The New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth

Virginia’s Research-Based Approach to Teaching and Testing Employability and Life Skills

January 30, 2012

Virginia’s Definition of Workplace Readiness Skills:

A list of personal qualities and people skills, professional knowledge and skills, and technology knowledge and skills identified by Virginia employers as essential for individual workplace success and critical to Virginia’s economic competitiveness.

Workplace Readiness: A Moving Target

CTE aims to give students the skills to succeed in the workplace, but this is a moving target.

A 1950s education won’t prepare students for a 21st century occupation.

1997 Research by UVA Led to the First WRS for Virginia

• • • • • • • • • • • • • Reading Mathematics Writing Speaking & Listening Computer Literacy Reasoning, Problem Solving, Decision Making Understanding the Big Picture Work Ethic Positive Attitude Independence and Initiative Self-presentation Satisfactory Attendance Teamwork

Why Update? What Has Changed Since the 1990s?

The economy has evolved and so have the ways we work.

“21 st Century Skills” has provided some of the most important research.

Demographics & Workforce Group, University of Virginia

The Players

• Virginia Department of Education • • Demographics and Workforce Group of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia Career and Technical Education Consortium of States (CTECS) • Virginia’s CTE Resource Center

Employers Want Schools to Teach WRS

Who Should Be Responsible for Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills?

Source: Are They Really Ready for Work, 2006

The Process for Updating the WRS List

“Very Important Skills” for HS Graduates Percent Ranking Skills as “Very Important” for High School Graduates

Source: Are They Really Ready for Work, 2006

Why Do Academic Skills Have

Because they are usually job specific.

Lower Ratings?

Integrity Most Applied Skills are Universally Needed Critical thinking Work ethic Time management Conflict Resolution Health & safety

Final WRS List

Personal Qualities & People Skills

• • • Positive Work Ethic Integrity Teamwork • • • Self-Representation Diversity Awareness Conflict Resolution • Creativity & Resourcefulness

Technology Knowledge & Skills

• Job-Specific Technologies • • Information Technology • Internet Use & Security Telecommunications

Professional Knowledge & Skills

• Speaking & Listening • • Reading & Writing Critical Thinking & Problem Solving • • Health & Safety Organizations, Systems, & Climates • • Lifelong Learning Job Acquisition & Advancement • • • Time, Task, & Resource Management Mathematics Customer Service

Chapter 2

The new list was completed…and then Virginia

• • Introduced to the CTE Advisory Committee and CTE administrators across the state, April 2010 Converted skills list into appropriate format for Virginia’s CTE curriculum, Spring 2010

(Skills became “tasks” with task definitions to amplify and describe the skills.)

• Researched and developed instructional resources to complement all WRS tasks, Spring 2010 • Introduced in a Verso email message, June 1, 2010, for implementation 2010-11

Growing the New WRS Resources

Example: Sustainability

WRS

Teaching the WRS

Technical tasks Full course

The WRS can be infused throughout the course or taught as an instructional unit

Use WRS to Complement and Reinforce Technical Competencies

WRS resources provided within each course framework include     background information instructional activities lesson plans Web sites.

Revision Instruction

Chapter 3

Assessment Credential/Verified Credit

Timeline for the New Industry Credential for the New WRS

Virginia and CTECS worked to identify and develop test items, to conduct an assessment pilot, and to launch this stand-alone credential.

Sept 2010: Experts’ meeting to ID test items March 2011: Pilot successfully completed; cut score determined April 2011: Full implementation of assessment

The CTECS-Provided Virginia WRS Assessment

• • • • This new assessment replaces other tests that were used in the past to assess WRS Reasonable price ($9.00) Now offering a pretest ($6.00) Certificate of successful completion provided and can be used for verified graduation credit

Initial Statistics on the WRS Assessment

• • • • Began offering the assessment April 2011 100-item multiple-choice test 60-minute timed test 3,693 students tested initially • 2,400 students passed (65% pass rate) • 75% cut score

In Summary

The New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth

• • are well researched and up to date are reflective of Virginia employer needs • • are incorporated into all CTE courses come with many teaching resources • are being assessed • are leading to an industry acknowledged and respected credential and are earning student-selected verified credit.

Questions?

Peggy Watson CTE Resource Center 804-673-3778 [email protected]

http://cteresource.org