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Welcome to Transparency, Credential Engine’s monthly newsletter. As the weather starts to warm up, so does conference season. Conferences are a great opportunity to highlight the work that is getting done, learn from your peers, and inspire collaboration. Check out the ‘Events’ section of this newsletter to learn what conferences Credential Engine has and will be presenting at or attending in the upcoming months.
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In a three-part blog series between Credential Engine and Western Governors University (WGU), we dive into the WGU Achievement Wallet, how the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) powers the wallet, and the collaboration between our two organizations and others.
The WGU Achievement Wallet addresses the critical connections between education and employment, offering a comprehensive view of an individual’s skills and competencies. Behind this wallet is the CTDL and the Credential Registry. WGU published its curriculum to the Credential Registry, paving the way for users and systems to harness the information. This wasn’t merely data compilation, it was a transformative endeavor to democratize information, ensuring that students could make well-informed decisions about their educational and career pathways.
When organizations work together to support initiatives like the Achievement Wallet, it enhances the utility and reach of these digital tools and fosters an environment where innovation can thrive, driving forward the agenda of lifelong learning and career advancement.
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Upcoming Quality Assurance Actions Work: The CTDL provides a linked open data structure for describing accreditation, approval, certification, recognition, regulation, and other quality assurance actions, as well as describing the entities that are evaluated for quality. “Quality assurance” encompasses different types of recognition concerning processes, standards, and related criteria for assessing the quality of organizations, courses, learning programs, credentials, assessments, and other entities. “Actions” define these types of recognition in quality assurance processes, including “Accredit Action,” “Approve Action,” “Recognize Action,” and “Regulate Action.” Credential Engine is launching a Quality Assurance Actions Pilot that will demonstrate how the CTDL and the Credential Registry can help organizations achieve their transparency goals with regard to quality assurance. The pilot serves as a valuable structure for Credential Engine to receive feedback, gain insights from organizations, and implement enhancements based on these valuable lessons. If you are interested in participating, email us at [email protected].
Credential Engine and C-BEN Partnership Builds Capacity for Competency-Based Programs: The Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) and Credential Engine have partnered to address the challenges of coordinating competency-based credentials and their related information across multiple departments, roles, and systems for institutions. Competency-based education (CBE) centers the focus of awarding credentials on mastery of employer-defined competencies, rather than time spent in a program, allowing greater flexibility to the learner and increased employability. This partnership helps institutions capture, integrate, and manage credential, competency, assessment, and quality information using the CTDL and Credential Registry. The goal is to increase the visibility of the quality of CBE programs by improving operational processes, quality assurance reporting, and technology platforms that provide public forums for marketing and reaching potential learners. If you are an institution looking to enhance your quality and distinguish your CBE programs, the first step is to use C-BEN’s Quality Framework, set up your free C-BEN membership and Credential Registry account, and use these open tools to publish your credentials and competencies. Making information about your CBE programs and competencies open and available allows for building a future where everyone has the information to make the most informed decisions. Learn more about this partnership here.
New Credential Registry Guidance Site Resources Added: This month, we have uploaded the following resources to help with your publishing and consuming needs. Additionally, a resource defining all the different types of Credentials.
If you missed our launch webinar of the Credential Registry Guidance Site, you can watch the recording here. Check out the guidance site here: guidance.credentialengine.org.
State and Regional Partners Quarterly Meeting Invitation on Credentials of Value: As states and systems develop frameworks around credential value and quality, we want to help you describe value using the CTDL and support publishing quality frameworks in the Credential Registry. That way information on the quality of credentials can be accessible, valuable, and useful to learners, workers, employers, and policymakers. Join us on May 8th at 1pm ET for an in-depth conversation on Credentials of Value. We’ll discuss how Credential Engine can help support your work in connecting credential transparency and quality, hear from experts in the field who have developed credential value and quality frameworks, and engage in an interactive discussion among partners. This meeting is open to all who are interested. Register today!
ETPL Publishing Guidance: A new resource from Credential Engine dives into the ‘Why’ surrounding publishing your Eligible Training Provider Lists (ETPL), the publishing methods and resources we offer to assist in publishing your ETPL, and current state examples. Reach out to [email protected] if you would like to learn more.
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 House Passage of WIOA Reauthorization: With House passage of the "A Stronger Workforce for America Act" (H.R. 6655) on April 9th, which will reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), we are a step closer to advancing credential transparency in order to better serve jobseekers, workers and employers in the country. Clear, open, and interoperable data allows for quality, performance, and outcomes to be transparent so as to help students, job seekers, and workers identify and pursue high-quality, portable, and stackable programs that lead to better career advancement. When employers and workforce come together, everyone benefits to find the best pathways for a better future. We thank Chairwoman Foxx, Ranking Member Scott, and all of those who were involved in the House passage of this bill.
