Profile analysis of Korean high school students’ core competencies and their correlations with academic achievement

This study identified the core competencies and the patterns of Korean high school students through Prototypical Profiles via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) and analyzed the correlation between the students’ core competencies and academic achievement. The data of 274 students in one typical high school were used. The core competencies were measured by the Six Core Competencies Measurement Scale for High School Students in Korea (SCCMS) developed based on the 2015 Revised National Curriculum. As academic achievements, three subject (Korean, math, and English) scores from National Academic Achievement Test (NAAT) were collected. Of six competency levels, the students' ‘community competency’ level was the highest, but their ‘aesthetic emotion competency’ level was the lowest. The PAMS analysis revealed the presence of two prototypical profiles, ‘cognition-oriented’ type and ‘affection-oriented’ type. And the core competencies showed marginal correlation with academic achievement. Based on these findings, the need for ‘tailored teaching and learning strategies’ and ‘appropriate assessment methods’ for competency-based education was discussed.