Assessment of Life Competencies in Elementary School Students

Abstract

The paper describes a method of assessing life competencies in elementary school students The new pragmatic and system-based standards in education dictate the relevance of the development of instruments that assess life competencies . According to the activity-focused educational standard, the competencies are considered as a complex of the child’s regulation abilities, the ability to apply skills under specific conditions, and efficient social interaction . The proposed innovative method of assessing life competencies is based on the following principles: the assessment is carried while observing the child in a typical school situation; there are 5 levels of competency development ranging from the independent application of basic skills in routine situations to internally motivated creative activity; the revealed deficits are categorized according to the areas of mental functioning; multidimensional scaling enables determination of competency levels, their application fields, and deficit areas, providing insight into possible causes of learning disabilities . This method can be used by teachers and in all general and special education populations including children with autism spectrum disorders . The assessment outcomes can be applied in exploring the specifics of life competencies as well as in optimizing the learning and developmental processes within the framework of individual approach .