Digital DE › Professional Learning › Micro-credentials › Micro-credentials for Administrators

Micro-credentials for Administrators

Research and Standards

Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning (updated 2022) “describe the conditions, content, and processes for professional learning that leads to high-quality leading, teaching, and learning for students and educators.” Micro-credentials align with standards and practices to ensure “high-quality professional learning that results in improved educator practices and improved student results” (Learning Forward, 2022).

“Sophisticated forms of teaching are needed to develop student competencies such as deep mastery of challenging content, critical thinking, complex problem-solving, effective communication and collaboration, and self-direction. In turn, effective professional development (PD) is needed to help teachers learn and refine the pedagogies required to teach these skills” (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017).

According to Darling-Hammond and team, effective PD:

  1. is content focused
  2. incorporates active learning that utilizes adult learning theory
  3. supports collaboration, typically in job-embedded contexts
  4. uses effective practice models and modeling
  5. provides coaching and expert support
  6. offers opportunities for feedback and reflection
  7. is of sustained duration.

Submission Path to Award

Micro-credentials are the verification of a competency or skill through demonstration. Once the educator prepares and submits their micro-credential, it is reviewed against a research-backed, transparent rubric by content expert assessors. Assessors review the submission, give targeted, growth-based feedback on each section of the submission, and make recommendations on whether the submission should be awarded, or denied and opened for resubmission. The issuer of record makes the final decision to award or deny.

Commonly Asked Questions from Administration

How is this different from certificates of attendance for professional learning?

Teachers earn credentials at the beginning of their careers, but they learn new skills every day. In their interactions with students and with one another, in professional development activities, and in the innumerable informal experiences within and beyond their school walls, teachers learn and improve their craft.

Yet this lifelong learning is rarely formally recognized. It does not appear on teachers’ resumes or in their employment records. Once they have completed their standard undergraduate and, perhaps, graduate education or National Board certification, there are limited pathways for educators to receive recognition for their professional learning and growth. Further, while districts and schools may track teachers’ participation in professional development based on hours logged, they rarely focus on the skills teachers learn, use, and hone in their daily practice (Grunwald Associates, 2015).

How do I know what has been awarded?

When an educator has achieved and been awarded a micro-credential, there are a variety of ways they are able to share it out, e.g. via email, through PDMS, or directly from the platform.

How does this impact educator practice?

Micro-credentials recognize educators who are meeting the complex, real-time demands of today’s classrooms. Every year, thousands of educators across the country engage with micro-credentials as a way of personalizing their professional learning and gaining recognition for their skills. The artifacts educators collect demonstrate their skills and the narratives that come out of the classroom prove how micro-credentials support educators in ways that impact their students’ learning and their school communities. (See The Impact of Micro-credentials on Educator Practice for case studies.)

“Through micro-credentials, I have reflected upon how I am currently utilizing various resources and groups within my school and community. I have focused on increasing engagement and the impact of how these groups affect each other.” – Tiffany V., Educator

“Completing this micro-credential pushed me to talk about my program and share what we are doing, which is something I am not very good at. As I shared work for each grade level, it also provided me an opportunity to vertically evaluate the program and see what changes should be made so students at every level have equal opportunity.” – Bobbie L., Teacher Librarian

Because micro-credentials focus on a single competency, they support educators in honing a specific practice. Instead of tackling the entirety of challenges in a classroom or school at once, educators use the process of earning a micro-credential to examine a specific challenge in the classroom, to engage with rigorous research and rich resources to build their knowledge of a skill and make a plan for implementation, and then to document their demonstration of that skill.

How can I support educators?

Educators have shared that, in addition to being given time to engage with micro-credentials, external incentives such as stipends, re-licensure credit, recognition of achievement, and authentic professional support have significant impact on educator practice and well-being.

“Through the endless support of my administrators, earning a micro-credential was a meaningful experience because I was able to set a realistic goal, have time to achieve the goal, and enjoy my time to efficiently reflect. I’m energized to earn my next micro- credential.” – Carrie B., Fifth-Grade Teacher

When educators are trusted to make decisions about their professional development, they feel more confident in their skills, can more easily build and develop necessary learning pathways, and are better able to personalize their own professional development. However, when an educator has not had success in their micro-credential submission, the school administrator can serve as a thought partner to brainstorm next steps – including reading the submission and assessor feedback, and suggesting new ways of thinking (Dynamic Learning Project, 2019).

Micro-credential Research

Micro-credential Articles

Adult Learning Research