It is critical that those seeking to advance incremental credentialing at their institutions (e.g., the campus leadership team, faculty) understand the policy landscape. At a minimum, that landscape should include the federal, state, state system/coordinating board, accreditation, and employer levels. The following checklist can be a vital tool for assessing the policy context. The higher the score, the more positive will be the policy context for incremental credentialing.
Each member of the incremental credentialing development team should complete this form. The individual scores will help define team members’ varying levels of understanding of the policy context. The team can then work to reach a common understanding of the policy landscape early in the development process.
Credential As You Go has acquired three phases of funding to date. Lumina Foundation funded Phase I, resulting in the Incremental Credential Framework for testing. The Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education funds Phase II (Grant R305T210063), which focuses on rapid prototyping of and research on incremental credentials with a national campaign. An anonymous private donor fund at the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University funds the development of the prototype Learn and Work Ecosystem Library. Walmart funds Phase III, which focuses on systems change for expansion and sustainability of incremental credentials. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of Lumina Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, Walmart, or George Washington University.
