Healthy People 2030 has expressed the need for increased organizational health literacy. In order to support this growing effort, the Institute for Healthcare Advancement has developed 2 resources to help support health education professional development: (1) The Health Literacy Specialist Certificate Program as a rigorously designed professional…

Micro-credentials research, which includes digital badges, is a relatively new field of study that seeks to inform the implementation, portability and sustainability of the ecology of meaningful delivery. This paper reviews literature relevant to understanding connections between universities' intent to offer micro-credentials and the environment…

The current study investigated Georgia school psychologists' continuing professional development (CPD) practices and preferences for comparison to a national study of school psychology professional development by Armistead, Castillo, Curtis, Chappel, and Cunningham (2013). Utilizing the same instrument as Armistead et al., a survey was emailed to…

The authors' recent research has revealed that most afterschool programs in Milwaukee County have received relatively low ratings, and that their biggest hurdle to improving their scores often involved the educational qualifications of program staff. In light of the potential consequences of that finding--which include the possibility that the…

In many fields, the concept of professional development for workers at varying levels is well entrenched. At the heart of professional development is the desire to expand the "toolbox" of workers' skills. However, for out-of-school time (OST) staff and youth workers, experiences with professional development can vary widely, from high…

U.S. universities have had century-long success in absorbing existing professions into their curricula--by making academe their gatekeeper. These professions often started with apprenticeships and short training courses leading to a certification examination--and were then elevated and "academized" into a comprehensive body of knowledge,…

Occupational and physical therapists and speech language pathologists provide services for almost half of the children enrolled in early intervention programs nationally. Each professional association has adopted documents defining practice in early intervention that advocate for family-centered practices and interventions embedded in family…

Unlike data that show that all states require credentials for special education teachers, national data indicate that only 27 states require licensure/certification/endorsement as an administrator of special education. The titles used by states to identify the local director of special education include administrator of special education, director…

Discusses licensure and credentialing in rehabilitation counseling in the context of larger professional and social movements. Introduces critical aspects affecting licensure movement for rehabilitation counselors; provides overview of history of counselor licensure and participation of rehabilitation counselors; and describes issues current…

Credentialing for psychology in North America will constitute an increasingly important concern in the development of the mental health professions, regardless of specific discipline. This article highlights some major milestones in credentialing in psychology in North America and some of the credentialing issues that health care professionals may…

The author argues that it is time for the traditional role of staff developer to be strengthened through an enhanced form of personal professional development, professionalization, and promotion of a new professional image. He presents a model program featuring accreditation as opposed to certification. (Author/CH)

The fields of Computer Information Systems (CIS) and Information Technology (IT) are experiencing rapid change. In 2003, an analysis of IT degree programs and those of competing disciplines at 10 post-secondary institutions concluded that an information technology program is perceived differently from information systems and computer science. In…

The competence of directors and administrators of children's programs is very important to quality, and efforts that seek to bring directors and administrators more support and help them to develop their competencies are worth examination. This paper begins by briefly discussing "A Preliminary Overview of Director Credentialing…

This paper defines professional certification as a voluntary process regulated by a profession to measure competencies possessed by its practitioners. A hierarchy of motives for certification is illustrated, and its importance for the fields of adult education and human resource development (HRD) is emphasized. The evolution of the concept of…

As the child care field moves toward professionalism, it is necessary to consider the ways in which academic instruction may enhance professionalization. One dimension of the definition of a profession is that a profession has control over the key elements of its own destiny. For example, a profession (1) controls entry into the profession, (2)…