We are happy to announce an update to Washington State’s Success Story offering more detail into our partnership. Washington was one of Credential Engine’s first state partners because leaders recognized the value of building a Registry where credentials could be broken down into their core competencies and skills and be easily viewed, updated, and compared with one another.

Washingtonians need a credential system that is transparent, connected, and equitable so they can navigate career paths, learn new skills, and find satisfying, well-paid work. Key to achieving these goals has been making data about postsecondary credentials easier for students and jobseekers to find and use to compare education and training opportunities. Integrating with the Credential Registry and mapping to the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL):

  • Ensures information about these credentials remains current and available in a common language.
  • Allows students and jobseekers to better understand what they can expect to learn, along with the market value associated with the skills and competencies within each credential.
  • Helps Washington’s education providers fine-tune their offerings so they hit the mark for what students actually need to learn to fill specific skill sets sought by business and industry.

As part of their ongoing efforts, leaders in Washington formed the state’s first-ever Credential Transparency Advisory Committee in 2019. The committee aims to help shape a statewide vision for increasing credential transparency and navigability among Washington’s secondary and postsecondary systems. Ongoing efforts to create a common credential taxonomy using CTDL will ensure that timely, trusted information about credentials opens eyes to the full range of opportunities available for learning, advancement, and meaningful careers.

The state also has a clear vision for the future and will continue working to advance credential transparency across the state. The state will continue to publish credential data into the Credential Registry and will bolster that with related employer data. Washington became the third state to pass legislation that enables them to collect occupational data from employers, and this new data will help policymakers and communities understand who is working, what kind of work they’re doing, and where they’re doing it—filling in labor market gaps and focusing training programs to meet regional needs.

We invite you to read Washington’s full Success Story and continue to check back to learn about our work with other states. Credential Engine will continue to expand on the Success Stories of our various state partners to highlight their achievements, approaches to credential transparency, and the many ways they support this important work.

If you have any questions about our state partnership work, please email Emilie Rafal, Credential Engine’s Director of Programs, at erafal@credentialengine.org.

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