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.