New Uniform Grants Guidance Released: On April 4th the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released new Uniform Grants Guidance that affects how over $1 trillion in annual federal grants to state, local and tribal governments is awarded and spent. Critical for Credential Engine’s mission of data transparency for improved benefits for individuals, the new guidance simplifies language and reduces red tape and, when fully implemented, will encourage state and local governments to invest federal funds in data infrastructure and evidence building, including in integrated data systems. Credential Engine was pleased to sign onto the set of recommendations to OMB, led by Results for
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Nevada Joins as Newest Credential  Transparency State Partner: We are excited to announce that Nevada is the newest state to be working with Credential Engine. Through the work of the Nevada Governor's Office of Workforce Innovation (GOWINN), Credential Engine will make credentials available as linked open data, published to the Credential Registry as part of Nevada's comprehensive Supporting and Advancing Nevada's Dislocated Individuals (SANDI) project. Project SANDI is part of the state's overall goal to provide displaced and underemployed residents of Nevada access to credential data, transforming skills and work experience into recognized in-demand credentials. By publishing Project SANDI's credentials to the Credential Registry, Nevada aims to enhance the quality of credential data available and utilize linked open data for the future development of educational and career navigation tools.
Arkansas: Leveraging Credential Transparency to Advance Workforce Strategy: Leaders in Arkansas are creating a comprehensive registry of all credentials in the state. As a key plank in the recently released Arkansas Workforce Strategy, the state envisions credential transparency as an essential component of a workforce system that is responsive to job seekers and reflective of employer needs. The foundation of Arkansas’ approach is a clear focus on skills: ensuring learners understand the competencies delivered by credentials–and how they align with occupational pathways and current labor market demands–and providing employers clearer insight into the skills acquired by potential employees.
Credential transparency is one part of a broader skills-based approach to workforce development in Arkansas. The credentials published to the Arkansas Credential Registry, with competencies as the essential building blocks, will provide the foundational data that will power the state’s learning and employment records (LERs). The Registry will also support an online career navigation portal that uses skills-based matching to connect job-seekers with employers. Credential competencies– and their corresponding CTIDs (globally unique identifiers)–are the DNA on which the state’s workforce systems will be built.
Led by the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services, this statewide initiative leverages the Arkansas Credential Registry to provide transparent access to credential information, with an initial focus on the justice-involved population. The Arkansas Correctional School District, the vocational education program for the state’s correctional facilities, recently published its curriculum to the Registry. This rich data includes over 300 learning opportunities, 600 competencies, and linkages to industry credentials, empowering incarcerated persons to demonstrate their skills and certifications upon release. Plans are underway to publish information on prison reentry programs, including apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and employer connections. Moving forward, the Arkansas Division of Higher Education and Arkansas Division of Career and Technical Education are preparing to add critical and substantial data, building out this statewide Credential Registry that benefits all Arkansans.
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Clearly Define Different Types of Certificates with CTDL: The CTDL recently has been updated to encompass the broad diversity of certificates available for people to earn. On April 11th we held a webinar that covered the CTDL update process, highlighted the latest enhancements supporting a great array of certificate descriptions, and introduced new Credential Registry Guidance materials. The CTDL now defines 22 types of certificates, with numerous terms available to give them meaning, differentiate among different types of certificates, and make their value transparent. With such a diverse range of certificates, from acknowledging participation to demonstrating skills in academic or career fields, CTDL provides essential information for illuminating paths to a better future. Learn more here. If you have published your Certificates to the Credential Registry, we encourage you to update that data to reflect the new types of certificates now described by the CTDL.
HR Open’s New Learning and Employment Record Resume Standard (LER-RS) Includes CTDL: This standard from the non-profit organization HR Open builds upon their prior resume standards for HR systems, enabling a common language for skills-based hiring and verifiable credentials. Credential Engine contributed to the development of this standard and how CTDL is used in HR processes. For more information, see the HR Open blog “ Why You Should Adopt the New HR Open Standards.”
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AACRAO 109th Annual Meeting
(April 7-10th, Columbus, OH) - Credential Engine presented at this year's AACRAO annual meeting, which brought together the higher education network. Alongside AACRAO, the Asian Development Bank, the Groningen Declaration Network, and Credential Engine were panelists at the “Shadow and Light: Enhancing Learner Mobility via the Lens of Global Credential Transparency” session, where attendees learned about increasing learner mobility globally and the need to make information about credentials transparent and accessible.
AAC&U Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment
(April 9-17th, Providence, RI) - This conference provides an opportunity to showcase the work of educators who ensure the continued vitality of the undergraduate educational experience and to create a space for engagement and hands-on experiences that empower them and enhance their learning. Credential Engine presented at the “Let Your Program Shine: Extending Impact with Credential Transparency" session that delved into the importance of credential transparency and higher education.
HLC Annual Conference
(April 13-16th, Chicago, IL) - The HLC Annual Conference brings the higher education community together to share ideas and insights on the latest in the field. Credential Engine presented at the “Curating Information to Foster Consumer Awareness in Higher Education'' session alongside members from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. This session explored the opportunities for members to work together and with others to meaningfully curate information about higher education in order to foster consumer awareness and consumer protection.
ASU + GSV Summit
(April 14-17th, Phoenix, AZ) - At this year's ASU+GSV Summit, Credential Engine is presenting at the “Hallmarks of Excellence in Credential and Skills Innovation: Unlocking Pathways to Opportunity'' session alongside Western Governors University (WGU). At this session, the presenters conducted a live demonstration of the Achievement Wallet platform and highlighted its alignments to the Credential Registry. They shared their experience working with a wide collective of partners in designing, developing, and deploying the Achievement Wallet. Check out their session and learn more here.
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