Key points:
As the United States offers more skills-based hiring and advancement opportunities, microcredentials and learning and employment records (LERs) can certify student learning and success and understand lifelong learning data.
The promise of microcredentials and learning and employment record technologies for youth and primary and secondary schoolsA new report from education nonprofit Digital Promise helps district and technology leaders understand what it takes to successfully implement microcredentials and learner-centered, competency-based LER technologies in K-12 schools.
LER technologies are tools that enable individuals to document and share their skills, credentials, diplomas, and work history, with the potential to strengthen or reinvent resumes by including verifiable information about accomplishments in real time.
Microcredentials are digital certifications that verify an individual’s competency in a specific skill or skill set. These technologies have the potential to foster lifelong learning and career advancement, particularly for systematically excluded students (HSE).
Digital Promise research provides recommendations and considerations based on insights from students, families/caregivers, educators, post-secondary partners, and workforce partners in co-design sessions and focus groups at Talladega City Schools (Ala.) and JMG.
“The skills-based economy is rapidly and continually changing to keep pace with the rapid pace of innovation,” said Rita Fennelly-Atkinson, Senior Director of Credentials at Digital Promise. “Youth-serving organizations are well positioned to increase opportunities for students by adopting competency-based credentials and recognition, allowing them greater access to pathways to success.”
Microcredentials are increasingly popular in partnerships between high schools and community colleges. High school students earn microcredentials that add to certificates or qualifications that prepare them for work or, in some cases, allow them to continue pursuing an associate's degree while working in those jobs.
Skills-based hiring, which opens opportunities for workers who have learned skills in programs such as apprenticeships and other training programs rather than relying solely on the requirements of a two- or four-year college degree, is receiving recognition at the federal level Also, a greater push for skills-based hiring will open up career opportunities in federal IT positions.
The Readiness Framework offers K-12 district leaders the opportunity to assess their district’s readiness to implement competency-based microcredentials and LER technologies while prioritizing the voices of HSE students. Designed in collaboration with K-12 education leaders and competency-based microcredential and LER implementation leaders, the framework outlines what it takes to successfully introduce, manage, and sustain digital credentials and LER for their students.
“Our goal is to expand opportunities for young people to develop and gain recognition for what they know and can do,” said Christina Luke Luna, chief learning officer at Digital Promise. “The guidance in this report provides education leaders, technology providers, and funders with insights to design for greater equity and inclusion with students at the table.”
Along with the report, Digital Promise has released a video, “Boost K-12 Success with MicroCredentials & LER tech for Skill Recognition,” which outlines the various ways a K-12 student can leverage microcredentials and LER technologies to support entry and advancement in the postsecondary path of their choice.
Material of a Press release It was used in this report.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘6079750752134785’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
