Background: Lengthy sequences of decontextualized adult education and literacy program courses pose a challenge to two-year college students' educational outcomes. The Integrated Education and Training model has been suggested as a promising approach to creating accelerated and contextualized pathways from adult education and literacy programming…

In 2020, the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education funded 22 model demonstration projects called Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSIDs). These grantees are charged with creating or expanding inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual…

Career and technical education (CTE) teachers are unique because they often enter teaching with previous workplace experience in industry. Understanding these prior work experiences and the financial benefits (or losses) they face when entering teaching can offer insight into how to attract and retain these educators, yet very little is known…

This study seeks to share student feedback about the design and creation of comprehensive learner records. Student input is not often solicited as institutions develop new credentials issued to students. Our workshops encouraged students to consider how they would develop new credentials and what artifacts and features they would include on these…

Open badges are a 21st-century solution to the shortcomings of paper certificates in the age of digital, online identity management. These small visual signifiers which carry hard-coded meta-data can be issued by anyone in order to recognise achievement or participation in formal or informal activities. They link back directly to the issuer, the…

There is a growing popular discourse that the intellectualization of the field of language teaching has resulted in a growing divide between language teaching researchers and professionals. Some scholars have called for more holistic professionals, that is, people who embody the identities of both researcher and practitioner. To explore such…

Providing students with verifiable 21st-century skills and competencies has become increasingly more challenging for Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This study sought to investigate why institutional data from a college in the northeast reported lower levels of acquiring job- or work-related skills compared to other colleges in the system's…

This paper examines the bias arising from individuals' migration from administrative outcome data, with a focus on the labor market consequences of postsecondary education. We find that out-of-state migration is particularly problematic for high-earners, flagship graduates, and certain majors. Consequently, the effect of graduating from a flagship…

Since 2000, more than 46,000 job-seeking and working adult learners have enrolled in industry-vetted courses sponsored by the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE), a talent development initiative created by CAEL that has played a pivotal role in meeting the needs of the energy sector nationwide. EPCE's 3,500-plus members represent…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of 10 professional school counselors' usage of child-centered play therapy (CCPT). Research participants holding the CCPT credential means that they possessed former training to utilize play therapy in schools. At the time of this study, limited research existed about the experiences of…

The present phenomenographic research aimed to explore the qualitatively different ways early childhood educators experienced career pathway transitions from a Child Development Associate credential to an associate degree program. I applied Schlossberg's Transition Theory as a data collection and analysis framework. I collected narratives from…

Risk management and insurance (RMI) is facing a talent gap that is exacerbated by an increasing employer demand for technology-based skills. This research explores whether an undergraduate curriculum-based professional certificate influences college students' RMI career choices. Using a mixed-methods research approach, the researcher surveyed a…

Early research on the returns to higher education treated the postsecondary system as a monolith. In reality, postsecondary education in the United States and around the world is highly differentiated, with a variety of options that differ by credential (associates degree, bachelor's degree, diploma, certificate, graduate degree), the control of…

Gender training does not adequately prepare gender and development professionals (GDPs) to undertake robust gender integration of development and humanitarian assistance (D&H) policies and programmes and limits their ability to impact gender equity and equality and development overall. In particular, GDPs lack sector-specific and applied…

This chapter introduces the drivers for change in the credentialing market that has arisen in the new era of work and learning. It analyzes the factors that are driving interest in shorter competency-based credentials, and identifies emerging trends that community colleges might consider when structuring their credentials.