their certification in the real world, whose standards the programs are aligned to.
For Data Analysis, that means students not only have to use a real world data set and offer analysis, they need to do so in the form of a professional presentation – and then give that presentation formally. They will prove they can do the work they will be hired to do, and have that available for companies they apply to. For the HR: Learning and Development program students will create a Learning and Development portfolio in which, among other things, demonstrate their ability to apply gamification, talent strategy, content planning, and learning analytics to existing L&D efforts – exactly the kinds of information companies will look for when hiring.
An Education As Unique As You Are
Calbright’s assessment model treats students as unique individuals with unique skills, and teaches them accordingly. Each program of study is designed around what they already know and what they personally need to learn. Each program offers both automated quizzes and human mentorship that is designed to prepare students for the “learning by doing” that matters at a job – including real-world internships, apprenticeships, and opportunities, whenever possible. Every program concludes not with a final exam but a practical task that students can use as a portfolio piece in their job search.
This assessment model, which offers every student a unique pathway set around their particular strengths and interests, is one of pillars of the Calbright model of education, and a key element of its successful reimagining of higher education for adult learners.
“Assessment is where our mission becomes real. It’s how we ensure that public dollars are translating into real skills, real credentials, and real economic mobility,” Schaid said. “When students complete a Calbright program, they’re not just done with coursework, they can show what they can do. That’s the level of accountability our students deserve, and it’s the level employers expect.”
