Open Badges (OBs) have evolved as novel means of recognizing and credentialing skills/competences (either hard or soft skills) acquired in various learning settings (formal or informal, online or traditional classroom). In addition, they offer new ways of motivating learners and scaffolding the learning process, while also promoting values such as…

Guided by the notion of 'flexible citizenship', as a strategy to accumulate and exchange different forms of capital across national borders, our ethnographic study followed eleven Chinese international secondary school students' transnational lives. This paper is focused on how instrumental goals of flexible citizenship cover over the emotional…

The rapid worldwide expansion of enrolment in higher education (HE) has led to greater diversity among students, with more first-generation learners, HE returnees, and disadvantaged groups. Yet, inequalities in participation persist and have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of flexible learning pathways (FLPs) can help HE…

The article offers a socio-economic explanation of the much-discussed proliferation of evaluations, performance indicators, rankings and ratings in higher education and research. The aim is to show that these social technologies not only restructure the word of knowledge via status competitions but also serve to align academic stratification with…

There is an increased focus on the use of stackable micro-credentials in education including the use of digital badges. These micro-credentials allow for students to learn specific skills or gain knowledge in focused areas of study. Stacking these micro-credentials together, students can demonstrate what they have learned. Understanding how…

Efforts to promote professionalism in evaluation, whether through certification, credentialing, or other path, are not new, but there is a new push to adopt sets of essential evaluator competencies, both in the United States and globally, that are intended to advance professionalism of the field. This emphasis on professionalism is relevant to the…

Once a community college graduate completes an associate's degree, the institution is committing to the public that the graduate possesses a prescriptive set of knowledge, skills, and abilities either gained through, or enhanced by, their college attendance. At most institutions, these skill sets are assessed almost exclusively through internal…

Once a community college graduate completes an associate's degree, the institution is committing to the public that the graduate possesses a prescriptive set of knowledge, skills, and abilities either gained through, or enhanced by, their college attendance. At most institutions, these skill sets are assessed almost exclusively through internal…

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…

English learners are entitled to participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes provisions to ensure success for all students, including English learners. However, the federal government does not prescribe specifically how states should meet these provisions; instead, it is the…

In today's labor market, students increasingly need greater levels of postsecondary education and training to enter or advance in many industries. Meanwhile, employers are calling for the education system to better align with industry needs, as their demands for a skilled workforce continue to rise. In response to the increasing emphasis for…

Since 2016, the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative has been developing the Total Learning Architecture (TLA), a 4-pillar data strategy for managing lifelong learning. Each pillar describes a type of learning-related data that needs to be captured, managed, and shared across an organization. Each data pillar is built on a set of…

This report provides state-level projections of postsecondary enrollment, credential production, and the college-educated population in order to inform the Illinois P-20 Council's strategy for creating and meeting attainment equity goals. [This report was created with the Illinois P-20 Council, College & Career Readiness Committee.]

Current research on computer technology integration in K-12 school classrooms indicates that student learning outcomes remain flat despite heavy investment. Examining school leadership conceptions about technology integration might reveal a way to reverse this trend. This study adapts a survey instrument from Brush and Bannon and applies it to…

The introduction of the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) has presented a potent opportunity for community heritage language schools to credential the heritage language proficiency of their students in a U.S. context. This study explores the involvement of community heritage language schools in the SoBL initiative. It investigates how seven heritage…