In this blog post, we hear from ACRES Project Leader and Coach Perrin Chick about the exciting possibilities of micro-credentials for out-of-school educators.
Why do you want more people to know about STEM micro-credentials?
I love the concept of STEM micro credentials, or competency-based recognition represented by digital badges for afterschool and out-of-school professionals. They’re just one way to recognize educators’ hard work and recognize their skill set, reminding the world that they are professionals who are doing amazing things with youth and in their programs every day. These STEM micro-credentials indicate achievement in the field that otherwise might be overlooked.
Can you tell us more about the micro-credential badges?
There are 10 different badges, so there are 10 different STEM facilitation skills they get to showcase.
And how do you earn them?
To get a badge, educators either have to go through a Dimension of Success observation—put out by Partnerships in Education and Resilience (PEAR), which is Dimensions of Success—or they can record a video of themselves teaching a 20-minute unedited clip and upload that. And then a reviewer uses an established rubric to evaluate whether they are exhibiting the skills in that video related to the credentials.
Can you give some examples of what skills a badge represents?
One credential might be setting up a STEM classroom for success, another could be how to give youth voice and choice, and another one might be STEM relevance, which is related to how they make their lesson engaging relative to careers.
Why would educators want to get a STEM micro-credential?
Educators can add digital badges to their resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Some employers and networks offer incentives when educators earn these credentials. We hope to see program providers one day offering raises and promotions to those who are able to showcase their STEM Facilitation awesomeness.
What organizations recognize and govern these micro-credentials?
The National Afterschool Association is the platform that awards the badges. They worked with STEM Next, ACRES, PEAR, National Girls Collaborative, Click2Science, Techbridge Girls, and 4H, so lots of partners came together probably six years ago to create and collaborate on these badges.
Is there anything else you want people to know about out-of-school STEM micro-credentials?
I’m very, very proud of our efforts at MMSA to professionalize the out-of-school field. ACRES has the highest number of people who are applying for digital badges. The National Afterschool Association keeps track of which professional development programs supported educators, as they learn about the credentials. 16 out of the 17 people who applied in the last few months were trained throughACRES and 100% of those were successful in getting their STEM micro-credentials, or digital badges were connected to ACRES. The ACRES team will ramp up our efforts to support educators as they pursue STEM digital badges in this our last year of funding. We will work hard to increase the number of people who know about the credentials and are successful in earning this credential. We do this in partnership with the National Afterschool Association and with funding support from National Science Foundation and STEM Next.
To get started with earning micro-credentials, sign up to join us at an upcoming info session: https://forms.gle/CfiFoKPeUY5YPbLp9. You can also begin with one of ACRES’ “Asking Purposeful Questions” cohorts or contact ACRES at acres@mmsa.org. To apply for a micro-credential, visit NAA’s Website for Micro-credentials.
