Competency-Based Education and Waiver Exams in Social Work Education

The core tenet of competency-based education is a focus on mastery of a skill or ability. The shift in focus in social work education to a competency-based approach can be applied and understood in varying ways. The current research study examined the use of waiver exams as one iteration of competency-based education in social work education. Forty seven of the 496 programs that replied to the survey indicated they offered some form of placement testing or the use of waiver exams. Further examination of program level policies suggests that social work educators continue to focus on policies and practices aligned with traditional seat-time requirements that run contrary to the principles of competency-based education. Results implicate the need for social work education to examine its commitment to competency-based education in all its forms or to at least encourage research in nontraditional approaches aligned with competency-based education including waiver exams and prior learning assessment.