Good day, colleagues,
 
Our discussion on work readiness credentials begins today, and I would
like to welcome our special guests, Norma Rey-Alicea, Geri Scott, Traci
Lepicki, Adrienne Glandon, Louis Soares, Lanse Davis, Judy Titzel, Jane
Eguez, and Melissa Dayton.  They all graciously agreed on short notice
to be available this week to discuss with us the advantages (and
disadvantages) of adopting work readiness credentials and the
differences among the ones that they represent.  You can expect that
they will be "sold" on the particular certificate they are representing,
and may speak from that vantage point!  It should be a good discussion!
 
We have added several new subscribers to the list over the weekend
(Welcome!), so I am repeating the background information with the
resources below.  If you have a copy of the "Survey of Work Readiness
Credentials" (URL given below) printed out, it may aid in helping you
keep track of the features of each certificate as they are being
discussed.
 
I would like to begin with one of the hardest questions, one that was
brought out by the Survey paper, and that is, "How do we get employers
to 'buy in' to the idea of work readiness credentials?"  If employers
don't understand what such a certificate means when a prospective
employee presents one, the certificate won't have any value to the job
applicant and the advantages of having earned a certificate are minimal.
 
I invite you all to ask and discuss your questions now.  To post your
questions or comments to the list, please e-mail your message to: 
workplace at nifl.gov .
 
I hope you all will enjoy this special event.  Thank you for your
support of the list and for expressing your interest in work/career
readiness certificates/credentials.
 
Donna Brian, Moderator
Workplace Literacy Discussion List
djgbrian at utk.edu

  
 
 
Background and Resources for Work/Career Readiness
Certificates/Credentials
 
        The idea behind a work/career readiness certificate/credential
is that workers or potential workers who have achieved a set level of
proficiencies in areas needed for entry-level jobs will be provided with
a certificate or credential that will signify to employers their level
of readiness to be employed.  The bestowing of a certificate would be of
value to the instructor, the adult learner wishing to be employed, and
the employer.  Employers, many of whom have long complained that
prospective employees lack needed skills for entry level work, would
have job applicants certified to have the needed skills.  Workers would
have documentation of their skills and would have a competitive edge
over those applicants without a credential.  A credential would provide
the increased confidence and assurance that they were prepared for work.
And instructors would have a clearer idea of which skills to emphasize
and a way to demonstrate to adult learners the progress the learners
were making.  Then if assessments being used and the skills being
measured were standardized across the United States, workers would have
a credential that was portable from one community to the next and from
state to state.  
        A variety of work readiness certificates have been adopted
across the United States.  They differ in target populations and
competencies stressed. Most focus on both hard and soft skills.  Some
require only that the worker pass a test measuring competencies, while
others are obtained by completing a training program and then
successfully demonstrating skills on an assessment.  Some states have
already adopted a specific program statewide, and many more are
considering the options.
        Three work readiness programs have wide acceptance and appeal
across the U.S.  They are (1) WorkKeys Career Readiness Certification, a
product of ACT, Inc.;   (2) National Work Readiness Credential, endorsed
by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and  (3) Workforce Skills Certification
System, offered by CASAS (Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment
System).  We have guests lined up for our discussion with experience in
each of these three.  A comparison of these three plus two state-wide
(Arkansas and Florida) systems,  "A Survey of Selected Work Readiness
Certificates,"  is published online by Jobs for the Future at 
http://www.jff.org/Documents/WorkReadiness.pdf
<http://www.jff.org/Documents/WorkReadiness.pdf>  . The authors of this
paper, Norma Rey-Alicea and Geri Scott, have also agreed to be our
guests for our discussion.  For each of the programs, their summary
provides information in the following categories:

*	
	Summary
*	
	Certifying body
*	
	Target population
*	
	Testing locations and sites
*	
	Curriculum (if applicable)
*	
	Competencies assessed, scoring process, and test format
*	
	Authorization of test administrators
*	
	Certification for test takers
*	
	Cost
*	
	Employment-related outcomes
*	
	Contact information

Reviewing this informative and well-organized paper, at least the
summaries of the three programs of our invited discussion guests, will
help to focus our discussion.  
 
        I have also attached the materials sent by our guests who made
presentations about their programs at COABE. These are the same
materials that were sent to the list earlier, and I have included them
here so that all your resources and information would be available in
the same place.  Each program also has a website.  Below are the URLs,
discussion guests and the resources for each of the three programs.
 
WorkKeys Career Readiness Certification    
http://www.act.org/workkeys/index.html
<http://www.act.org/workkeys/index.html> 
Traci Lepicki, Project Coordinator, Ohio's Career Readiness Credential,
The Ohio State University Center on Education and Training for
Employment
Adrienne Glandon, Ohio's Career Readiness Credential, The Ohio State
University Center on Education and Training for Employment
Additional materials: attachments "Ohio WorkKeys.pdf" and
"OhioStudentStories.pdf"
 
 
National Work Readiness Credential    http://www.workreadiness.com/
<http://www.workreadiness.com/> 
Louis Soares, Executive Director of the National Work Readiness Council
Lansing Davis (Lanse), Senior Policy Analyst with the NJ State
Employment and Training Commission, the State WIB
Judith Titzel, Adult Education Specialist, RI Adult Education
Professional Development Center 
Additional materials: attachments "wrcProfileLink" and "NWRCppt"
 

Workforce Skills Certification System    http://www.casas.org
<http://www.casas.org>       (look for the CASAS Workforce Skills
Certification link under "What's New"
Jane Eguez, Director of Program Planning, CASAS 
Melissa Dayton, Workforce Program Specialist, CASAS 

 
        These invited guests should feel free to correct any of the
information I have provided here.  Members of the Workplace discussion
list with experience in these and other work readiness credentialing
systems are also especially invited to share your experiences in this
discussion. 
 
        I will provide additional suggestions for participation when I
open the discussion on Monday.  Have a good weekend!
 
Donna
 
Donna Brian, Moderator
Workplace Literacy Discussion List
djgbrian at utk.edu
 
 
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