Quality Assurance Across States: How a Standard Supports Learners

Competency-based micro-credentials can address diverse educator professional learning needs, provide personalized professional learning opportunities, and create opportunities for teachers to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and competencies they need to support every student. Founded by former North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, digiLEARN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating digital learning. What is lacking are a singular model or consistent standards to guide the integration of micro-credentials in professional development for educators across various contexts. Luckily, a number of organizations – including Digital Promise – have partnered to develop trustworthy, flexible, yet rigorous quality standards that are applicable across contexts.

As digiLEARN notes in their report, Advancing Educator Effectiveness through Micro-Credential Quality Assurance Standards and Rubric (2024, digiLEARN, RTI International), “micro-credentials are a relatively new practice, which means districts and states have yet to determine consistent quality assurance standards and more data is needed to show how micro-credentials affect teacher practice and student outcomes.”

To help district leaders and educators incorporate micro-credentials into educator professional learning, the digiLEARN Quality Assurance Standards and Self-Assessment Rubric have been developed to ensure that educator micro-credentials meet consistent, research-informed quality benchmarks.

The digiLEARN Quality Assurance Standards

The Micro-Credentials Partnership of States (MPOS) was formed in 2022 to establish consistent quality standards to guide the development and implementation of micro-credentials. With representation from partners in Wyoming, South Carolina, Arkansas, and North Carolina, as well as industry and research collaborators, the resulting quality assurance standards (QAS) were first published in 2023.

The Quality Assurance Rubric, developed and assessed by the MPOS, is recommended for micro-credential design, development, and administration. Further, states may choose to include additional criteria for specific licensure and certification programs as required.

The MPOS Quality Assurance Rubric

The MPOS Quality Assurance Rubric includes 29 components across 13 quality standards, all of which must be met for a micro-credential to be considered high quality. The rubric was developed through an iterative process with guidance from partners and micro-credential industry experts, including Digital Promise. Looking at materials that met the requirements of the rubric, reviewers went through a process that included a blind evaluation of eight micro-credentials in two rounds, which addressed scope, clarity, and ease of use.

Implementation

According to the toolkit, Micro-Credentials Quality Assurance Standards and Self Assessment Rubric Tools, “Additional testing of the rubric is necessary before it can be adopted as an instrument for formally assessing micro-credential quality. However, after further validation, the rubric has potential to advance research on micro-credential quality and influence educator practice.” (2024, digiLEARN)

The resulting system-level recommendations to support micro-credential usage in professional development include:
Inclusion and alignment of micro-credentials as part of a complete professional learning ecosystem, including additional opportunities for learning:

• Micro-credentials not as standalone credentials but rather as an embedded and integral part of a complex, personalized career pathway
• Striking a balance between the needs of the individual and the system in which they operate
  A focus on educator ownership and agency regarding their professional development pathway
• Development of clear language describing the personal and professional value of earning micro-credentials
• Micro-credentials not as standalone credentials but rather as an embedded and integral part of complex, personalized career pathway
• The prioritization of educator collaboration and robust systemic support structures
  A focus on continuous improvement
• Development of a robust, ongoing research agenda to investigate and demonstrate micro-credentials as an important tool for educators, states, and districts to meet their goals (2024, digiLearn)

For detailed information about how these standards were developed, the rubric review process, and the complete rubric with criteria, sign up to become a member, and download for free.

Digital Promise has been a pioneer in competency-based micro-credentials and has more than 10 years of experience in supporting organizations with their micro-credentialing needs. Check out this eBook, The Role of Micro-Credentials in Lifelong Learning and Development: Empowering Learners, Empowering Organizations, a comprehensive resource accessible to all interested in understanding micro-credentials. If you are interested in learning more about Digital Promise’s micro-credential services, please contact us at microcredentials@digitalpromise.org.