The explosion of micro-credentialing in higher education has spurred similar interest in K12, but these four hurdles get in the way of quality programming.
Nationwide, school districts are either launching or expanding micro-credentialing programs in three primary areas:
- Career and technical education, including industry-recognized credentials
- Job readiness and durable skills such as communication and collaboration
- Academic content
As a result, micro-credentials offer students a promising pathway to postsecondary opportunities. That’s according to new research from FutureEd, an independent, solution-oriented think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
While some early adopters in K12 report high levels of interest among their students, the evidence is clear: significant barriers are keeping districts from scaling high-quality micro-credentialing programs.
These hurdles include uneven program quality, a dearth of accountability, hesitancy from students and teachers to embrace the model, and a lack of rigorous evidence to support the credentials’ value.
“Whether micro-credentialing achieves its full potential rests on its champions’ ability to overcome these obstacles,” the report reads.
How districts are implementing micro-credentials
While colleges and employers have prioritized “industry-recognized” credentials, educators are working to broaden the scope of micro-credentialing programs.
For instance, the San Diego Unified School District has worked with the University of California San Diego Extension to develop dozens of digital badges for students who have demonstrated competency in a particular skill. Students as early as sixth grade can earn badges for “academic achievement” and “95 percent attendance.”
They can also receive awards for completing a specialized program, such as the U.S.-China Future Leaders Summer Program, offered by UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy.
“The variability of content even within a single school district demonstrates both the versatility of micro-credentialing and its lack of standardization,” the report reads.
Furthermore, micro-credentialing itself is a rather new field, and practitioners have yet to agree on what a micro-credential actually is, according to the researchers.
“The definition of a micro-credential is still evolving,” the nonprofit Credential Engine wrote in its most recent national census of credentialing. “There is no regulatory authority or established definition even among institutions of higher education.”
Simply put, the current flexibility in the field has allowed educators to pioneer innovative pilots and promising micro-credentialing programs, yet the vagueness surrounding its definition poses challenges to its adoption on a national scale.
Recommendations
To ensure your district’s micro-credentialing program will create valuable postsecondary opportunities for students, consider these recommendations offered in the research:
Micro-credentialing is a tactic, not a strategy: Micro-credentialing should be a means to an end, not an end itself, especially if the particular credential has not yet gained value with employers and colleges.
Employer engagement is essential: Those focused on building durable skills must develop relationships with employers. These conversations can help establish which skills are in demand so students can earn credentials of value.
Prioritize data collection: The lack of reliable data on micro-credentialing may be the most significant factor impeding its success. School districts should tally data on participants’ graduation rates, absenteeism, postsecondary plans and other measures of impact.
Read the full report here.
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