Making a Market for Competency-Based Credentials: An Overview

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First in a series of three webinars:Webinar 2: Effective Employer Engagement Oct. 8th

Webinar 3: What Can Colleges Do?Nov. 5th

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Today’s Presenters

Larry Good, CSW Roy Swift, ANSI Nancy Laprade, CSW

ModeratorMelodee Mabbitt, CSW

Upcoming Report

Making a Market for Competency-Based Credentials

Thanks to the Surdna Foundation for their support of this important work

Poll questionWhat kind of organization do you represent?1. Educational institution2. Public policy3. Business/ professional organization4. CBO5. Business and Industry6. Government7. Other

What is a competency-based credential?

Accurately assures competencies, based on skills and knowledge of the holder

Awarded based on demonstration of those competencies“what students should know and be able to do”

Aligns with specific industry standards and founded on the skills/competencies needed by employers

Context … the Big Picture Post-secondary credentials are crucial to

employment success

Complex, fast-changing labor markets – workers need to be able to adapt quickly

Credentialing in the U.S. today is chaotic Hard to navigate Lacks common language Lacks quality assurance

Our Premise… The U.S. desperately needs a more coherent

competency based credentialing system to ensure that both businesses and job seekers get the most out of post-secondary training

The System needs to recognize learning acquired through educational institutions and other non education and training providers (especially “non-credit”) Both formal and informal Other prior learning

Why is this work important? Replaces seat-time (as a proxy for learning) with

competency-based curriculum and credentials that are based on learning outcomes

Provides more precise information about job requirements and worker skills (including academic and employability/soft skills)

Why is this work important?For employers…

Better informs hiring, deployment and promotion decisions Ensures relevant educational programming to meet their

needs Provides ROI in hiring, retention and performance

For students/workers… Helps them better navigate career pathways and provides

proof of their skills and knowledge

For educators… Helps them align their curricula with industry requirements

What is the current state of play in competency-based credentialing?

1. Varying levels of usage by various industries – along a continuum

2. Widely used credentials have strong employer backing

3. Inconsistent quality

What is the current state of play in competency-based credentialing?

4. Portability and transparency -- key challenges

5. Promising models of stackable systems

6. Employers looking for “cross-functional” skills and “systems-thinking”

What is the current state of play in competency-based credentialing?

7. Barriers to bringing to scale

8. No comprehensive policy framework

Current State of Play… What does this mean in a nutshell?

Competency-based credentialing as a concept resonates widely

Large-scale adoption and use needs: Transparency (common language, registries) Interoperability (quality assurance, data infrastructure) Making the Return on Investment clear to employers,

job seekers, and educators

Building the Market: Five Key Elements

Ensuring Quality Expanding use by workers/students

Expanding use by employers

Expanding use by educators

Creating an infrastructure to

help the credentials’ market flourish

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Ensuring QualityEnsuring an on-going systematic interface with

stakeholders and the evolving body of knowledge Maintaining Validity

Creation and use of validated assessment instruments to measure competencies Competency Based Education Certificates Informal Learning Certifications

Ensuring QualityCurrent lack of oversight mechanisms in the higher education system

Accreditation focused primarily on the “degree” Need for more emphasis on “outcomes” rather

than process Education/Learning is often occurs outside

traditional educational institutions Professional societies Work site – contextual learning – worker learner

Building the Market: Five Key Elements

Ensuring QualityExpanding use by workers/students

Expanding use by employers

Expanding use by educators

Creating an infrastructure to

help the credentials’ market flourish

Expanding Use by Workers/Students

Show the link between credentials and employment

Accelerate stackability and bundling to support career pathways

Integrate “employability skills” (foundational) into credentials Workplace competencies Academic competencies Personal effectiveness competencies

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Building the Market: Five Key Elements

Ensuring QualityExpanding use by workers/students

Expanding use by employers

Expanding use by educators

Creating an infrastructure to

help the credentials’ market flourish

Expanding Use by Employers

Goal: Employers must view credentials as meaningful to their competiveness and bottom line and use them for hiring Document ROI Involve all levels of employees within participating

firms Involve industry associations and consortia Use sector partnerships to expand efforts

Building the Market: Five Key Elements

Ensuring QualityExpanding use by workers/students

Expanding use by employers

Expanding use by educators

Creating an infrastructure to

help the credentials’ market flourish

Expanding Use by Educators Engage employers as full partners Utilize methodologies to ensure that all key

competencies related to job tasks and employability/ soft skills are identified

Work with sector partnerships Meet students where they are Provide opportunities for applied learning

experiences Focus on credential related outcomes

Building the Market: Five Key Elements

Ensuring QualityExpanding use by workers/students

Expanding use by employers

Expanding use by educators

Creating an infrastructure to

help the credentials’ market flourish

Creating an infrastructure to help the credentials market flourish

Shared language Quality assurance Consumer information

Creating an infrastructure to help the credentials market flourish

Policy changes (institutional, state, accreditors, Federal)

Alignment of efforts Bottom-up and top-down strategies Maximize the use of technology

Poll: What area of this work is most important/relevant to you and your work?

Ensuring the quality of credentials The role of employer engagement How do educators need to change the way they

develop curriculum and credentials? How do we determine ROI? Enhancing stackability and portability The role of credentials in career navigation/ career

pathways Policy framework including use of data/metrics

Closing ThoughtsCompetency-based credentials can be a game

changer Reduce duration of job transitions for workers Increase productivity of employers Strengthen U.S. competitiveness

What’s needed? A collaborative effort of many to build the needed infrastructure and to grow the market to scale

Build on what already is working

Questions?

Next Webinar Making a Market for Competency-Based Credentials: Effective Employer Engagement

October 8- 1:00 – 2:15 ETPresenters:

Brent Weil, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Institute, NAM

Troy Nutter, Manager, Operational Training, Puget Sound Energy

Keith Bird, CSW