Portable. Stackable. Transferable. 3rd-party approved and endorsed. These are terms you'll hear bandied about upon entering the world of credentials and certifications especially in technology education and training settings. But what does it all mean and why should you care? In this article we'll share what we've learned and how we're applying those learnings as part of our efforts to develop and deliver a top-notch Manufacturing Technology career and technical education (CTE) program here at Valley Career and Technical Center in Fishersville, VA. First, lets address the difference between the term credential versus certification. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) sites that "an education- and work-related credential can be defined as a verification of an individual’s qualification or competence issued by a third party with the relevant authority to issue such credentials (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010). The term credential encompasses educational certificates, degrees, certifications, and government-issued licenses." Whereas, certification is a term that refers to a specific type of qualification level. In 2012 the General Assembly passed, and our Virginia Governor signed into law, HB 1016 and SB 489, to strengthen post-secondary education and workplace readiness opportunities for all students. The legislation says, in part "Beginning with first-time ninth grade students in the 2013-2014 school year, requirements for the standard diploma shall include a requirement to earn a career and technical education credential that has been approved by the Board, that could include, but not be limited to, the successful completion of an industry certification, a state licensure examination, a national occupational competency assessment, or the Virginia workplace readiness skills assessment.” As a follow-up the Board released its approved list of industry certifications, occupational competency assessments and professional licenses. The current Virginia Board list can be viewed here. Check out your state Department of Education site to find the same. It's worth noting here that lists such as this are organized to include both specific and more general certification areas ranging from "Career Readiness" to "Technology Education" within which you will find related specific certifications based on discipline and industry. For example, in the case of our Manufacturing Technology program, a general applicable certification could be the ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness assessment whereas a more specific industry- and discipline-specific applicable certification could be the Certified Production Technician certification examination. In each case there is an online examination and required preparatory coursework but depending on the level of rigor, and specific competency requirements, the number of required contact time (hours spent running through respective curriculum) will vary. So which one do you pick for your program? In our case, and informed by discussions with others who are running successful manufacturing technology training programs such as Central Virginia Community College , Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center, and North Side High School in Indiana, we decided to offer students the opportunity to pursue a set of stackable credentials that equips them with a vertically-aligned set of competencies most closely related to the discipline you are teaching/training in and related industry. In the case of our Manufacturing Technology program, we are planning to include a sequential, credential stack that includes four unique certifications, each offering its own value to both students and overall program validity and credibility. Furthermore, the credentials are portable which means they follow their owner from workplace to workplace and are also transferable and recognized nationally, and in some case, internationally. It would be great if we could get badging authorities like IMS Global and the Badge Alliance to recognize and endorse these too as part of their growing workforce badge ecosystem. The real test will be how well we can integrate and implement the curriculum and learning associated with each of these credentials. And of course, keep in mind the requirement to have your instructors trained and pass any training they will need in order to teach this material. By structuring our program curriculum upon key industry- and discipline-specific skill-based credentials and certifications such as these, our students will have a much stronger foundation of skills and competencies that will enable them to credibly pursue work or further education in the fields of manufacturing technology, set themselves apart from those that don't, save their employers considerable time and money in training and re-training, realize promotion opportunities more quickly and ultimately contribute to closing the skills gap that currently exists.
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why "Health of the line"The on-time completion, and finished quality, of a manufactured product is dependent upon how well things go at each and every step of the process. This is known as "health of the line". AuthorAndrei Dacko heads the development of the Manufacturing Technology program at VCTC. He brings over 20yrs combined experience across education, manufacturing, sales, and business development. Archives
January 2018
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