Examples of Frameworks that Inform the Design of Quality in Credentials

There are many credential quality frameworks that can help guide states, programs, and higher education institutions seeking to ensure quality, trustworthiness, and value of credentials. Four key frameworks are those from the Education Strategy Group, Rutgers University’s Education & Employment Research Center, the Education Quality Outcomes Standards Board, and the National Skills Coalition.

To address the lack of comparability among various credential quality frameworks—including varying definitions and measures of quality for credentials and outcomes—Credential Engine works with organizations to map their frameworks to the Credential Transparency Description Language.

• CTDL is an open-source common language that lets states and providers catalog, organize, and compare credentials with uniformity. This helps ensure their frameworks are transparent, easily accessible, and useful for people to better identify high-value, high-quality credentials.
• The CTDL Benchmark Models array a database of credential models based on various frameworks, helps ensure that no matter which framework is used by a state or higher education institution, it will be available in a consistent, common language.
• A policy brief from Credential Engine, Making Information About Credentials More Actionable Through Increased Transparency and Quality Assurance, makes the case for increasing the transparency of quality indicators about credentials.
• There are over 425 Credential Frameworks in Credential Engine’s Credential Registry, encompassing more than 44,500 competencies.