ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1543050
Implementing the Competencies Compound Inventory for the 21st Century in Brazil: Implications for Research and Practice
Provisionally accepted
- Beyond Education, Paris, France
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As education systems evolve to meet the demands of the 21st century, there is growing recognition that students must develop not only academic knowledge but also a broad set of competencies, including social-emotional skills, character, and meta-learning. To support this shift, educators require reliable, scalable tools to assess and guide student development in these areas. This study examines the translation and validation of the Competencies Compound Inventory for the 21st Century (CCI-21) into Brazilian Portuguese (CCI-21-P), a tool designed to measure 12 key competencies aligned with the 4-Dimensional Education model and Brazil's national education framework, the BNCC (Base Nacional Comum Curricular). Using data from 60,791 upper primary and secondary students across more than 450 cities in Brazil, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the CCI-21-P through analyses of item sensitivity, reliability, and internal structure. Results indicate strong internal consistency (α = .92) and a factor structure largely comparable to the original English version, supporting the instrument's validity and cultural adaptability. Findings suggest that the CCI-21-P is a reliable and practical tool for assessing 21st Century Competencies in Brazilian schools. Its use enables educators to align competency development with national curriculum goals while contributing to international efforts to benchmark SEL measurement across diverse contexts. Continued validation and adaptation will further strengthen its utility in informing policy and practice in holistic education.
Keywords: 21st century competencies, assessment, SEL measurement, Curricula reform, SEL
Received: 11 Dec 2024; Accepted: 01 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Roberson, Pereira and Horvathova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nathan D Roberson, Beyond Education, Paris, France
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.