RICHMOND, VA – May 31, 2019
Certiport, a Pearson VUE business and the leading provider of performance-based IT certification exams that accelerate academic and career opportunities for learners, and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) today announced students in the Commonwealth of Virginia have earned over 100,000 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) and Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certification exams.
The Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation to support the Microsoft Imagine Academy program in 2012 and the VDOE set a goal to reach the 100,000-certification milestone during the 2018-2019 school year. The certifications were earned at over 300 Microsoft Imagine Academy schools offering MOS and MTA certification throughout the commonwealth.
“We are thrilled to congratulate and reward our students and teachers for reaching this impressive milestone,” said Dr. James F. Lane, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Virginia Department of Education. “More important than reaching the goal is what those certifications represent. All 100,000 of the certifications earned illustrate that Virginia students have a competitive advantage in the job market with an industry-recognized credential.”
Virginia schools have aligned their existing career and technical education courses to offer the MOS and MTA credentials as a way to validate their Microsoft skills. Classroom and online learning, hands-on labs and access to hundreds of courses, books and cutting-edge resources are available for Microsoft Imagine Academy-participating high schools. Using “Teach It, Test It”, teachers certify students at the completion of each application unit while the material is fresh on their minds, which will lead to the highest score possible.
“Virginia is one of the leading U.S. states for Career and Technical Education, and other states have learned a great deal from the growth of their Microsoft certification program,” said Ray Murray, Vice President and General Manager – IT, Pearson VUE. “We believe every student should graduate with an industry-recognized certification, and Virginia is making great strides towards that goal.”
Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services delivered through an expansive network of over 14,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide. Certiport manages a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs including: the official Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, the Microsoft Technology Associate certification program, the Microsoft Certified Educator program, the Adobe® Certified Associate certification program, the Autodesk Certified User and Autodesk Certified Professional certification programs, the Intuit QuickBooks Certified User certification program, and the IC3 Digital Literacy certification. Certiport reliably delivers over three million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce, and corporate technology markets in 148 countries and 26 languages worldwide. For more information, www.certiport.com or follow Certiport on Twitter at www.twitter.com/certiport.
"Certiport" and "MOS" are registered trademarks of Certiport, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.