Outcome-based education (OBE) is a recurring education reform model.

It is a student
centered learning philosophy that focuses on empirically measuring student performance, which
are called outcomes.OBE contrasts with traditional education, which primarily focuses on the
resources that are available to the student, which are called inputs. OBE implementations often
incorporate a host of many progressive pedagogical models and ideas.
OBE in itself does not specify or require any particular style of teaching or learning.
However in practice, OBE generally promotes curricula and assessment based on constructivist
methods and discourages traditional education approaches based on direct instruction of facts
and standard methods. Though it is claimed the focus is not on inputs. OBE generally is used to
justify increased funding requirements.
The results of these measurements can be used for different purposes. Outcome-based
methods have been adopted for large numbers of students in several countries. On a smaller
scale, some OBE practices, such as not passing a student who does not know the required
material, have been used by individual teachers around the world for centuries. Outcome-based
education is a model of education that rejects the traditional focus on what the school provides to
students.
OBE reforms emphasize setting clear standards for observable, measurable outcomes.
Nothing about OBE demands the adoption of any specific outcome. The key features which may
be used to judge if a system has implemented an outcomes-based education systems are creation
of a curriculum framework that outlines specific, measurable outcomes. The standards included
in the frameworks are usually chosen through the area normal political process.
The emphasis in an OBE education system is on measured outcomes rather than inputs,
such as how many hours students spend in class, or what textbooks are provided. Outcomes may
include a range of skills and knowledge. Generally, outcomes are expected to be concretely
measurable. Student can run 50 meters in less than one minute instead of student enjoys physical
education class.
Writing appropriate and measurable outcomes can be very difficult, and the choice of
specific outcomes is often a source of local controversies. Each educational agency is responsible
for setting its own outcomes. Under the OBE model, education agencies may specify any
outcome skills and knowledge. An important by-product of this approach is that students are
assessed against external.
Under OBE, teachers can use any objective grading system they choose, including letter
grades. In fact, many schools adopt OBE methods and use the same grading systems that they
have always used. In one alternate grading approach, a student is awarded levels instead of letter
grades. In the simplest implementation, earning a level indicates that the teacher believes that a
student has learned enough of the current material to be able to succeed in the next level of work.
A student technically cannot flunk in this system. A student who needs to review the
current material will simply not achieve the next level at the same time as most of his same-age
peers. This acknowledges differential growth at different stages, and focuses the teacher on the
individual needs of the students. In this approach, students and their parents are better able to
track progress from year to year.
While it is entirely normal for some students to work on the same level of outcomes for
more than one year parents and students have been socialized into the expectation of a constant,
steady progress through schoolwork. Parents and students therefore interpret the normal
experience as failure. Those who would not achieve a passing grade in a traditional age-based
approach can be recognized for their concrete.
OBE-oriented teachers think about the individual needs of each student and give
opportunities for each student to achieve at a variety of levels. In theory, weaker students are
given work within their grasp and exceptionally strong students are extended. In practice,
managing independent study programs for thirty or more individuals is difficult. Adjusting to
students abilities is something that good teachers have always done.
OBE makes the approach explicit and reflects the approach in marking and reporting.
Proponents view OBE as a valuable replacement of the traditional model of relative ranking by
ability and getting credit for merely sitting through class. OBE proponents believe that all
students can learn, regardless of ability, race, socioeconomic status, and gender. Furthermore,
OBE recognizes that a complex organization is more likely to produce what it measures.
The adoption of measurable standards is seen as a means of ensuring that the content and
skills covered by the standards will be a high priority in the education of students. The standards-
based education movement rejects social promotion and the inevitability of inferior performance
by disadvantaged groups. The opportunities that were previously afforded to those at the top of a
bell curve are opened up to the diversity of all students, in a democratic vision.
The movement presents the following positions and viewpoints on OBE all students will
complete rigorous academic coursework so that they leave high school prepared for college or
technical training, without remedial courses. All students, including those who live in poverty,
will meet district, state, and national standards. Staff will maintain high expectations and
standards, believing all students will succeed if kept to high expectations.
In essence, OBE seeks to reject a rank-ordered definition of success by essentially
promising that all students will perform at least as well as the stated standards. In practice OBE
often results in large increases in spending as more resources are poured into students who were
previously allowed to graduate while being functionally illiterate and innumerate. OBE objective
standards also put a brake on grade inflation, to the distress of students who prefer high.
The OBE philosophy insists that assessment models be carefully matched to the stated
objectives. High-stakes tests are not required in an OBE system norm-referenced tests are
prohibited. Portfolios, daily assessments, teacher opinions, and other methods of assessment are
perfectly compatible with OBE models. Furthermore, the OBE approach does not permit special,
lower standards for students who have been badly served by public education in the past.