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Welcome to Transparency, Credential Engine’s monthly newsletter. On March 16th, several hundred leaders from education, workforce, business, government, foundations, community-based organizations, and student organizations gathered in Washington, D.C. to renew a call for stronger policy, partnerships, and practices to support effective and equitable education and career pathways. Credential Engine was pleased to serve on the Executive Committee for this gathering and to support the Call to Action.
We know so much about what needs to be done from past best practices in communities and states over many years. And we know that in so many ways, we need to get back to basics. Robust counseling. Pathways for all. Deep employer partnerships. Strong academics blended with impactful real-world, on-the-job experiences.
And we know that with the development of new technologies and capabilities, we have a unique opportunity to move beyond what was best last decade and incorporate new ways to support students, workers, employers, and educators and help empower them to make their own, best decisions.
We now have the capacity to ensure that all possible pathways – and the essential information about all the providers, credentials, skills, assessments, quality indicators, outcome measures, transfer values, and links to job skills critical to understanding and building those pathways – can be made fully open, transparent and interoperable so that a new generation of tools supports custom pathways to meet everyone’s individual needs. The use of CTDL makes this possible, and we are excited to expand the number of partners improving pathways with us.
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The CTDL and How it Can Describe and Support State's Work: Many states are prioritizing high-quality, demand-driven career pathways to postsecondary credentials that lead to in-demand, high-wage jobs. To do that well, states not only need to understand which pathways and programs help learners build the skills employers need and earn associated credentials; they also need to make information about the quality of credentials more accessible, valuable, and useful.
As state agencies and systems develop frameworks around credential value and quality, we want to help you describe value using the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and support publishing quality frameworks in the Credential Registry. We’ve collaborated with national organizations, like National Skills Coalition, Education Strategy Group (ESG), and Education Quality Outcomes Standards (EQOS), to map their quality assurance frameworks to the CTDL. The CTDL supports the description of the quality and value definitions set by states and others, such as:
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Is the credential aligned with labor market needs, such as specific careers and jobs in demand?
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What are the employment and placement rates, earnings, ROI or other quantitative measures around a credential?
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Which organizations have approved, accredited, recognized, or provided quality assurance to the credential and/or provider?
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What are the competencies represented by the credential?
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Is the passing of an assessment associated with the award of the credential? And how is the assessment delivered?
As state use cases are increasingly aligned to credential of value efforts, we’ll bring you additional resources and webinar opportunities in the coming months to support your work in connecting credential transparency and quality. In the meantime, you can also check out this policy brief with examples of the great work already underway in states.
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Credential Engine Welcomes New Board Member: Credential Engine is excited to announce that Su Jin Gatlin Jez is the newest member of Credential Engine’s Board of Directors. Su Jin serves as the CEO of California Competes where she leads their work to develop nonpartisan and financially pragmatic recommendations for improved higher education and workforce policies and practices across California. Prior to her work at California Competes, Su Jin served as a professor of public policy and administration at California State University, Sacramento. She also served as the Director of the statewide CSU Student Success Network, Academic Advisor for the California Executive Fellows Program, and Associate Director of the Sacramento State Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Most recently, Su Jin has been an invaluable member of our Equity Advisory Council. To learn more about our Board of Directors, click here.
Staff Update: As we say hello to Spring, we also say goodbye to Scarlett Jeckel, our Accounts and Publishing Manager. Over the past eight years of working towards credential transparency, Scarlett has been an integral part of the growth and success of this organization. Scarlett was one of the first team members to join the organization and entered the first credential into the Credential Registry. During her tenure, and through her work, she has worked with our 32 state and regional partners, hundreds of credentialing organizations, and many of you, to support the publishing of essential information of about nearly 2,000 organizations, over 46,000 credentials, more than 1000 competency frameworks, and over 14,000 learning opportunities. We thank Scarlett and wish her the best in her future endeavors!
 With Scarlett’s departure, we have two openings on our Accounts and Publishing team. You can view the two job postings here–one for an Accounts and Publishing Coordinator and one for an Accounts and Publishing Data Analyst. Please reach out to if you are interested in learning more!
Upcoming Equity Council Recommendations and Report: The Equity Advisory Council is nearing the completion of its work and will be releasing its recommendations in early June. Credential Engine will be seeking to partner with states, systems, and/or institutions that wish to make a commitment to publishing data identified by the Council as being essential to support equity in the marketplace. If you believe that your state, system, or institution would be interested, please contact Scott Cheney at [email protected].
 Deb Everhart on ‘What is CTDL and why should you care?’ Webcast: Credential Engine’s Chief Strategy Officer went on the Digital Badge Academy webcast to share the importance of the CTDL. In the webcast, you will learn what the CTDL is, why it was developed, and how it will increase the value of your digital badge program. You will learn how using Credential Engine’s technologies will improve transparency, interoperability, equivalence, and more. And you will see how it can create exposure and improve traction for your digital badge programs. To listen to the webcast, click here.
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 U.S. Department of Labor Announces $80M Funding Opportunity: The Department of Labor recently announced the availability of $80 million in funding through its Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program to develop, strengthen, and scale equitable pathways to good infrastructure jobs. As part of this grant, the Department continues its support for credential transparency through the inclusion of a requirement that credentials provided through the funding be made transparent through linked, open data. The grants will enable partners in the public and private sectors to develop or scale workforce training programs to prepare job seekers in advanced manufacturing; information technology; and professional, scientific, and technical service occupations that support renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors. If you are interested in learning more, click here.
Credential Engine Signs Onto Joint Letter to OMB on Uniform Guidance: Credential Engine was pleased to join more than 30 leading experts and 30 leading organizations on a joint letter to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) providing recommendations “to build state and local capacity to use data, evidence, and cross-program innovation to improve outcomes for low-income and disadvantaged populations.”
Collectively these two examples illustrate Credential Engine’s stepped-up work to educate and work with federal agencies on the value and role of credential transparency and open, interoperable data. We will continue these efforts and diversify the partnerships through which we do so.
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Credential Engine Welcomes New State Partner: We are happy to announce that Arkansas is the newest state to partner with Credential Engine. We are eager to kick off this work and see what will come from this partnership. The work will start in May, and we will continue to provide updates on our progress toward credential transparency in the state. To learn more about our state partnerships, click here.
Kansas Updates their Transfer Value Intermediaries: The Kansas Board of Regents recently made a significant update to their Transfer Value Intermediaries (TVI) data in the Credential Registry by linking it to competencies. TVI is a Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) class that facilitates the publication of large amounts of data and groups articulated transfer values, making it easier for people to understand which courses can be transferred towards credit at Kansas postsecondary institutions. Working collaboratively with the Credential Engine team, the Kansas team utilized Credential Engine's Competency and Skills System (CaSS) to upload the competency frameworks for the transferable courses. Once the competency frameworks were uploaded, they were able to use the CTIDs, which are globally unique identifiers, for each framework to link them directly to the TVIs. This addition of competencies has greatly enhanced the value of the data published, providing valuable information for stakeholders.
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 Credential Engine’s New Pathway Builder Tool Update: Credential Engine has developed a new Pathway Builder tool to advance the creation of clear and equitable learning and career pathways using the CTDL. This interactive and visual tool is designed to combine CTDL-linked open pathway data with Credential Registry data about credentials, courses, competencies, jobs, and more. As a result, it provides a comprehensive and user-friendly interface for stakeholders to build pathways toward credential transparency and a better future. The tool is currently in its pilot phase and is scheduled to be launched in mid-May. To learn more about this tool, check out our new video, Building Clear Pathways, and feel free to contact us at [email protected]. |
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