Summary
This document details the policies, guidelines and best practices that dictate what records may be issued to the Trusted Learner Network, by which entities, and at what level of quality those records must adhere. Issuance policy is stratified by the type of record or credential being issued, in accordance with regulatory, functional and legal requirements designating those records.
Furthermore, the document establishes an evaluation and onboarding process for those organizations who wish to participate in the Trusted Learner Network, as well as an offboarding process for organizations that no longer choose to participate in the Trusted Learner Network or for whom non-adherence to the policy set requires that participation is no longer possible.
Definition of Issuer
An ‘issuer’ is defined as the organization, entity or individual that works with the learner to generate shared value through the teaching/learning/assessment process, whose result is represented as an ‘achievement of learning.’
Issuer Responsibilities
Issuers participating in the Trusted Learner Network agree to the following responsibilities:
- To remain aligned to the principles of the Trusted Learner Network, as described in the charter, as related to the issuance, management and provision of credentials
- To understand the value of and adhere to the quality standards set out in this document for the benefit of the learner and the overall quality of the TLN
- To adhere to Trusted Learner Network policies regarding the rights and responsibilities of Learners (TBD)
- To participate in and adhere to Trusted Learner Network arbitration processes, such as situations in which a learner requests the ability to correct incorrect records
- To honor the learner’s agency and autonomy in sharing credential information with others in the network at the learner’s behest
Issuer Authority
Issuers participating in the Trusted Learner Network may execute their authority in the following ways:
- To assert, update, revoke, and verify credentials issued by the issuer on behalf of the learner, based on that issuer’s set of credentialing policies and the policies affiliated with that credential type
- To seek to or develop policies in conjunction with the Trusted Learner Network Governance groups that advance issuance
- To query, view and utilize credential data available on the Trusted Learner Network, for which that issuer has been provided consent to share by the learner, to execute business processes and make business decisions while acting as a data consumer.
- Data consumers on the Trusted Learner Network may retain queried data provided by the TLN in accordance with the data consumer’s business process and data retention policies, but must recognize that data retained from the Trusted Learner Network is valid at the point and time it was initially retained
- Issuers may choose to cease their participation in the Trusted Learner Network at their discretion, and cede maintenance and storage of previously-issued credentials to the Trusted Learner Network to retain in perpetuity on behalf of the learner
Issuance Types and their affiliated policies
Credentials issued on the Trusted Learner Network are generally defined as digital assertions of achievement that are issued by individuals and organizations for and to learners/earners, as a part of that individual’s Learning and Employment Record (LER). Maintaining and adhering to a standard of quality allows the TLN to create common language and trust frameworks around credentials, promoting equity. Credential types not listed here are not a reflection of being inappropriate for the TLN, but instead reflect the ongoing and expected expansion of the TLN to accommodate many different credentials types.
Record Quality Requirements
- Timeliness (freshness) - Credentials are expected to be provided to the learner via TLN in a timely manner, i.e. as closely following the creation of the credential as possible.
- Accuracy - Credentials are expected to be free of errors and to contain data that correctly describes the key components of the credential.
- Transparency - Credentials issued to the TLN describe the context of the achievement utilizing common language(assessment strategy, success criteria).
- Relevance to Experience - Credentials are expected to describe and reflect the assertion being made for and to learners/earners.
- Completeness - Credentials issued onto the TLN must align with required data fields affiliated with that particular credential type.
- Consistency - Credentials issued onto the TLN align to the minimum set of metadata required for that particular credential type.
Academic Degree (HS, AA, Bachelors, Masters, Certificate, PhD)
Definition of Credential
Certificate of achievement signaling the successful completion of an academic degree, as conferred by an accredited learning institution.
Issuer Requirements
Issuers of this type of credential must be able to demonstrate accreditation to issue degree credentials.
Post-Secondary Academic Course or Course Equivalency
Definition of Credential
An organization of learning activities with direct learning outcomes that culminate in a demonstration of minimum accomplishment. May or may not be affiliated with a larger learning goal, such as the competition of a degree or certificate. May also be an experience directly equivalent to course completion, such as AP or CBE courseware. A standard organizational unit typically found on a transcript.
Issuer Requirements
Issuers of this type of credential must be able to demonstrate accreditation to issue post-secondary course credentials.
Assertion of Achievement
Definition of Credential
An assertion of learning and or accomplishments (experiential, academic, training or otherwise) that indicates meeting the earning criteria of a specific set of learning outcomes. [This is intentionally general to capture a broad range of potential accomplishments ranging from completion of training modules to non-credit academic certificates. This credential type is in service of the fact that there are many types of learning that provide value to learners existing outside of recognized achievement types associated with secondary and post-secondary learning systems.]
Issuer Requirements
Issuers of this credential type must demonstrate authenticity and validity in the market and will be assessed by a peer discovery panel at point of application to the TLN to be able to issue this credential type. The Trusted Learner Network will create and expand living trust provider registries that are focused on building and maintaining trust and value.
Peer discovery panel examples:
- Licensure
- Registration
- Training certification
Issuers of this credential type that are able to demonstrate accreditation for the above-listed credential types may issue assertions of achievement.
Onboarding of Issuer
The Trusted Learner Network works within governance structures and utilizes peer discovery and review to determine the validity of a credential issuer to participate in the Network. This peer discovery and review strategy is designed to ensure that records of achievement written to the Network comport with recognized standards established across credential types where available and define new standards types aligned with trust, ensuring the quality of the attestation.
Application Submission
Issuers seeking to participate in the Trusted Learner Network complete an application in which that issuer is asked to:
- Name and describe their organization for the benefit of an issuer registry
- Demonstrate proof of identity as that issuer (through validation of claims) and proof of authorization to issue on behalf of that issuer
- Identify credential types the applicant would like to issue to the TLN
- Demonstrate proof the issuer meets the issuer requirements for that credential type(s)
- Confirm minimum data security
- Confirm minimum requirements that the issuer is able to demonstrate the viable identity of learners
Functional Peer Review and Approval
The Trusted Learner Network will utilize its governance framework to perform peer review and approve applications. Applications will be reviewed by either the TLN Governing Body or TLN Governing Body subcommittees committed to the task of application review. Applicants will be reviewed by TLN member representatives who issue credentials of the same or similar types as those being reviewed.
Technical and Security Review and Approval
A technical security review must be completed and approved for applicants to participate on the Trusted Learner Network to ensure that issuers are able to comply with the data security and identity security expectations of the Trusted Learner Network, including:
- Organization must be able to securely and effectively retain data, connect with the Trusted Learner Network, and not create excess risk on the Trusted Learner Network
- Organization must be able to demonstrate the establishment of trustable identities for learners, i.e. must be able to reasonably ensure that their learners are who they say they are
- Must be able to securely connect with the Trusted Learner Network and ensure that data is not exposed to risk in transit or at rest within the organization
Record Quality Processes
To maintain the credential quality within the Trusted Learner Network, records may not be inserted into the Trusted Learner Network when they do not conform to the minimum quality standard set regarding credential integrity (i.e. without containing required information established in the aforementioned issuance type section).
Offboarding of Issuer
Issuers on the Trusted Learner Network that fail to comply with Issuer Responsibilities or who demonstrate that they are no longer aligned with Record Quality Processes, Technical Processes or Security Processes, may be asked to no longer participate in the Trusted Learner Network.