C e n t e r o n h I g h e r e d u c a t I o n r e f o r m a m e r I c a n e n t e r p r I s e I n s t I t u t e

MEASURING MASTERY 
KATIE LARSEN MCCLARTY AND MATTHEW N. GAERTNER
we will not describe each in detail here. For a thorough descrip-
tion of the performance levels for Alverno College’s problem- 
solving competency and Tusculum College’s coherence com-
petency, see Rebecca Klein-Collins, “Competency-Based 
Degree Programs.” 
45. For an example of this type of study, see Brian F. Patter-
son and Maureen Ewing, “Validating the Use of AP exam 
Scores for College Course Placement,” College Board, 2013, 
http://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/ 
publications/2013/7/researchreport-2013-2-validating-AP- 
exam-scores-college-course-placement.pdf.
46. Jan Jones-Schenk, “Nursing Education at Western Gov-
ernors University: A Modern, Disruptive Approach,” Journal 
of Professional Nursing 30, no 2. (2014): 168–74.
47. For example, a consortium of states developing an Alge-
bra II assessment as part of the American Diploma Project used 
this approach, and Texas also used this approach in developing 
standards for its statewide assessment program. See Haertel, 
Beimers, and Miles, “The Briefing Book Method”; and Texas 
Education Agency, “STARR Performance Standards,” http://
tea.texas.gov/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier 
=id&ItemID=25769804117&libID=25769804117.
48. Patterson and Ewing, “Validating the Use of AP Exam 
Scores for College Course Placement.”
49. College Board, “Music Theory Course Description.”
50. Deborah Lokai Bischof et al., “Validating AP Modern 
Foreign Language Exams through College Comparability 
Studies,” Foreign Language Annals 37, no. 4 (2004): 616–22.
Other Papers in This Series
• The Landscape of Competency-Based Educa-
tion: Enrollments, Demographics, and Afford-
ability, 
Robert Kelchen
• Employer Perspectives on Competency-Based