Creditational in HE

8202019 Creditational in HE

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcreditational-in-he 15

MAR C HAP R I L 2015 EDUC Awww educ a use edu e r o

in HigherEducation

By Matthew Pittinsky

f we think about what collegesand universities do there are very few things that technologyhas not fundamentally eithertransformed or begun totransform Yet for all of the ways

in which technology is changing teachingand learning research and servicesthere is one area that has not beenaffected much at all the transcript

Current Challenges and Innovative Tre

I

Credentialing

ILLUSTRATION BY DUNG HOANG copy 2015



36 E DU C A U S E r e v i e w M A R C H A PR I L 2015

Credentialing in Higher Education Current Challenges and Innovative Trends

One could argue that the transcriptmdashthat is credentialingmdashis the only non-negotiable service of a higher educationinstitution At the end of the day we cre-

dential Indeed America today is a cre-dential society The US Census Bureaureports that one in two US adults hassome form of postsecondary credentialone in four has some form of certifica-tion or license independent of hisherpostsecondary credential But highereducation does not hold a monopolyon credentialing It is happening in thelabor market as well with certificationsand licenses that make a significant dif-ference for workers For example theBMO Education and Training Report 2012

highlights that someone with an associ-atersquos degree plus a certification or licenseexperiences a 15 percent earnings pre-mium when compared with someoneholding only an associatersquos degree Andthat premium changes depending on thecertification and license and dependingon the degree (eg a two- year degree or afour- year degree)

For many students the credential isthe coin of the realm After completinga two- year or four- year program or a

continuingexecutive education pro-grammdashwhether brick -and-mortar onlineor hybridmdashstudents leave with a cre-dential Itrsquos their currency for accessingopportunities as a function of the educa-tional investment that theyrsquove made

Students then take their creden-tialsmdashtranscripts diplomas certificatesassessmentsmdashand move into a worldwhere they continue to get more certi-fications and licenses Their academiccredentials may be stacked into thosecertifications and licenses often as a pre-

requisite Indeed certifications are partof many higher education programs IfI were to go through a teacher educationprogram for example my certificationor license isnrsquot going to happen later Theprogram is specifically designed so that Iwill graduate not just with a diploma butwith that certification as well

Colleges and universities are thebeneficiaries of this growing credentialsociety because they are the gatekeepers

of many of those credentials But that isa curse as well as a blessing The curseis the expectation that higher educationmust find ways to credential bettermdashwith

more information and in more acces-sible waysmdashusing the transformativetechnology we now have available

W h a t rsquo s d r i v i n gthis demand formore credential-ing from highereducation Aca-demics will likely

disagree An economist might argue thatcredentials are measures Since we canrsquot

put an instrument into peoplersquos brainsto figure out what they know and howwell they know it we trust higher educa-tion and other institutions to measurelearning Can a graduating student writewell Speak well Think analytically Isthe student comfortable with and skilledin using numbers Asjobs have become moretechnically complexwe need more informa-tion about and higher

standards around howwe measure productivehuman capital or theuse value of the cre-dentials The transcriptcommunicates thisinformation

A sociologist how-ever mig ht arg uethat something else isgoing on The work-force hasnrsquot becomethat much more com-

plex Does the course-work completed fora bachelorrsquos degreecorrespond with therequirements of manyof the jobs in the labormarket Does someonereally need a bachelorrsquosdegree to be a fire-fighter for example

What is probably hap-

pening according to this view is creden-tial inflation When very few people hada high school degree that degree was thecurrency used to ldquopurchaserdquo a job Now

that everyone has a high school degreethe bachelorrsquos degree is the ticket Asmore and more people get bachelorrsquosdegrees a graduate degree will becomethe employment differentiator

Then somewhere in the middle ofthese two arguments is the notion thatcredentials are signals With the compe-tition over scarce opportunities in thelabor market credentials become a wayof filtering people True credentialsmay not fully communicate neededinformation The fact that I have a bach-

elorrsquos degree in sociology says very littleabout what I know and how well I knowit Nevertheless one can make certainassumptions about my knowledge andskills from the fact that I went throughthat degree program and graduated fromthe institution I attended

A credential is studentsrsquocurrency for accessing

opportunities as a function of the educational investment

that theyrsquove made





Whether measure currency or sig-nal credentials are at the center of a newdebate in higher education with risingexpectations from both students and

employers for more comprehensive cre-dentialing that documents knowledgeand skills throughout a lifetime of learn-ing I would argue that unfortunatelymost colleges and universities have notbegun to come close to meeting thoseexpectations The truth is we donrsquot com-municate a fraction of the educationalexperience that happens at our institu-tions the leadership experiences andcompetency achievements that are aresult of those programs For employ-ers these are some of the most valuable

skills and represent the type of informa-tion that they are looking for regardingpotential first-time hires

