New Mexico College Publishes Report to Advance a National Learning and Employment Record for Skills-based Credentialing and Hiring

The LER infrastructure will allow students to easily amplify their education credentials, skills and employment records to many more employers, making it easier to find good jobs. Employers will be able to easily find and connect with job-seekers who have the exact skills they’re seeking.

In the current job market, applicants are usually asked to provide a broad résumé that lists the basics of their qualifications including college degrees and past work experience. It’s an outdated and inefficient system and one that Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) is now helping to improve.

Thanks to a grant from Walmart, CNM produced a comprehensive report that researches several independent efforts underway in order to build a model for creating a national Learner and Employment Records (LER) infrastructure. An LER enables the exchange of skills-based digital records that facilitate more efficient pathways from learning to earning.

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An LER is more efficient and secure for both employers and job-seekers because it uses blockchain technology to provide security, trust, and transparency. Blockchain allows for independent verification of all the credentials put forth by an individual and allows for significantly more detail than a typical resume. For example, students and employees can list specific hard and soft skills as well as trainings and certifications instead of just degrees and past employers.

Conversely, employers can search LERs to find exact skills and work experience, and can be confident that the information is accurate. In addition, blockchain provides a trusted environment that allows an individual to control their information and determine who gets to see it and use it.

“At CNM we know how important it is to be able to match the educational goals of individuals with career pathways that will lead to quality life outcomes. We also know that it is critical to help employers find the talent they need to prosper as businesses,” says CNM President Tracy Hartzler.

More broadly, a national LER system will also have important impacts on equity. People who are not able to complete a four-year degree but can complete a skills course such as CNM’s Deep Dive Coding bootcamps will be able to use the LER system to advertise and elevate their credentials and improve their marketability.

“Doing away with a system where a degree is the only way to signal your skills will open up a much more diverse pipeline of workers,” says Bill Halverson, senior technology advisor for CNM Ingenuity, an arm of CNM that provides accelerated skills training to support key workforce needs.

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Critical to the successful development of a National LER is interoperability, or the exchange and readability of data from and across multiple technology systems. That’s why CNM Ingenuity collaborated with a number of experts while creating the nationally-broadcast report. Partners include IBM, which developed IBM Digital Credentials, a blockchain-based platform that manages the exchange of skills-based credentials; SOLID, a company that’s using blockchain to help military members verify their skills so they can find civilian employment after leaving the armed forces; Randa, which is enabling teachers to use a digital wallet to verify everything from their credentials to their lesson plans; Public Consulting Group, which is leading North Dakota’s statewide efforts on deploying K-12 blockchain learner records; and Western Governors University, a national higher education leader in building a skills-based learning and work ecosystem.

“With a focus on a national infrastructure for the overall learning and employment records ecosystem, CNM’s report can help advance pathways for workers so they can move from learning skills to starting careers,” says Sean Murphy, Senior Manager of Opportunity at Walmart. “Our investment in this effort is based on our belief that building educational and career pathways based on skills will open up opportunities for all.”

The final LER report is called “A National Learning and Employment Record Infrastructure: Progress Towards a Skills Economy.” It was reviewed by more than 20 LER pioneers and leaders who provided feedback on the concepts, architecture, and recommendations. Long-term, the report is not only designed to be informational but also provides state officials, CIOs, and ed tech providers with the “nuts and bolts” needed to understand and then start developing LER systems.

“LER infrastructure development is at a critical juncture in the United States, requiring the engagement of state and national leadership to help craft policy, convene key stakeholder groups, and designate funding to advance the adoption of data standards and LER systems designed for universal access and interoperability,” says Halverson. “We think this report is an important step toward the adoption of a national LER infrastructure to meet the demands of the new workforce and a dynamically changing economy.”

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