Reward Educator Growth with Microcredentials & Badges

As educators implement new strategies and skills, they capture evidence to document their growth and upload it to GroweLab. When the educator’s coach reviews and approves the evidence, the educator receives credit toward their next badge. Badges are awarded when the educator meets certain benchmarks of proficiency that have been reviewed by their coach.

The process for earning a microcredential is similar to earning a badge with one key difference: with a microcredential, the teacher or staff member has provide evidence of implementation demonstrating proficiency for each strand of their competency. Microcredentials are a marker of high-fidelity implementation aligned to levels of proficiency outlined in each competency.

Both badges and microcredentials indicate increased levels of effectiveness and proficiency that have been demonstrated with evidence and reviewed by a coach. The key difference is that microcredentials represent a deeper level of implementation for an entire competency, instead of a single skill or strand within a competency.

“I’m working hard for the badges!” engage2learn has been issuing competency badges to tens of thousands of teachers, instructional coaches, principals, operations staff, and many others for the past 7 years, and the simple answer is, “Yes!” Educators love feeling supported, encouraged, and recognized for their growth and achievements. Awarding badges and microcredentials is a simple and effective tool for nurturing and celebrating your teachers’ growth.

Absolutely! GroweLab leverages competency badges and microcredentials to create growth-based reports that help individual school and district leaders monitor progress toward high-level goals while also identifying growth gaps and trends across their school or district. Learn more on the Education Analytics page.

Badges and microcredentials are a highly effective tool that leaders can use to cultivate a positive culture of growth. Below are a few ways that engage2learn partners districts use badges in GroweLab:

• Verbally recognizing and celebrating badge achievements during staff/team meetings.
• Printing badge stickers for teachers to display in the hallways or their classrooms whenever they earn them.
• Hosting friendly competitions or setting school-wide badge goals using a large “badge thermometer” in the staff lounge.
• Connecting badges and microcredentials to teacher pay incentives and performance evaluations.
• Using competency reports in GroweLab to monitor progress toward growth benchmarks and identify teachers/staff who need additional support.

No! GroweLab includes an easy-to-use celebration system that allows coaches and leaders to quickly celebrate and recognize any staff achievement at any time. The system also supports peer celebrations so your teachers and staff can encourage each other as well!