The North Carolina Basic Skills Credential Project began in 2005 in response to a call from the field for a credential to help professionalize the field of adult education. Such a credential was seen as a move toward accountability and would verify that the holder had participated in meaningful professional development activities and translated that knowledge into effective teaching and learning in the Basic Skills classroom and program.

A core goal of the Credential Model was to design a teaching credential that bridged current theory in adult education with the world of the practitioner.  A Credentialing Committee was created to explore credentialing models from other states and make recommendations to the State Basic Skills Office and the Advisory Board.

Between 2005 – 2007, the Credentialing Committee:

·         reviewed the literature on credentialing in adult education;

·         communicated with the field about delivery systems, program cohesiveness, and credentialing needs and interests;

·         reviewed the credentialing requirements for adult educators in other states;

·         developed guiding principles to focus their work;

·         in the absence of an overall set of teacher standards and competencies, developed a preliminary set of new teacher competencies;

·         developed a sample new teacher orientation process, a new teacher self-assessment, and a local program follow-up checklist for new teachers; and

·         designed an online orientation course for new teachers which will be piloted in the fall of 2007 and will then be made available statewide in the spring of 2008.

In the spring of 2007, the Adult Basic Skills Professional Development Project (ABSPD) reviewed adult education teacher standards from six states and used those standards to develop a survey, which was sent out as part of Institute 2007 homework.  About 400 surveys were collected from Basic Skills educators throughout North Carolina.

At the ABSPD pre-conference session, participants were charged with deciding on levels of competency. Their final recommendation was: novice, experienced, expert, and master. They then worked in small groups (using survey results) to determine which competencies to keep or discard and how they should be broken down among the four levels. The "Standards by Levels" document was the result of this process.

The Credentialing Committee, with assistance from Strategic Training and Resources, Inc., refined the Standards by Levels.  Following their review, the Credentialing Committee submitted the standards framework to the State Office and Advisory Board for initial approval for public comment. 

Regional forums were held in January to obtain direct input from the field.  In addition, the standards framework was posted online for public comment.  Recommendations from the forums were incorporated into the standards framework and submitted to the Advisory Board for approval.

Credentialing for Levels 1 and 2 was piloted in 2008 - 2009.  Based on feedback from the pilot, the process was revised and will be made available statewide in 2009 - 2010.

Credentialing for Levels 3 and 4 will be piloted in 2009 - 2010.  Following revisions, the process will be made available in 2010 - 2011.