What professional development do assessment professionals need to succeed in higher education? To meet the rising demands in the field, assessment professionals seek ways to improve their skill sets. The current study utilized survey responses from over 200 higher education assessment professionals across the United States to assess the amount of…

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been widely recognised as an important aspect of the expertise for teaching. However, the extent to which teachers' own teaching practice can be a learning resource for them to develop PCK has not been systematically explored. This empirical study aimed to explore the unique contribution of the work of…

In this report, the authors provide a preliminary look at the Improving Pre-Engineering and Computer Science Education Through Micro-Credentialing project to develop and implement micro-credentials as a means of providing scalable, competency-based certification of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching skills in…

Computer science, cybersecurity education, and microcredentials are becoming more pervasive in all levels of the educational system. The purpose of this study was partnering with precollegiate teachers: (1) to investigate the self-efficacy of 30 precollegiate teacher participants towards computer science before, during, and after three iterations…

For more than three decades, the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood education settings has been developing worldwide in educational research, policy, and real-world practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a Special Needs Inclusive Practices Credential Program with early educators working in the…

The impact of the pandemic has revealed just how important teachers are to a nation's economic productivity and to the very social fabric and well-being of any society. It has also revealed more starkly the socio-economic and digital divides that teachers continue to address daily to support student learning. How then, to best support teachers own…

California has a two-tiered credential structure for education administrators. The first tier is the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential. An individual who has completed all requirements for a preliminary credential but does not have an offer of employment in an administrative position may apply for a Certificate of Eligibility, which…

Micro-credentials are increasingly being adopted across a variety of industries and countries, including the kindergarten through grade 12 education system in the United States, as a way to identify workers with specific skills, knowledge, and competencies. This report presents the results of a study conducted by RAND researchers who investigated…

Micro-credentialing is rapidly growing globally as learning that is both life-long and lifewide and this has only accelerated due to COVID-19. To understand what this means for higher education, The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and eLearning has conducted two surveys on the implementation and practice of micro-credentialing in the…

Teaching assistants are a common presence in pre-kindergarten programs, but their role and the dynamics between lead teachers and their assistants are understudied. The classroom behaviors of lead teachers and assistants from 80 public prekindergarten classrooms were examined for similarities and differences in their roles and to determine how…

New America analyzed the national landscape of educator micro-credentials (MCs) to determine how to best harness their potential to more successfully attract, develop, and retain great teachers. We find MCs to be a promising alternative to more traditional (and largely ineffective), compliance-focused teacher professional development, as well as…

Professional learning is and always has been a core expectation for educators. Educators, whether they are self-directed as intrinsically motivated learners or compliantly fulfilling requirements set by their employing districts and state departments, engage in professional learning throughout their careers. While educators engage in traditional…

This study investigated how the concept of cultural competence was represented in three 2010 policy documents on service delivery, ethics, and credentialing by the National Association of School Psychologists. Qualitative analysis identified substantial sections of discourse focusing on cultural competence and, to a lesser extent, social justice,…

Education leaders are perennially seeking new ways to build the capacity of teachers to enhance learning experiences for all students. Teacher leadership, which we define as teachers' support of the improvement of teaching and learning beyond their own classroom, has long been a source of interest and experimentation (Wenner & Campbell, 2017;…

Few instructors in higher education have completed a formal teaching program and, therefore, rely on informal professional development opportunities to enhance their teaching practice. Micro-credentialing in the form of digital badges is one way in which instructors can document their non-credit learning and accomplishments. This mixed methods…