Credit and Credentialing

Committee ReportEducational Attainment

Task ForceMarch 12, 2013

Committee Members

• Co-Chairs:– Richard Holman (INL) - Rob Lohrmeyer (LCSC)

• Members– Linda Clark - Karla Robinson– Scott Rasmussen -Aaron White

• Staff–Gordon Graff (Labor)–Susan Johnson (PTE)

Primary Topics/Issues

• Dual Credit

• Stackable Credits/Credentials

• Make workforce training credit bearing

• Process: Considered and consolidated all items provided or determined the item was out of scope of committee.

Shared Topics/Issues

Cross Committee Items:

•Industry Engagement

•System Improvement

•Funding Issues

Tabled Topics/Issues

Items considered beyond the scope of the Committee:

•National database of certificates

•Planning and coordination

•Flexible delivery

Background/Findings

Dual Credit•Programmatic Design

• Improved process for awarding PTE credits

• Transferability of credits•Strategic Focus

• Seamless school to work•State Funding

Background/FindingsStackable credits/credentials

– Credit for prior learning with a consistent process– Competency-based education– Stackable credentials including credit for apprenticeship and short

term training programs– Transferability of credits– Transferability of prior coursework

• Note: Structured learning or coursework in which college credit was not awarded: continuing education programs or workforce training that align to the learning outcomes of a postsecondary program.

– Reconciling extended learning (life skills, work experience) to college credit

• Note: Unstructured learning opportunities in work and life experiences that lead a person to obtaining knowledge or competencies that align to the learning outcomes of a postsecondary program.

– Accreditation rules– BOTTOM LINE – ACCREDITATION RULES RULE… more on this later

Background/Findings

Make Workforce training credit-bearing• Alignment between credit programs & non-

credit programs• Transferability of prior coursework• Credit for Prior Learning Experience• Accreditation issues

Recommendations

Dual Credit• Programmatic Design

– Wait for the results of the PTE Tech Prep Task Force (Due April 2013)

– Wait for the results of the OSBE Dual Credit Delivery cost project (due April 2013)

• Transferability of Credits– Additional education efforts to inform all

stakeholders of the existing process

Recommendations

Dual Credit (Continued)• Strategic focus

– Continue to support SBOE Policy»Enhance postsecondary goals»Reduce duplication and provide easy

transition»Reduce over all cost of education and

training• State Funding

– Increase legislative awareness

Recommendations

Stackable Credits and CredentialsThe Concern: the amount of credits that can be awarded in a program for prior learning is limited by accreditation rules.

This includes credit awarded for expertise coming from a number of different possible areas including 1) industrial work experience, 2) specific training and experience in an arm of the military, or 3) skills learned from any on-the-job training.

Institutions of higher learning seem to be increasing the level of scrutiny involved in awarding credit for prior learning.

There are also concerns regarding accreditation requirements which could limit the number of credits available in a particular program of study.

RecommendationsStackable Credits and CredentialsThe Finding: The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accreditation standard 2.C.7 states:

"Credit for prior experiential learning, if granted, is: a) guided by approved policies and procedures; b) awarded only at the undergraduate level to enrolled students; c) limited to a maximum of 25% of the credits needed for a degree; d) awarded only for documented student achievement equivalent to expected learning achievement for courses within the institution’s regular curricular offerings; and e) granted only upon the recommendation of appropriately qualified teaching faculty. Credit granted for prior experiential learning is so identified on students’ transcripts and may not duplicate other credit awarded to the student in fulfillment of degree requirements. The institution makes no assurances regarding the number of credits to be awarded prior to the completion of the institution’s review process. "

Note part C limits the maximum number of credits that can be granted to 25% of the credits needed for a degree.

Recommendations

Stackable Credits and CredentialsThe Recommendation: IDoL, industry representatives and institutions of higher learning work together to encourage accreditation bodies such as the NWCCU to remove roadblocks, such as those mentioned above, allowing credit to be given for well documented prior learning of all types.

THIS IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST ROADBLOCK TO PROVIDING CREDIT TO STUDENTS, MILITARY, INCUMBENT EMPLOYEES FOR LEARNING THAT HAS OCCURRED AND CAN BE DOCUMENTED. OTHER REGIONS ALLOW A MORE FLEXIBLE APPROACH.