The way higher education institu-tions communicate the information ofstudent achievement is still very much

in paper-based ledger form for example Wersquore sti ll pri nti ng and mailin g Toreceive a transcript from many institu-tions today a student must fax in the

request mail a check and wait in a line toreceive an envelope inside an envelopeinside an envelope

Today students live much of theirlives online That is where they are estab-lishing professional identities and get-ting jobs When they graduate they aregiven beautiful paper diplomas framedto put on a wall for perhaps ten peopleto see What are also needed are digitaldiplomas to be placed into online pro-files for everyone to see

In addition to the lack of digital for-

mats higher education credentials are very fragmented with dual-enrollmentsstudy-abroad programs badges and

various certifications Often these cer-tifications or additional programs aresimply listed at the bottom of the tran-

script instead of being treated as afull-market-value credential

Institutions also need to find waysto transfer this information not just toand for students and employers butalso among themselves With the cur-

rent trends in terms of institutionalpathways this need for collaborationis becoming more pronounced

In my home state of Arizona forexample Arizona State University(ASU) is working with a number ofcommunity colleges so that two- yearstudents while theyrsquore still at their

home base of the two- year institutioncan have their transcript data sent to

ASU and put through a degree-auditprogram MAPP (httpstransfer

asueduagreement2maricopa-

county-community-colleg e-districtmapp) to make sure thatthe courses theyrsquore taking aregoing to maximize their transferand completion on time to that

four- year degreeThis requires an institution-

to-institution exchange of dataaround courses grades and similar

information To print and mail thatinformation and then open scan and

index it would be absolutely unscalableHowever even though ASU has had along relationship with Maricopa Com-munity College for example and many

colleges and universities probably havea similar point-to-point relationshipfor the most part that doesnrsquot generalizeacross multiple institutions

In Colorado a statewide reversetransfer program Degree Within Reach(httpdegreewithinreachorg) isthe direct opposite students have theability to leave the two- year programwithout getting an associatersquos degree Intheir four- year program on the way toa bachelorrsquos degree if they earn enoughcredits to get that two- year degree they

will earn an ldquoassociatersquos in passingrdquowhich means that even if they donrsquotultimately complete the four- year pro-gram they will still have that foundationof a two- year credential This requiresinstitution-to-institution collaborationand exchange of student records andstudent performance data

T

hus the rising expecta-tions of the credential

society the fact that ourpaper-based approach isnot meeting those expec-tations and policy drivers

about how colleges and universities areexpected to move student record datawithin and among institutions are allcreating significant challenges The goodnews is that several innovative trendsmdashincluding co-curricular experientialtranscripts micro-credentialing and theelectronic transcriptmdashhave the potentialto satisfy these expectations

Perhaps not surprisingly I feel thatthe digital credential is key to addressingmany of these challenges It can breakdown the barriers of communicatingfifteen to twenty pages of informationthat doesnrsquot scale well If the informa-tion is electronic and if itrsquos available asmachine-readable data we can begin tocommunicate more information and wecan count on the information systemsat the other end to be able to take out

Institutions need to find ways

to transfer thisinformation not just to

and for students andemployers but alsoamong themselves





exactly what theyrsquore looking for Yet these trends do pose a risk One

thing that we may not fully appreciateuntil itrsquos gone is how well-established

the academic transcript is as a standard We know it is two or three columns Weknow it shows courses and grades Weknow that it contains letter grade assess-ments andor numeric grade assess-ments And we know what to do with thatinformation As colleges and universitiesbegin to issue more experiential andorco-curricular transcripts if each institu-tion does so in its own way we could cre-ate a Tower-of-Babel problem that willmake the exchange of credentials evenmore challenging

Perhaps the best example of thisis Western Governors University aninnovator that completely rethoughtits program resulting in a completelydifferent transcript The number-one

complaint that the university receivedwas from other institutional registrarssaying ldquoI donrsquot know how to articulatethis transcript I donrsquot know how to give

students credits because I canrsquot find thebasic information that I need to makesense of the transcriptrdquo As a result

West er n Go ve rnor s Univ ersity no wprovides a traditional-format academictranscript as well as a competency-basedtranscript that reframes the traditionalinformation

L

ikewise as institutionsstart to use transcripts withmachine- readable data

rather than paper with thelook-and-feel that we takefor granted we will need

technical standards for that electroniccredentialing

Outside of theUnited States thereare some interest-ing models frominstitutions thath a v e b e g u n t otackle the problem

of electronic stan-dards for extend-i n g t h e i r t r a n -scripts in a veryprotective wayNot surprisinglymany of these arein countries thathave ministries ofeducation whichcan help lead inno-

vati on ac ro ss anentire country

For examplethe trend in theUnited Kingdomhas been to movea w a y f r o m t h edegree classifica-tion system towarda GPA system andto begin communi-cating more infor-mationmdashnot just

courses and grades but also informationabout studentsrsquo learner experiences Sothe question has become what does thisnew document look like The Higher

