Roy Swift, Ph.D., executive director of Workcred, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) affiliate which serves to strengthen workforce quality by improving the credentialing system, was a recent panelist at the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) Innovations in Testing 2016 conference in Orlando, Florida. The event united assessment industry professionals from certification/licensure, clinical, educational, industrial/organizational, and workforce skills credentialing practice areas.
The conference underscored the importance of the role of assessment in ensuring competencies have been achieved. Speeches and presentations also drew attention to the fact that there is a need for better alignment between industry, education, and the credentialing community. Workcred, launched in 2014, is actively engaged in a number of activities to define competencies and align assessment tools with learning outcomes, and to help bridge the gap between what industry needs, what education produces, and what the certification body tests.
Dr. Swift spoke on behalf of Workcred and the Credential Transparency Initiative (CTI), which serves to create greater clarity in the U.S. credentialing marketplace. CTI is a Lumina-Foundation-funded initiative led by George Washington University's Institute of Public Policy, ANSI-affiliate Workcred, and Southern Illinois University's Center for Workforce Development. The pioneering initiative aims to improve the often confusing credentialing system through a multi-tiered approach: CTI will develop common language for describing the key features of credentials; create a voluntary, web-based Credential Registry for sharing the resulting information; and build practical software applications that facilitate access to this information and serve the needs of employers, educators, students, counselors, and others.
Led by an executive committee of senior representatives from the American Association of Community Colleges, American Council on Education, Business Roundtable, Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board, National Association of Manufacturers' Manufacturing Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and University Professional and Continuing Education Association, the collaborative is currently seeking up to 100 credentialing organizations to participate; for the pilot, the initiative has a particular focus on credentials in the healthcare, manufacturing, and information technology sectors.
For more information about CTI, including opportunities to become involved, visit www.credentialtransparencyinitiative.org, or contact a member of the CTI project team at [email protected].
For more information on Workcred, visit the website.
About ATP
Established in 1992, the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) is a non-profit organization representing providers of tests and assessment tools and/or services related to assessment, selection, screening, certification, licensing, educational, or clinical uses.
