If you're following soft skills for youth, the America's Promise
Alliance has issued a new report that might help you.  It's titled
Under-equipped and Unprepared: America's Emerging Workforce and the Soft
Skills Gap.
http://www.americaspromise.org/APAPage.aspx?id=8658&terms=under-equipped
+and+unprepared

Susan Jacobe
Texas Workforce Commission
Research & Evaluation Section

-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Alan Lesure
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 3:37 PM
To: 'The Workplace Literacy Discussion List'
Subject: [Workplace 1031] Re: Soft Skills Assessments

Robin,

We worked with the former Director of the SCANS Commission, Dr. Arnold
Packer, to create a soft skills assessment program, Workforce Readiness
Skills, that measures the specific workplace behaviors required of a
range
of entry-level or first jobs. These soft skills complement the academic
skills measured by programs like CASAS.

An overview of this program can be found here -
http://www.learning-resources.com/aprogram_10.cfm. At this url you can
download examples of the kind of video simulations we use to determine
where
people have effective skills and where development is needed. 

Video- or Internet-delivered soft skills assessment makes this an easy
process. Developing the soft skills deficits is the great challenge. The
most effective way we have found to do this is through the integration
of
soft skills into basic academic and career and technical instruction -
what
Washington State call their iBEST model. We have resource to support
this
process that I'd be pleased to share if that would be useful.

We also provide 'check lists' that quickly enable employers to
communicate
to you which soft skills are most important to them for specific
job-openings. This enables programs to stress the behaviors that
different
local jobs require. 

Please let me know if this prompts any questions.

Al Lesure

Alan B. Lesure
Learning Resources, Inc.
Riverside, CT 06878

Phone:   203-637-5047
Fax:     203-637-2786
E-Mail: alesure at learning-resources.com


-----Original Message-----
From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Adams, Robin
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 4:02 PM
To: workplace at nifl.gov
Subject: [Workplace 1030] Soft Skills Assessments


Hello Everyone: 

I'm working on developing a variety of assessment tools to somehow
measure
different work readiness competencies and skills, including soft skills
such
as attitude, motivation, responsibility, etc.  

I realize it's difficult to measure soft skills but hoping there are
some
things out there that I might and/or adapt.  Any ideas, suggestions, or
resources?


Robin Adams
RI Adult Education Professional Development Center 


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----------------------------------------------------
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Email delivered to susan.jacobe at twc.state.tx.us