The Micro-Credentials Partnership of States
Through our work in North Carolina, we identified key issues to effectively utilize micro-credentials for teacher retention, development, and career advancement that are applicable to other states across the country.
Now, we are expanding the work together with our partners into a multi-state Micro-Credentials Partnership of States to develop solutions to the issues identified. Partners in Wyoming, South Carolina and Arkansas have joined our partners in North Carolina to identify opportunities and challenges across states and develop model policy recommendations.
The Micro-Credentials Partnership of States includes:
Arkansas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Wyoming
The work is funded by the National Education Association (NEA), the Carnegie Corporation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Our vision is to:
Integrate micro-credentials into a system of professional learning for all teachers that:
is aligned with high quality standards;
provides personalized professional learning opportunities in multiple formats, times and ways;
includes opportunities based on the skills, knowledge, and competencies each teacher needs to improve his or her practice so that every student can achieve at his or her maximum potential;
has the capacity to assess and recognize the acquisition, and demonstration of each teacher’s skills, knowledge and competencies; so that,
teachers can advance in their career and be acknowledged and rewarded as professionals across schools, districts and the country.
Our goals are to:
learn more about how micro-credentials influence teachers’ instructional practice and student learning;
ascertain how micro-credentials can be a supplement to other professional development approaches;
develop a consistent definition and standards for quality assurance of micro-credentials; and
develop strategies to integrate micro-credentials into the teacher development and licensure ecosystem.
Read our workplan for the Developing and Retaining Strong Teacher Talent in Multiple States through Micro-credentials initiative and see who’s involved.
Timeline
July 2022
The Micro-Credentials Partnership of States launches with its first
full Partnership meeting.
March 2023
The Partership releases its Quality Assurance Standards for Micro-Credentials report and policy brief. (Become an Insider and download the report here.)
Fall 2023-Spring 2024
States work with the Partnership as part of a pilot process to test the Quality Assurance Standards.
To become part of the pilot testing process, email Myra Best at myra@digilearn.org.
Get a more in-depth look:
download the full Micro-Credentials Partnership of States’ Quality Assurance Standards for Micro-Credentials, a resource to provide guidance to educators, school districts, and state leaders as they incorporate micro-credentials into systems of professional learning and licensure
download the policy brief from the Quality Assurance Standards for Micro-Credentials
read New America’s Harnessing Micro-Credentials for Teacher Growth, a national landscape and review of best practices and Harnessing Micro-credentials for Teacher Growth: A Model State Policy Guide.
read RTI International’s NC Feasibility Study from our work with the North Carolina Partnership for Micro-Credentials
read the North Carolina Partnership for Micro-Credentials’ status report to the North Carolina State Board of Education.
read the questions and answers from our micro-credentials webinar series with The Hunt Institute or watch the videos from each webinar:
Webinar 1: Micro-Credentials — Why were they developed, What they offer, and How they are rewarded and recognized (Video)
Webinar 2: States Leading on Micro-Credentials (Video)
Webinar 3: Policies to support micro-credentials (Video)
Webinar 4: Developing Micro-Credential Quality Assurance Standards (Video; Q&A)
