Our nation suffers from 19^th century
thinking when it comes to preparing educators for the increasingly
collaborative work of teaching and learning. Many outstanding programs have
been established to push education forward, but short of a few largely
for-profit corporate efforts to recognize educators using digital tools
effectively; there remains no consistently recognized way for these leading
educators to certify themselves as 21^st Century professionals.

CUEís business plan calls for the collaborative
development of a ìcertification program through which educators can
conclusively demonstrate their expertise in the area of educational technology
and curriculum innovationî (Permanent
Explorers, p. 18).

Rather than launch yet another branded certification
effort utilizing only CUEís resources, talent and reach, CUE seeks to establish
an internationally recognized certification program, created collaboratively by
many stakeholder groups, managed by a coalition of these groups and shared
freely across the globe. Certification and actual professional development
would be managed and delivered only by those groups with the resources
necessary to effectively deliver and manage the process, and their status as a
certifying agency would be managed by the coalition.

CUE is proposing the name ìLeading Edge Certificationî
for this project, with recipients becoming ìLeading Edge Certifiedî upon
the programís completion. The program would offer five certifications, launched
over the course of the next five years, following the proposed schedule:

• Certified Online Teacher (2011)
• Certified Classroom Teacher* (2012)
• Certified Administrator (2013)
• Certified Teacher Librarian (2014)
• Certified Lead Learner
  (Professional Developer) (2015)

*This is slated to include hybrid or blended learning environments

To gain support for the project, weíve formed a
coalition of several groups, including representatives from: the California
Department of Education, the Orange County
Department of Education, the Alameda County Office of Education, UC Irvine
Extension, @ONE, the Alliance for Distance Education in California (ADEC), iNACOL, UC Berkeley Extension, Fresno Pacific University, and Educational
Support Services.

This Leading Edge Alliance serves dual
roles: provide oversight and guidance in the development of the program, as
well as provide resources for the working group to develop the curriculum,
scope and evaluation tools for certification. All coalition members would be
eligible to produce training for the program if they demonstrate the capacity.
Future groups may also be invited to participate as determined by the advisory
coalition and their willingness to contribute to the project. CUE will act as fiscal agent and manage the certification database.

For more information, contact Lainie Rowell, Coordinator: lrowell (at) cue.org

Initial funding provided by the Orange County Department of Education and CUE, Inc.