CBTE Must Test the Reliability of Its Verdicts

Competency-Based Theological Education is internationally abbreviated as CBTE. In this Insight, CBTE means contextual, mentored ministerial formation in which progress depends on demonstrated competence rather than seat time alone. It is distinct from Kenya's general occupational Competency-Based Education and Training, commonly abbreviated CBET.

That promise carries an exacting question. Would a learner receive the same defensible decision if another prepared assessor reviewed equivalent evidence? Ministry is too contextual for mechanical scoring, yet a verdict that changes mainly with the assessor, congregation, language, region or portfolio presentation cannot bear the weight of progression, recognition or certification.

CBTE must test the reliability of its verdicts without pretending that reliable judgement is the same as mathematical certainty. Trustworthy assessment joins contextual wisdom to shared standards, multiple observations, recorded reasons, independent moderation, fair appeal and evidence that decisions remain defensible across people and settings.

A peer-reviewed review published on 28 September 2026 examined competency-based assessment in anaesthesiology across validity, equity and faculty readiness. It reports that acceptable reliability can be achieved through rational assessment-system design, but identifies rater variation as the predominant source of measurement error. In one study reviewed, differences in assessor leniency exceeded differences in learner performance. Zhou and colleagues

The review also reports mixed equity findings. A multi-centre cohort of 5,049 residents found different rating trajectories for underrepresented learners and lower ratings for women in selected…