Over the past five years, there has been a significant focus on the importance of durable or transferable skills. These skills, also known as competencies, play a crucial role in balancing the skills triangle, along with core skills and industry-specific skills. Efforts at various levels, from schools to districts to states, have highlighted the value of these skills for learners. National organizations have developed frameworks to support and enhance these efforts, such as XQ Competencies by XQ Institute, Future9 Competencies by ReDesign, and America Success Durable Skills Advantage.
However, evaluating these skills can be challenging. In classrooms where durable skills are well-implemented, educators embed performance assessments throughout learning experiences. Ideally, these assessments should provide a signal for higher education or future employment in the form of a transcript or credential stored in a digital wallet. Traditional Learning Management Systems face difficulties in assessing and aggregating durable skills evaluations across multiple courses.
External evaluation of durable skills can complement internal assessments. The landscape for performance assessments in the K-12 sector is still developing, with a focus on competency-based approaches to transferable skills. The use of AI and VR in workplace upskilling shows promising growth, offering efficient ways to build and evaluate durable skills through simulations and games.
Public initiatives like the New York Performance Standards Consortium, California Performance Assessment Collaborative, and Performance Assessment of Competency-based Education in New Hampshire have pioneered the shift towards performance assessments for durable skills. These initiatives emphasize authentic assessments that support student learning across various disciplines.
Several organizations focus on assessing specific durable skills as standalone measures. Initiatives like NAFTrack Certification, Education Design Lab, and America Succeeds Durable Skills Advantage Framework aim to measure and validate skills essential for future success.
Employers are increasingly looking for candidates with transferable skills alongside technical competencies. The workplace initiatives such as Mursion, BodySwaps, and AstrumU utilize immersive training and AI to assess and develop durable skills in employees.
Other innovative initiatives like the NWEA/Roblox collaboration and OECD’s PISA Creative Thinking assessment offer unique approaches to evaluating durable skills. These efforts signal a shift towards competency-based assessments that consider a more holistic set of capabilities for students and workers.
The emphasis on durable and transferable skills, coupled with innovative assessment methods, highlights a future where individuals are evaluated based on a comprehensive set of capabilities, shaping the landscape of education and workforce development.