At Cogdel School Chengdu, we believe every child is more than a test score — and every parent deserves to see the full picture. That's why we developed the 8-Dimension Competency Framework, a holistic assessment system that replaces the traditional report card and captures what truly matters in a child's development.
Principal Lu Kun's Perspective
"Traditional schools use written exam scores as the sole standard, which naturally crushes the confidence of at least 80% of children. At Cogdel, we track every dimension of growth — not because we don't value academics, but because a single number can never capture who a child is becoming."
The 8 Dimensions
Our framework, developed with engineering precision, tracks growth across eight dimensions through observable behaviors rather than abstract ratings:
- Well-being — The ability to maintain stable and reliable physical and mental functioning through continuous self-awareness and regulation, forming the foundation for long-term value creation.
- Learning — The ability to actively construct and extend one’s knowledge framework, internalising knowledge and skills into structured understanding, and continuously evolving mental models to adapt to change.
- Innovation — The ability to challenge and reshape existing frameworks based on deep understanding, identify underlying patterns, and creatively develop and apply new approaches that drive breakthrough progress.
- Agency — The ability to initiate and sustain action independently based on an understanding of one’s goals and values, driving continuous growth through self-reflection and self-motivation.
- Leadership — The ability to set direction, make key judgments, and mobilise others’ potential and action, amplifying individual capability into collective outcomes.
- Collaboration — The ability to integrate diverse strengths, reduce friction, and enhance collective effectiveness through communication, empathy, trust-building, and proactive support.
- Vision — The ability to understand issues from multiple perspectives across broader contexts, integrate resources, and anticipate long-term trends to expand individual and organisational capacity.
- Stewardship — The ability to pursue achievement while accounting for the long-term impact of one’s decisions on others and society, integrating this responsibility into action to enable sustainable outcomes.
How It Works — Engineering Soft Skills
Every teacher at Cogdel is a "growth sensor." Rather than once-a-semester subjective comments, our system captures growth facts continuously. A student's leadership dimension, for example, evolves from specific observations: "expressed personal opinion in a four-person group discussion" → "organized group members' viewpoints into a structured proposal" → "led a cross-grade project team to deliver a presentation to external visitors." The change is tracked semester by semester, making the invisible visible.
Take the 18-Question Assessment
We've distilled the 8-Dimension framework into an 18-question snapshot that takes about 10 minutes. The assessment uses observable behavior indicators — there are no right or wrong answers, only an honest picture of where your child's strengths currently lie and which dimensions have the most room for growth.
What You'll Receive
A personalized report showing your child's competency profile across all eight dimensions, with specific, actionable suggestions for nurturing each area — at school and at home.
To access the assessment or learn more about the 8-Dimension framework, call 400-803-6661 or follow "Cogdel School Chengdu" on WeChat.