The New Workplace Readiness Skills for the CommonwealthVirginias Research-Based Approach to Teaching and Testing Employability and Life SkillsJanuary 30, 2012

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 Virginias economic competitiveness. Virginias Definition of Workplace Readiness Skills:

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 wont prepare students for a 21st century occupation.

1997 Research by UVA Led to the First WRS for VirginiaReadingMathematicsWritingSpeaking & ListeningComputer LiteracyReasoning, Problem Solving, Decision MakingUnderstanding the Big PictureWork EthicPositive AttitudeIndependence and InitiativeSelf-presentationSatisfactory AttendanceTeamwork

Why Update? What Has Changed Since the 1990s?The economy has evolved and so have the ways we work.

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

The PlayersVirginia Department of Education

Demographics and Workforce Group of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of VirginiaCareer and Technical Education Consortium of States (CTECS)

Virginias CTE Resource CenterDemographics & Workforce Group, University of Virginia

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 Skillsfor HS GraduatesPercent Ranking Skills as Very Important for High School GraduatesSource: Are They Really Ready for Work, 2006

Why Do Academic Skills Have Lower Ratings?Because they are usually job specific.

Most Applied Skills areUniversally NeededIntegrityCritical thinkingWork ethicTime managementHealth & safetyConflict Resolution

Final WRS List

Chapter 2 The new list was completedand then VirginiaIntroduced to the CTE Advisory Committee and CTE administrators across the state, April 2010Converted skills list into appropriate format for Virginias 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 2010Introduced in a Verso email message, June 1, 2010, for implementation 2010-11

Growing the New WRS ResourcesExample: Sustainability

Teaching the WRSThe 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 includebackground informationinstructional activities lesson plans Web sites.

Chapter 3

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 itemsMarch 2011: Pilot successfully completed; cut score determinedApril 2011: Full implementation of assessment

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

Began offering the assessment April 2011100-item multiple-choice test60-minute timed test3,693 students tested initially2,400 students passed (65% pass rate)75% cut score

In SummaryThe New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealthare well researched and up to dateare reflective of Virginia employer needsare incorporated into all CTE coursescome with many teaching resourcesare being assessedare leading to an industry-acknowledged and respected credential and are earning student-selected verified credit.

Peggy WatsonCTE Resource Center 804-673-3778 info@cteresource.org http://cteresource.org Questions?

*Career and Technical Education succeeds because of the continuous effort to keep curriculum and the classroom experience tied to the real world of work. That is not an easy task. Our economy does not stand still and employers are continually seeking new skills from the workforce.

A 1950s education wont prepare students for a 21st century occupation*CTE Resource CenterThe economy continues to change and skill requirements continue to evolve. Therefore, in 2008 VDOE decided to reevaluate Virginias Workplace Readiness Skills list. The original 1995-1997 project involved substantial and very expensive original research that included hour long interviews with more than 500 employers. Such a project was not feasible in the current economy and fortunately it was not necessary.There was a large body of national research on readiness skills already available to form the basis of this reevaluation. The most important research was done as part of the 21st Century Skills project, Are They Really Ready to Work? This project reported on substantial research with employers.

Summary research can be provided to you by request.

*CTE Resource CenterThe Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service embodies the University of Virginia's commitment to serve the people of the Commonwealth. The Centers mission is to anticipate and forecast change and to serve as a resource to those who need to recognize and address that change.

The Center traces its ancestry to the Bureau of Public Administration, created at the University in 1931.

Also, discuss CTECS role.CTE Resource Center*You should know that the survey did not include parents as an option.These charts show the percentage of employers who rated each applied and academic skill as very important for high school graduates entering the workforce.

Eight out of 11 applied skills were rated very important by more than 50% of employers. Only two of nine academic skills, Reading and English Comprehension were rated very important by more than 50%.Fewer employers rate each academic skill as very important because these skills are so often job specific.

Chemistry is crucial for some occupations, barely significant in others. Chinese translators need deep knowledge of that foreign language. The rest of us dont need to know quite so much. Workplace readiness skills are essential in almost every occupation. Thats why, in Virginia, we call them readiness skills. You need them to be ready to work and grow in every occupational environment.

This is why the new curriculum revision tightly integrates teaching WRS into every CTE course. All CTE graduates need to know and understand that employers will expect them to bring these skills to the workplace.

There are new skills in each grouping represented in lighter blue. But I have to say, as one of the key editors on this project, The way we articulated these skills was dramatically different.

I have provided the more formal representation of this list in a handout (on the reverse of the project timeline). Id also like to discuss these skills more in depth at the breakouts/workshop sessions.

One note about regional diversificationVirginias industries and cultures are very different from point to point, from the Appalachian mountains, to the Tidewater region, from the technology center of NOVA, to the rural and manufacturing region of Danville, Martinville, and Floyd County.

The skills we focused on are important to jobs regardless of region. The teachers have an ability to prioritize this list in ways they see fit.

*CTE Resource CenterSome definitions now illustrate how sustainability concepts can be included when preparing students for the workplacefrom integrity to healthy behaviors to technology useTeachers may wish to cover the WRS in the first few weeks of school or as an instructional unit

Virginia-specific assessment that addresses all 21 skillsWas approved by the Board of Education in March 2011Was developed by CTECS, the consortium that was a vital part of the research and development of the new 21 skillsIs less expensive than most industry certifications ($9.00 per test)Successfully passing the exam will result in a stand-alone credential that may be used for verified credit (does not have to be combined with any other assessment as it was formerly).

To meet board criteria as a student-selected verified credit, the course must be one that is:Taught by an educator with an industry certification or licensure from the certifying bodyDesigned to prepare students for an occupation or occupational areaKnowledge-based; however, the credential may contain a performance-based component In a CTE field that confers a credential from a recognized industry, trade or professional association or entityAdministered on a multi-state or international basis Standardized and graded independent of the school in which the test is given