State Policy Scan Methodology

We performed five actions for this state policy scan:

• Reviewed statutes, regulations, and websites of state education agencies governing educator preparation, credentialing, and professional learning in all 50 states plus Washington, DC,¹ for references to educator micro-credentials.
• Performed online searches to identify educator micro-credentials offered or financially supported by state education agencies.
• Interviewed the three major providers of educator micro-credentials and other policy experts for insights on how states are using educator micro-credentials. see Appendix B for full list of interviews
• Categorized each state policy that included a reference to micro-credentials for educators in one of six ways: educator preparation program governance, initial credentialing, curated professional development, license renewal, endorsements, or license advancement.
• Contacted each state education agency via email to request verification of our search results.

A state was deemed to have a statewide policy for educator micro-credentials in one or more of the six educator policy categories listed above if we could locate evidence that a state entity explicitly allows, encourages, or requires the use of micro-credentials for that specific policy purpose. Examples of encouraging micro-credentials include creating, funding creation of, and/or publishing micro-credentials for educators, promoting micro-credentials in state-developed or funded materials, or offering financial incentives to educators engaging with micro-credentials. States that tacitly allow the use of educator micro-credentials (e.g., by accepting micro-credentials as a form of professional learning that satisfies relicensure requirements, but not explicitly stating this in any public documentation) were not deemed to have a statewide policy.² Although states sometimes distinguish between the terms certification and license (or only use one of these terms), these terms are used interchangeably for the purpose of this analysis. More detailed information about how the authors assessed the existence of state policy in each of the six identified categories, as well as example scenarios, can be found in Appendix C.

We did not attempt to assess whether states’ use of the micro-credentials label aligned with the definition of high-quality micro-credentials offered here. If states labeled something a micro-credential, we accepted it as such, despite the fact that states sometimes appeared to use the term to refer to professional development offered in a didactic format and/or with a focus on assessing knowledge rather than demonstrating real-world skills.³ Conversely, some state education agency staff shared that they have license renewal policies that explicitly encourage or require the kind of cycle of inquiry at the heart of high-quality micro-credentials, even though the state does not explicitly use the term micro-credentials or offer any type of recognition for completing the cycle of inquiry process.