More states are embracing microcredentials as a form of professional development for teachers that’s self-paced, ideally hands-on, and customizable to the skills they want to build or the subject areas they want to teach.
It’s a change that’s happening gradually, and it’s one that experts say can help make professional development more relevant for educators and a tool that districts can use to retain top talent.
But even as more states formally allow teachers to use microcredentials to bolster their knowledge and skills, they’re doing so in different ways, and there’s no central location to track how they’re doing it and who’s doing it well, said Melissa Tooley, the director of P-12 educator quality in the education policy program at New America, and the co-author of a new report that analyzes states’ growing use of microcredentials in recent years.
With microcredentials, teachers choose a skill they want to develop—often, a focused skill, like employing “wait time” after asking students a discussion question. Then, they work on it at their own pace before supplying evidence—classroom videos, student work examples, and written reflections—to show they’ve mastered it.
An outside evaluator reviews the evidence, provides feedback, and awards the microcredential if the teacher has met the criteria. If not, the teacher can keep working on it, resubmit the evidence, and earn the credential, which typically comes in the form of a digital badge.
Microcredentials are available through a handful of online platforms, usually for a fee of about $40.
Because they’re effectively competency-based learning for teachers—self-paced, with the ability for teachers to keep trying until they earn the badge—districts that have shifted to competency-based learning for students have sometimes turned to microcredentials to train teachers. Districts have also used them for narrower purposes: an Iowa district required teachers to complete a microcredential in remote instruction at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example.
The increased incorporation of microcredentials into professional development is generally positive, Tooley said, because it shows states are seeking out innovative approaches to strengthen their educator pipelines.
“The thing about microcredentials that I think is really promising is that they have the potential to plug into lots of different parts of the educator pipeline, from preparation and initial credentialing to ongoing professional learning, teacher retention, and building pathways to advanced roles,” Tooley said. “There are lots of ways we can utilize microcredentials to shore up the educator workforce.”
In her report, co-authored with Lisette Partelow, Tooley found that 31 states and the District of Columbia now encourage the use of microcredentials in some way, up from 26 in 2020. The tally increased even though New America’s report excludes states that have not provided funding for their microcredential initiatives, the report said.
High-quality microcredentials incorporate a number of elements researchers have agreed are often missing from traditional professional development. They are generally focused directly on classroom practice rather than general content and principles, and teachers typically have to apply what they learn to earn the badge. The learning isn’t confined to a one-time, one-size-fits-all workshop that might be relevant to some teachers and not others.
“Microcredentials can be so useful, and it’s because they really reflect the core of what research shows are the core principles of how adults learn, which is by doing, seeing the results, reflecting on those results, and then incorporating that feedback into what they do next,” Tooley said. “A lot of us can read something and learn something. That doesn’t mean we can go do it, and that is definitely how we currently provide most professional learning to our educators.”
There’s still limited research into microcredentials’ effects on student learning. And because of the number of organizations offering them, there’s no central quality control. In addition, there’s a lot of variation in whether teachers receive coaching as they pursue the credentials, according to another New America report from 2021.
More states are testing microcredentials
The latest New America report, released May 6, found that, despite those challenges, states are increasingly dipping their toes into microcredentials and exploring how the courses can bolster teacher recruitment, retention, and efficacy.
Fourteen of the 32 states that allow microcredentials let teachers and prospective educators apply them to more than one of the six purposes Tooley and Partelow examined: pre-service teacher preparation, first-time professional educator credentials, curated professional development, license renewal, additional license endorsements, and advanced licenses.
Five states—Delaware, Alaska, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island—each allow microcredentials for three of those purposes, while Arkansas and Utah allow them for four of them.
The most common purposes for which states allow microcredentials are satisfying license renewal requirements (15 states) and providing professional learning on curated topics (13 states).
Ten states allow them as part of teachers’ training to earn additional license endorsements, typically in subjects with chronic shortages, like math and special education, the report said.
Microcredentials need more quality control, but are ‘ripe for exploration’
Tooley and Partelow found that, despite the uptick in states allowing microcredentials, there is variation in how they are used. In some states, offerings are “more akin to completing a handful of online courses” and lack the critical component of putting the new skill into practice in the classroom to demonstrate competency, the report said.
Still, Tooley said the expanded adoption of microcredentials is a positive shift. Even if they’re not perfect, she said, they are worth a try.
“We, historically, haven’t done teacher professional learning particularly well, so if you stumble and it’s not perfect, it’s still better than nothing at all,” Tooley said. “It’s an area really ripe for exploration.”
To get the most out of microcredentials, states and districts need to ensure the offerings are high-quality—particularly offering the ability for teachers to demonstrate their skills in a hands-on environment—which can be a challenge, as there are few professional groups to vet microcredential programs and set standards.
“Without a vetted, trusted process for determining which microcredential offerings are high-quality, policymakers, schools, and educators alike remain in the dark about which ones are likely to add value to educators’ professional practice, and states will fail to harness the potential of microcredentials for improving teaching and learning,” the report said.
States and districts also should establish policies that encourage teachers to engage with the microcredentials—such as offering additional compensation for earning the badges rather than primarily for obtaining higher education degrees, Tooley said. Those incentives could help with teacher retention by offering career advancement opportunities without requiring a move into administration roles, she said.
“When we’re talking about ways to retain the best teachers,” Tooley said, “this could be a truly powerful tool.”