Recommendations

Make workforce training credit bearing

Establish a working group to investigate some of the national models to see if they could be adapted to meet the industry needs of Idaho. Thomas Edison State (New Jersey) and Excelsior College (New York) are two institutions that specialize in this “aggregation” approach.

RecommendationsCross-Committee Items: Industry Engagement•Provide a uniform measure of core competencies required for workplace success in areas such as decision making/ teaming/math/reading comprehension (i.e. ACT National Career Readiness Certificate, others)

•The subcommittee agrees that a career readiness certificate would be of significant value to employers, educational institutions (at both secondary and post-secondary) and the prospective employees. Information on this subject is significant with a fair number of states using a tool. The variety and breadth of the tools requires that effectiveness of these tools in accurately measuring the actual workforce readiness characteristics of those taking the evaluation be completed. This requires a closer look at the tools and implementation.

•RECOMMENDATION: A task team be formulated to further identify and evaluate the available career readiness certificate options. This will include investigation and a final report with a recommendation and cost estimate regarding the sources of these evaluation tools, issues of implementation as gathered from current users including state agencies, industry and employees, detailed costs associated with implementation and, finally, the perceptions from current users regarding the effectiveness of the evaluations in improving communication between learning institutions and industry at all levels as it pertains to improving the preparation and readiness of the prospective workforce. It is recommended that the team be comprised of at least 4 industry representatives from different market segments common to Idaho. Additional membership from the professional technical college leadership and the Departments of Labor, Commerce, Education and the Office of Professional Technical Education are also necessary based on the far-reaching impacts of adopting such a system.

RecommendationsCross-Committee Items: Industry Engagement•Develop curriculum around industry certified standards (outcomes).

•Educators need to know what industry considers to be the most important technical and career skills and competencies to be obtained by a student prior to transition into the workplace. In many cases, national standards and certifications guide instruction in training programs; however, in some cases national standards do not exist or there are multiple national standards in a market sector dependent on the industry.

•RECOMMENDATION: Post-secondary education should uniformly utilize local/regional market-sectors and industry to establish and validate training program standards that support the regional marketplace and develop stackable credentials based on identified skills and competencies that will satisfy regional industry needs.

RecommendationsCross-Committee Item: System Improvement•Early College and concurrent enrollment systems need to be more programmatic and purposeful.

•Many high school students earn college credits without considering how those credits apply to college graduation requirements, or the impact those credits may have on their financial aid eligibility. Students also have the perception that all college credits “count” or that all degrees are made up of a large number of elective credits, and that’s not true.

•RECOMMENDATION: Career and college advising needs to be improved in the high schools and provided to students and their parents, so they can make informed decisions.  

RecommendationsCross-Committee Items: Funding Issues•Develop a strategy to reduce costs for PTE and certification opportunities.•Work to reduce the student supported costs for dual enrollment. (OSBE and SDPTE initiatives)•Funding on the secondary side for Dual Credit and Tech Prep courses has been left at the district level. This creates a disparity across the state based on the fiscal position of the local school district. Additional funding is needed to scholarship students who do not have the resources to purchase the college credits. And to fund districts to purchase the needed textbooks for the college level classes. Typically these text books are not the ones adopted by the district for the district wide curriculum. •RECOMMENDATION: Increase legislative awareness of the educational and economic value of this approach to all Idaho stakeholders and request increased funding at the legislative level to support advanced opportunities for high school students.

Not AddressedItems beyond the scope of the subcommittee:National Database of certificates•Probably not achievable. Focus on specific industry clusters

Planning & Coordination •WHAT needs to be planned & WHO it needs to be coordinated with.

Flexible Delivery•Will require a multi-agency approach. The goal would be to remove any and all reasonable barriers to success.

Top Recommendations• One – Work with accreditation bodies to improve

flexibility of the process of awarding credits >25%.

• Two – Establish a team to determine how/if a career readiness tool could/should be adopted in Idaho.

• Three – Investigate tools used by other schools to aggregate credit and the application in Idaho.

• Four – Fund better advising and connections between districts and colleges to increase student opportunity and reduce cost.