Education Achievement Report (HEARhttpwwwhearacuk) is trying to getahead of the problem

The HEAR asked How can wedevelop a standard that doesnrsquot stifle theinnovation of individual institutions tocommunicate the information that theywant in the way that they want it butwill still allow a reader to know what toexpect in each section Perhaps sectionone describes the institution the typesof degrees it issues where it is locatedhow it is accredited Maybe section two

gives more information about coursesand grades in a conventional formatSection three could be the place to putother types of experiential learning

And section four may be a summaryof courses and grades and experientiallearning from a competency perspec-tive How do we think about that kind ofa structure for a document and the typesof information that are associated with it

The HEAR is still early in its adop-tion in the United Kingdom and I

wouldnrsquot describe it as an unbridledsuccess Some institutions arenrsquot surehow much information they want tocommunicate in their credentials Butthe nice thing about the HEAR is that itrsquosbackward-compatible If all an institu-tion wants to do is issue a conventionalacademic transcript as a HEAR thenit sends only sections one and two forexample But if it wants to begin to com-municate competency experientialand other types of information it canextend the transcript using an extensible

machine-readable data format Therersquosalso a template that gives readers of thecredential an expectation of where thatinformation can go over time

In the United States early work also ishappening along these lines One exam-ple is a call for a Postsecondary Achieve-ment Report (PAR) Included in a PARwe might have for example a cover pagethat talks about the collegeuniversitythe student for whom the credential

As institutions start to use transcripts with machine-

readable data we will need technical standards for thatelectronic credentialing





has been prepared how awards areissued (graduating magna cum laude forexample) and some information aboutaccreditation This might be followed by

the actual transcript since there are stillexpectations surrounding credit hoursand how we break education up intodiscrete chunks

The report would allow an institutionto present this information in a con-

ventional format but would also offerthe opportunity to go deeper Forexample Stanford Univer-sity offers an interactivedig ital transcriptReceiving the tran-script in electronic

format the readercan click on anycourse listed andgo right into thecatalog descrip-tion of the courseClick ing furtherleads to the syllabusFrom the student per-spective clicking even fur-ther leads to an e-portfolio anddepending on the program and what the

student has done shows actual evidenceof the learning inside that classroom At this point the report might bring

in competency information as Northern Arizona University is doing For exam-ple what are the major competencyexpectations for a degree in the liberalarts Did the student work well in a teamstructure communicate with diversepopulations and analyze complicatedmaterials Did the student achievefull or only partial mastery of thosecompetencies

This offers the opportunity to presentexperiential information Elon Univer-sity has developed an experiential tran-script that follows the traditional look-and-feel of a conventional transcriptbut presents additional information thatincludes whether a student was a leaderin a group and how many hours hesheput into it for example

Finally the PAR could present notjust ledger information but also info-

Matthew Pittinsky

(mpittinskyparchmentcom)

is CEO of Parchment (http

wwwparchmentcom) and

Assistant Research Professor

School of Social and Family

Dynamics at Arizona State University

graphics to represent achievement overtime Why not display a trend-line GPAor pie-charts showing the studentrsquosexposure to different courses in differ-

ent content areasNow the question becomes are our

information systems set up to be able tocapture that information in a scalableway and what level of attestation or veri-fication or certification are institutionsproviding in terms of those rules and

activities The notion of the PAR is very much about setting the

horizons for presentinga broader superset of

data and informa-tion How can we

create an overalldocument frame-work as well asa n e x t e n s i b l e

machine-readabledata format that

will allow us to com-municate that infor-

mation differently acrossinstitutions but in a way that

can scale over timeThen how do we enable learners and

graduates to use that framework to inte-grate their certificates and diplomas intotheir online identities Students shouldbe able to claim an electronic credentialwith the associated security that makes itofficial and put it into their LinkedIn orFacebook profile or into an online pro-fessional community profile (eg Carecom) They need the ability to collectmultiple credentials from their homeinstitution and also other institutionsmdashlicenses badges MOOC certificatesand experiential academic or compe-

tency transcriptsmdashso they can share anddeliver those credentials securely onlineNot surprisingly the alumni office

has become one of the biggest promot-ers of sharing credentials Offeringstudents the ability to take their highereducation credentials and combinethem with other credentials over theirlifetime is a way to both promote theinstitution and enable students to makethe most of the education that theyrsquove

