Embracing a New Era of Workcred: Insights, Partnerships, and Data-Driven Resources

Credentials—tools that unlock untapped talent—have emerged as a powerful way to boost career advancement. The working world is undergoing an era of metamorphosis from degrees to skills-based hiring, and we’re proud to be on board with some exciting initiatives that focus on the value of credentials. As we wrap up our milestone tenth year, here’s a look at what’s been keeping us inspired.

Take Some Lessons from Our Playbook: Grant Work Opens Doors to Success

Workcred is in the final stretch of its three-year grant from ECMC Foundation, focusing on certification and degree pathways. The grant, part of a partnership with the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Higher Learning Commission helps to provide learners with opportunities to master occupationally-relevant skills that lead to living wage jobs while they are on a pathway to an associate degree.

As we tackle workforce inequities through this initiative, Workcred is carefully documenting every insight—and creating a roadmap for future success. We are working with each of our college partners to develop a case study to share examples and best practices. Stay tuned for the publication of upcoming playbooks so that community colleges can benefit from what we’ve discovered!

Engaging with Others to Show How Microcredentials Boost Lifelong Learning

Microcredentials are emerging as an effective way for learners to earn a credential focused on a specific skill or set of skills. These credentials also have a sweeping impact: as Dr. Isabel Cardenas-Navia, our associate executive director of research recently reflected in The EvoLLLution, microcredentials are becoming the vehicle for organizations to develop and issue credentials that meet the speed of business.

I’m proud to share that Workcred is engaging with organizations like the University of Texas System and Morgan State University to facilitate the adoption of microcredentials, and to develop case studies about demonstrating the different ways that institutions are implementing microcredentials.

Delivering Actionable Insights and Data with a New Resource

We are delighted to announce the official website launch of CredLens, a new non-profit initiative supported by the Strada Education Foundation. This is exciting news because CredLens will effectively bring different data sets together to provide actionable insights and ongoing research for industry-based, professional, and workforce credentials.

While workforce credentials are rising, we've haven’t seen solid data that reflect the outcomes. CredLens will change this by offering tailored data analytics and visualizations to credential issuers, workforce training providers, philanthropic funding partnerships, and state system partnerships to support the continuous improvement of credential quality and to support informed funding and scaling decisions.

We already know how significant this is to many of you, as we had an opportunity to speak more about CredLens during our presentation at the joint UPCEA-AACRAO conference “2024 Convergence: Credential Innovation in Higher Education,” and found out from continuing education leaders and university registrars that there is interest in how degree and workforce credentials come together for successful careers. Even more, the audience told us that they felt the data trust will help inform their decisions regarding credentials of value.

We can’t wait to see how this initiative evolves.

Chatting about Standards and the Changing Nature of Assessments

When it comes to work-based learning programs, standards are vital. We spoke about why this is—and the types of American National Standards that exist for credentials to support work-based learning programs—during another Convergence presentation in New Orleans.

We recently hosted an engaging micro-chat about the changing nature of assessments with Dr. Ryan O'Leary from PDRI by Pearson, who shared some fascinating insights about evaluation tools, pre-hire assessments, and how employers are shifting to skills-based hiring. You can view the presentation and the recording here to hear insights on the array of tools available to evaluate an individual’s qualifications, the relationship between pre-hire assessments and credentials, and the reality of employers moving to a skills-based hiring system.

During this dynamic era of change, we are proud to help lead the way with our partnerships as we turn the page to a new year. We can’t wait to see what’s next and we hope you’ll be along for the ride as we dive into new opportunities to empower the future workforce.

Roy A. Swift