Educational leaders, including directors of special education (DSE), often lack the depth and breadth of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to effectively manage the nuanced needs of special education. It is critically important, both legally and morally, for DSEs to have skills and mindsets to be effective in their roles. It is imperative…

This article estimates earnings impacts for those who completed long-term college credentials (degrees or college certificates requiring a year or more of study) and those who did not in an experimental evaluation of a federally-funded sectoral job training program. The experimental evaluation found no overall impact of the program on earnings,…

This study examined the long-term impact of a special education residency program in high-need urban schools on the recruitment, program completion, and hiring and retention of graduates. Findings from this study, expanding research to special education teacher preparation, are consistent with a growing body of research that suggests that a…

Given changes in the 21st century workplace and expectations of employers, the notion that a bachelor's degree is the sole pathway to sustainable employment and a middle-class life in the United States has become obsolete. Many (e.g., Fleming, 2016) have argued that employers are now seeking employees with technical skills, digital literacy, and…

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has attracted wide attention with its potential to alleviate poverty and improve youth employment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, no agreement has been reached on its impact on participants' wellbeing and livelihoods. Most previous reviews were restricted to economic and…

Digital badges (i.e., digital credentials for achievements) have been suggested as a useful and scalable implementation of gamification. Digital badges (hereafter "badges") provide two potential supports for learning: (1) badges provide support for motivation by rewarding achievement and (2) badges provide implicit learning goals. The…

This report shows the impact that a two-year, coaching based, job-embedded administrator credentialing program is having on the leadership development of new administrators. The Clear Administrative Services Credential (CASC) program is centered on a conceptual framework founded on six professional learning standards combined with real life…

Digital credentials (or badges) allow evidence of achievement to be more detailed than is possible through grades, and can be shared more broadly than is possible through the academic transcript. Here, we illustrate the potential use of digital credentials in higher education through sharing an approach that utilised digital credentials to…

Microcredentials create opportunities for continuing growth of all teachers based on specific needs. They provide ways for teachers to lead their own learning while allowing administrators to identify and address teachers' needs as well as the expertise teachers have to share with their colleagues. Microcredentials are different from traditional…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are marketed as opportunities for participants to improve their labor market outcomes, and tens of thousands of students have paid for career-focused MOOC certificate programs. However, there is limited and conflicting research on MOOCs and labor market outcomes. Using two randomized control trials, we test…

This study explored the impact of a seven-college consortium called "Credentials to Careers" (C2C), which was created to foster innovative programs to retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers, on students' self-efficacy. Using the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, we…

One component of postsecondary education needed for economic recovery and development relates to blue-collar industries, jobs requiring some postsecondary training but less than a four-year degree. The U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provides funding for community…

There are few graduate programs available for pursuing a doctorate in anatomy where students gain specific training in gross anatomy dissection and the responsibilities of a medical educator. In light of this fact, the University of Kentucky created a Graduate Certificate in Anatomical Sciences Instruction in 2006. This 12-credit hour curriculum…

Purpose: To determine methods of student learning assessment and clinical training in rehabilitation counseling programs. With many shifts occurring in postsecondary education and in rehabilitation counseling, it is critical to understand these current practices. Method: The authors used an Internet-based survey design to solicit program…

Internships are work-based learning experiences, but when they are unpaid and become the standard after formal education, they imply an opportunity cost and could add to the formation of obstacles to the socio-economic mobility that (public) education should seek to attenuate. The present study consists of an evaluation of the intern economy in…