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The Professional Testing Blog

Credential Transparency: Sorting Through the Maze and Meaning of the Letters Behind Your Name

Understanding what’s behind a credential is important for persons seeking options to qualify for jobs, obtain a license, or join a profession, and for employers making hiring decisions. We live in a credentialing society, with many credentials competing for the attention of students and workers, ranging from badges, to certifications, to micro-credentials, certificates, degrees and so on.  Sorting through the maze and meaning is difficult if one does not know how to navigate the many available credentialing opportunities.  While no one sets out to select a poor credential, they exist and often students, workers and employers are left in the dark trying to sort the good from the bad.  Understanding what a credential stands for, what it consists of, and if it s worth the time and resources is complicated, but it no longer has to be.

With the recent launch of the Credential Engine, an open-source registry for educators, employers, students, workers and credentialing organizations, the mystery of finding a credible credential is being solved.  The Credential Registry is a web-based registry that uses a common language to collect, connect and maintain information about credentials in the market place.  Users of the Credential Engine can search for and compare information by the following categories: Credentials, Organizations, Assessment, and learning Opportunities.  The Credential Engine provides a link to the credential, so users can determine its components, for example, competencies, indicators of quality such as accreditation, qualifications to earn the credential, and career pathways.  Framed by Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL), this common credentialing language enables all users to understand and compare credentials, criterion by criterion.  The CTDL assures “transparency” of the credentials so users can make better decisions when selecting credentials, and can search for the indicators of credible credentials.

Recently the Society for Certified Senior Advisors registered the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® credential on the Credential Engine.  The CSA is a full-scope certification, with eligibility and application requirements, a competency-based examination, recertification requirements and a Code of Ethics. Registering the CSA on the Credential Registry was a simple process that only required compiling basic information about the requirements and history of the CSA in an easy-to-use online interface.  SCSA can showcase the details of its CSA certification by providing information about requirements for certification, recertification, accreditation, pricing, historical information, details about the assessment, etc.

With the Registry, certification organizations can enter their own information thereby assuring accuracy and currency of credentialing data.  The benefits of registering a credential include increasing its visibility; illustrating its components—eligibility to earn and maintain, information about the assessment and required competencies; highlighting quality assurance markers such as accreditation; and standing “peer-to-peer” with competitors on an equal playing field utilizing a common terminology.  Within the suite of other web-based services available in the Credential Engine, information is centrally stored and easily accessed by any user, enhancing the quality and market-value of the CSA, connecting the CSA to other credentials and careers, and indicating whether quality assurance measures have been evaluated.   Through registration, the Credential Engine is one means for the CSA to obtain greater visibility to new and potential stakeholders.

For the public, and credentialing bodies, the Credential Engine opens and levels the playing field for all stakeholders—sponsoring organizations, credentialed persons, consumers, and the public.

For more blogs about credentials go to Sorting Through Credentialing Confusion or Calling all Credentialing Organizations.

Categorized in: Industry News