A Community Micro-Credentials Effort Connects Students to Local Employers — from gettingsmart.com by David McCool
Key Points
- Partnering credentialing opportunities alongside pre-existing regional initiatives is a great way to get buy-in and create momentum.
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When Polk County schools began focusing on career and technical education in the spring of 2023, one of their goals was to help students succeed in the workplace by offering the opportunity to develop soft skills and earn micro-credentials to communicate with potential employers. The district collaborated with Education Design Lab, Muzzy Lane, Polk Vision, the Central Florida Development Council, and Southern New Hampshire University to make this dream a reality.
In its first few years, this collaboration has not only taught students valuable skills but has also provided employers with new recruitment opportunities and a linkage to a talent pipeline that they otherwise wouldn’t have had.