earned there Sharing their diplomaor certificate online is amazing social

validation for the collegeuniversity andraises awareness among social networks

driving more interest back to the homeinstitution

Lastly the learning process for stu-dents should be a key consideration ofelectronic credentialing How can wetake the machine-readable data embed-ded in these credentials and open upnew types of analytics to help learnersunderstand different types of pathwaysHow can expanded forms of electroniccredentialing help students to determinewhich courses which experiences andwhich activities might have the biggest

impact on their learning and their edu-cation as a whole

Credentials matter in aknowledge economy asa key indicator of criticallife outcomes and thefirst step is modernizingthe credential infrastruc-

ture for a digital world Colleges anduniversities need to capture the entire

educational experience to create a com-mon understanding of both course andcampus-based achievements And highereducation needs to do so electronically

via a consistent document structure anddata standard that institutions can use asa way to extend their traditional academictranscript or as a next-generation succes-sor Finally higher education needs to doall this in a way that protects preservesand limits access to that data but thatmakes the data portable available andactionable for learners graduates other

institutions and employers 983150

copy 2015 Matthew Pittinsky





One could argue that the transcriptmdashthat is credentialingmdashis the only non-negotiable service of a higher educationinstitution At the end of the day we cre-

dential Indeed America today is a cre-dential society The US Census Bureaureports that one in two US adults hassome form of postsecondary credentialone in four has some form of certifica-tion or license independent of hisherpostsecondary credential But highereducation does not hold a monopolyon credentialing It is happening in thelabor market as well with certificationsand licenses that make a significant dif-ference for workers For example theBMO Education and Training Report 2012

highlights that someone with an associ-atersquos degree plus a certification or licenseexperiences a 15 percent earnings pre-mium when compared with someoneholding only an associatersquos degree Andthat premium changes depending on thecertification and license and dependingon the degree (eg a two- year degree or afour- year degree)

For many students the credential isthe coin of the realm After completinga two- year or four- year program or a

continuingexecutive education pro-grammdashwhether brick -and-mortar onlineor hybridmdashstudents leave with a cre-dential Itrsquos their currency for accessingopportunities as a function of the educa-tional investment that theyrsquove made

Students then take their creden-tialsmdashtranscripts diplomas certificatesassessmentsmdashand move into a worldwhere they continue to get more certi-fications and licenses Their academiccredentials may be stacked into thosecertifications and licenses often as a pre-

requisite Indeed certifications are partof many higher education programs IfI were to go through a teacher educationprogram for example my certificationor license isnrsquot going to happen later Theprogram is specifically designed so that Iwill graduate not just with a diploma butwith that certification as well

Colleges and universities are thebeneficiaries of this growing credentialsociety because they are the gatekeepers

of many of those credentials But that isa curse as well as a blessing The curseis the expectation that higher educationmust find ways to credential bettermdashwith

more information and in more acces-sible waysmdashusing the transformativetechnology we now have available

W h a t rsquo s d r i v i n gthis demand formore credential-ing from highereducation Aca-demics will likely

disagree An economist might argue thatcredentials are measures Since we canrsquot

put an instrument into peoplersquos brainsto figure out what they know and howwell they know it we trust higher educa-tion and other institutions to measurelearning Can a graduating student writewell Speak well Think analytically Isthe student comfortable with and skilledin using numbers Asjobs have become moretechnically complexwe need more informa-tion about and higher

standards around howwe measure productivehuman capital or theuse value of the cre-dentials The transcriptcommunicates thisinformation

A sociologist how-ever mig ht arg uethat something else isgoing on The work-force hasnrsquot becomethat much more com-

plex Does the course-work completed fora bachelorrsquos degreecorrespond with therequirements of manyof the jobs in the labormarket Does someonereally need a bachelorrsquosdegree to be a fire-fighter for example

What is probably hap-

pening according to this view is creden-tial inflation When very few people hada high school degree that degree was thecurrency used to ldquopurchaserdquo a job Now

that everyone has a high school degreethe bachelorrsquos degree is the ticket Asmore and more people get bachelorrsquosdegrees a graduate degree will becomethe employment differentiator

Then somewhere in the middle ofthese two arguments is the notion thatcredentials are signals With the compe-tition over scarce opportunities in thelabor market credentials become a wayof filtering people True credentialsmay not fully communicate neededinformation The fact that I have a bach-

elorrsquos degree in sociology says very littleabout what I know and how well I knowit Nevertheless one can make certainassumptions about my knowledge andskills from the fact that I went throughthat degree program and graduated fromthe institution I attended

A credential is studentsrsquocurrency for accessing

opportunities as a function of the educational investment

that theyrsquove made






























T



















L
































Matthew Pittinsky





























































T



















L
































Matthew Pittinsky











































L
































Matthew Pittinsky













































Matthew Pittinsky
































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Creditational in HE