As digital fluency becomes a core requirement across disciplines, the ability to assess informatics competencies effectively has become both a pedagogical challenge and a strategic necessity. Traditional testing approaches fall short in capturing the complexity, adaptability, and interdisciplinary nature of modern informatics skills. This article investigates how technology-enhanced, student-centred, and task-authentic assessment practices – supported by instructional strategies such as flipped classroom, storytelling, flipping the grade, and assessment for learning – can advance the evaluation of informatics competencies in secondary education.

The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining classroom implementation with the collection of feedback from both teachers and students. Through practical scenarios involving AI-driven feedback systems, interdisciplinary project-based tasks, and dynamic digital rubrics, the article identifies patterns in how assessment becomes more meaningful when learners are actively engaged and technological tools are aligned with authentic performance goals.

Teacher insights revealed a strong interest in competency-based rubrics adapted to emerging tools, while students emphasized the motivational and reflective benefits of receiving real-time, personalized feedback. Across these practices, a recurring alignment emerged between three critical elements: purposeful technology use, complex learning tasks, and student agency. This emerging pattern lays the groundwork for a new pedagogical framework – C.A.I.R. (Constructivist, Adaptive, Integrative, Reflective), envisioned to support coherent integration of teaching, learning, and assessment practices within a competency-oriented approach to Informatics education.

The article concludes by offering transferable strategies and instruments designed to support scalable, equity-focused, and learner-driven assessment systems. Positioned at the intersection of practice and theory, this research contributes to the growing discourse on reimagining informatics education for a digitally fluent generation.

Keywords: Informatics Education, Competency-Based Assessment, Emerging Technologies, AI in Education, Student-Centered Learning.