PALO ALTO, Calif., October 3, 2018 – BloomBoard, the leading platform for educator growth and advancement via micro-certification, has announced the next generation of its professional learning platform. The platform has been redesigned from the ground up to enhance educators’ and administrators’ experiences by providing an all-new educator learning experience, a new cohesive system of micro-credentials which are aligned to standards and best practices, and career pathway maps to align competencies to educator advancement for organizations and their educators.

Today, research shows that between 20 and 40 percent of all teachers leave the profession within their first five years and half of those who leave are among the most effective teachers. Teachers want more opportunities to grow and lead, however, most professional development offered today doesn’t address educators’ personalized needs. BloomBoard’s approach clearly defines a purpose for the skills that educators may need or want to learn, resulting in more meaningful outcomes.

The next generation of the BloomBoard platform offers an all-new cohesive system of micro-credentials aligned to instructional standards and organized by pedagogical topic. Each micro-credential has a clearly defined purpose and is designed to empower educators to personalize their learning and prove competence of a specific skill via a portfolio of evidence created in their classroom practice. Because micro-credentials on the BloomBoard platform address the achievement of competence at the individual skill level, they can be assembled into cohesive groups that equate to important distinctions in an educator’s career, such as qualification for compensation and/or career advancement, even formal certifications and licensing. BloomBoard’s new platform also features a roadmap to guide an educator’s broader career purpose.

“The most important driver of student growth and learning is educators, and it’s imperative that we provide them with professional learning opportunities that are both personalized to their individual needs, and allow them to earn opportunities for advancement by measurably improving their classroom practice,” said Sanford Kenyon, CEO of BloomBoard. “The next evolution of our platform provides new experiences for both educators and administrators to explore and select from a cohesive system of competencies that aligns with standards and instructional best practices, and creates opportunities for both compensation and career advancement, based on district partnerships with BloomBoard.”

A growing number of states and districts across the country are already implementing micro-credential based programs to promote educator advancement. Most recently, BloomBoard has partnered with the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board, the Louisiana Department of Education, and Harmony Public Schools (Texas) to launch programs for early career educators, content leaders and mentors, and curriculum writers.  

Schools and districts interested in learning more about BloomBoard’s micro-certification platform, designed to provide professional learning with purpose, can visit bloomboard.com.