The move to competence-based learning and training is one of the central innovations in Dutch Secondary Vocational Education and Training. In order to monitor the development of competence-based learning a scan is under construction. Fundamental to the conceptual scheme is the notion that competence-based learning is not solely a didactic issue, but that it needs to be embedded in the organisation and the environment of the school. The conceptual scheme contains four areas:

1. Strategic issues: regional positioning, vision development, goals for learning and training routes
2. Pedagogic and didactic issues: learning routes, learning situations, guidance of students, assessment
3. Organization development issues: organization steering, task model, team development, development of competencies of organization members
4. Change capacity issues: culture, management steering, change potential.

It is intended that the scan can fulfill several aims:

• as a valid and reliable instrument for VET colleges to monitor the development of competence-based learning within their own institutions and to formulate interventions to promote actions (on team and management level)
• as an instrument for benchmarking between and within VET colleges
• as an instrument for monitoring the move to competence-based learning on national level.

At this moment a prototype of the scan has been constructed. The scan consists of about 150 items which have to be scored on the present situation and the desired situation. Now we are in the stage of validation. There are two types of validation: content validation and user validation.

1. Content validation

The content validation deals with the following questions:

• do the four dimensions worked out in items represent the most important aspects of the development and realization of competence-based learning?
• are the items an adequate working-out of competence-based learning?

These questions were dealt with in a Group Decision Room (GDR) session. Besides we collected comments of managers, teachers and staff of VET colleges.

2. User validation

The user validation deals with the following questions:

• Does the scan help (teams responsible for trainings) to form a picture of the actual position in the development of competence-based learning and does it help to reflect on actions needed to promote competence-based learning
• What kind of feedback do users need to formulate actions needed to promote competence-based learning and does this feedback differ between the different actors within VET colleges (managers, teachers)?

The user validation started with a GDR-session too. At this moment the scan is introduced into 15 training teams of three VET colleges and will be filled in by about 200 managers and teachers. On the basis of feedback the teams together with their managers will formulate actions. They will report on these actions and the usefulness of the scan (by way of local visits and GDR-sessions). In May the results of the user validation will be ready. In the summer the final scan and the user guide will be published. At ECER Crete we will present the conceptual scheme of the competence-based learning scan, the results of the content and user validation and the final version of the scan and the outline of the user guide.