Credentials Unscripted

Are dually enrolled students more likely to graduate? Are they more likely to enroll in postsecondary? In this episode, we dig into the impacts of dual enrollment on a student's pathway to and through higher education. We are joined by Tatiana Velaso, Senior Research Associate at the Community College Research Center to discuss the latest research into the postsecondary outcomes of dual enrollment students. To read more about the CCRC's research, click here - https://shorturl.at/cpvZt

What is the microcredentialing landscape in Europe? In this episode, we are joined by Anastasia Pouliou, an expert in Vocational Education & Training from Cedefop. She shares the work being done in Europe on microcredentials, how they are aligning to qualifications frameworks, and how microcredentials can impact learning.

What does it actually mean to create a future-ready workforce? In this episode, we speak with Daphne Dor-Ner, VP of Product Management at Lightcast. She will share labor market information and how it can help institutions of higher education advance strategic priorities. If you are curious about how your institution can ensure you are creating credentials of value for your students, this episode is for you.

IPEDS recently released a trove of data around dual enrollment. In this episode, we sit down with John Fink from the Community College Research Center to discuss what we learned from the data and how it can help dual enrollment practitioners. As discussed in the episode, CCRC built a phenomenal dashboard to dissect the data. View the dashboard here - https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/easyblog/how-many-students-are-taking-dual-enrollment-courses-in-high-school-new-national-state-and-college-level-data.html

Sometimes the best way to look forward is to look back. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ethan Hutt, Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, about the history of the student record, the benefits and drawbacks of our system today, and how he would like student records evolve. As we highlight in the episode, be sure to check out Dr. Hutt's book, Off the Mark: How Grades, Ratings and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don't Have To) - https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674248410

Comprehensive Learner Records are billed as a new way for learners to communicate the totality of their educational experience. But, what goes in a CLR? How are students utilizing it? In this episode, we are joined by one of the early adopters of CLRs, Dr. Rodney Parks, Assistant Vice President & University Registrar at Elon University. Dr. Parks will share how they developed their CLR, the impacts of their work, and how he sees the CLR evolving in the future.

How do we better connect learners to opportunities? How can states and employers better understand what credentials are being issued? Deb Everhart, Chief Strategy Officer at Credential Engine, joins us to discuss their efforts to improve pathways by investing in credential transparency. Deb shares how Credential Engine's Credential Registry and Credential Transparency Descriptor Language (CTDL) are powering what learners, states, and employers know about the credentialing ecosystem.

How can your school district build a robust dual/concurrent enrollment program? In this episode, we are joined by Michael Werner, Post-Secondary Planning Coordinator from Mounds View Public Schools. Michael will share practical tips on growing your program, communicating with students/parents, and how they expanded to offer an Associate's degree in high school. If you are invested in dual/concurrent enrollment, this episode is full of helpful resources and best practices.

What role can states play in advancing the credentialing ecosystem? In this episode, we speak with Nick Moore, Education Policy Advisor & Director from the Alabama Governor's Office, to learn how Alabama is revolutionizing credentialing and career pathways to further educational and economic mobility.

What is Course Sharing and how can it expand access to opportunities for students? Dr. Marina Aminy, Executive Director of California Virtual Campus, joins us to share why the California Community College System pursued Course Sharing and why it matters for students.

Amanda Winters, Program Director at the National Governors Association, shares the work that states are doing to advance "skills-based hiring". We cover important changes in policy, the inherent ecosystem challenges and what this means for economic mobility.

Megan Garvy, Dual Enrollment Supervisor at Mesa Community College, shares the work they're doing with "Early College On-Ramps to Maricopa Pathways" to expand access to dual enrollment opportunities. Historically, dual enrollment has been dubbed a "program of privilege". Megan describes how they've increased access to college credit for students pursuing work-based certificates and CTE programs with success. You can learn more about Megan's work at her website - https://sites.google.com/view/levelupedupathways

Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure, joins us to discuss the role of technology in education. As educational institutions rely more heavily on EdTech to deliver services to their students, we discuss what it means to be "student-centered" and "customer-centric" as a technology provider. Finally, we attempt to answer the important question: has technology actually made education better?

What does a credential represent? And, does a degree really tell me what you know and how well you know it? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Naomi Boyer, Senior VIce President of Digital Transformation at Education Design Lab to help us navigate the complex world of credentialing and why skills and competencies are the missing piece to advancing a learner's educational and professional opportunities.

Can Artificial Intelligence help students navigate their educational pathway? Dr. Zachary Pardos, Associate Professor of Education at UC-Berkeley, joins us to share exciting developments in AI that shows significant promise in helping students navigate their pathway to a credential.

Do we adequately know how to measure the totality of the college experience? How do we begin to measure the experiences of learners outside of the classroom? In this episode, we speak with Rob Buelow of Vector Solutions to discuss how universities can better engage students and employers by focusing on "durable skills" that better describe the value of the college experience.

The term "stackable credentials" can mean many things, from college efforts to embed short-term credentials into their degree programs to larger-scale efforts to rethink the way credentialing is done through alternative approaches, like skills and badges. We speak with Lindsay Daugherty, Senior Policy Researcher from RAND Corporation to dig into the research around stackable credential programs and whether they are delivering on their premise -- to advance a learner's opportunities and outcomes.

Microcredentials are quickly becoming the most talked about topic in credentialing. What's not to love? Microcredentials recognize competencies to increase the ability to display a learner's skills. Noah Geisel walks us through what we're getting right, the challenge of adoption, and the complicated nature of reinventing the recognition of what people know.

Dr. Marc Booker, Vice Provost of Strategy for the University of Phoenix joins us to discuss how institutions can adopt a culture of credit mobility by incorporating credit-for-prior-learning (CPL) and prior learning assessments (PLA) during the admissions process. Dr. Booker shares how the University of Phoenix team have made concerted efforts to account for non-traditional learning to give students greater opportunity to advance their academic career.

Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert, President & CEO of Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI) joins us to discuss the challenges of evaluating credentials from across the globe. We discuss the laborious process for understanding educational systems around the world, the role the credential evaluation community plays, and offer up some solutions to make the international exchange of credentials easier.