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Launched in 2024, the LER Accelerator coalition is a collaborative effort among higher education stakeholders—including NACE—that “aims to modernize how learning achievements and job skills are documented, recognized, and shared.” Specifically, the coalition is promoting the adoption of learning and employment records (LERs) in postsecondary education by addressing various challenges hindering their implementation.
To assist in this initiative, the group recently released a white paper titled “ Unlocking Potential: Conveying Skills and Competencies Through Learning and Employment Records” that “describes the imperative for higher education institutions to translate learning into skills and competencies that learners can demonstrate and that employers value through LERs.”
“The goal of the LER Accelerator and for the release of its white paper is to be a catalyst for faster growth in the use of learning and employment records,” explains Niesha Taylor, NACE’s director of career readiness.
“There is a big push toward getting a comprehensive digital record that stays in the hands of learners. LERs are student-/learner-owned records of learning experiences within and beyond the classroom that aim to operate similar to how patients’ medical records now travel with them.”
Taylor, who has a background in higher education, has experience creating digital badging and e-portfolios. She says the work of the LER Accelerator entails thinking differently about how learning is recognized and credentialed.
“How do you effectively capture all of the ways students learn and develop skills? The dream of this initiative is to have it be broader and more focused on the student rather than on a particular institution or employer or certification body,” Taylor explains.
The comprehensive records address issues common when using traditional records, such as lack of clarity in which skills and competencies a learner possesses, difficulty moving records from one place to the next, and problems transferring and honoring learning experiences from one institution to the next.
Perhaps a learner attained a certification in high school and had a job that developed relevant experience. After graduating high school, the individual completed a continuing education program, took courses at a local community college, took some time off, and then went to a four-year college.
“A LER handles all of that information for a learner, thus better serving them in identifying and communicating their wholistic learning journey,” Taylor points out.
“By tackling mismatches, miscommunications, and gaps, LERs also better serve employers to help them find the right talent in the right ways. Furthermore, if we are going to tackle bridging this gap, it makes a lot of sense to ground this kind of record in skills and competencies. We want to make sure that we're using an informed set of skills and competencies that employers care about to tell the story of what a learner has done over time and whether or not they're capable of taking on a job.”
Taylor notes that the skills and competencies provide the LER Accelerator with an important framework, especially as skills-based hiring becomes more prevalent.
“We address the importance of using common language and ensure the terminology is based on research and is clear, so that there is a better translation across the experiences that learners are having and that align with what employers need,” she says.
“And LERs, themselves, have had many different names. As we drive this work forward, we want to make sure we’re all in the same boat and not working at cross purposes.”
