INTRODUCTION TO ACT WORKKEYS National Career Readiness Certificate

INTRODUCTION TO ACT WORKKEYS National Career Readiness Certificate Mo School Counselors Association Conference November 7 2016 Cheri Tune Missouri Department of Economic Development

National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce The National Career Readiness Certificate, issued by ACT, is a portable, evidence-based credential that certifies essential skills needed for workplace success.

What does the NCRC do? • Validates skill level – what workers know and are able to do • Take some of the guesswork out of hiring and promotion • Reduce costs and minimize risk • Reduce training time

National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce The NCRC is ™ • Used to document essential skills linked to workplace success • Evidence-based • Industry-recognized • Portable • Contextualized for the workplace • Awarded at four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum

National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce The NCRC is a credential that is used across all sectors of the economy and NCRC credential certifies the following cognitive skills: ü Problem solving ü Critical thinking ü Reading and using work-related text ü Applying information from workplace documents to solve problems ü Applying mathematical reasoning to work-related problems ü Setting up and performing work-related mathematical calculations ü Locating, synthesizing, and applying information that is presented graphically ü Comparing, summarizing, and analyzing information presented in multiple, related graphics

Assessments Assess Your Workforce Work. Keys assessments measure “real world” workplace skills critical to job success. These skills are valuable for any occupation—skilled or professional—at any level of education, and in any industry. Approximately 15 million Work. Keys 15 million assessments have been administered.

National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce Individuals can earn the NCRC by taking three Work. Keys assessments: ® • Applied Mathematics • Locating Information • Reading for Information 77% of profiled jobs utilize all of these skills* *Numbers are based on analysis of 5, 618 jobs profiled from 2006 to 2010 in the ACT Job. Pro database.

NCRC LEVELS Ø Bronze: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 3 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 35 percent of the jobs listed on ACT database of profiled positions. Ø Silver: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 4 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 65 percent of the jobs listed in the database. Ø Gold: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 5 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 90 percent of the jobs in the database. Ø Platinum: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 6 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 99 percent of the jobs in the database.

National Career Readiness Certificate Benefits Career Seekers Provide employers with verifiable evidence of their job skills Employers Screen applicants and find the right workers for jobs at all levels, as well as make decisions about training and advancement of current employees Educators Ensure that their students are ready for meaningful careers Industry Associations Adopt the NCRC as the foundational credential of their skills certification systems Workforce Developers Help to supply employers with workers possessing the necessary skills to meet demand Economic Developers Inform businesses’ decisions about where to locate or expand by demonstrating the skill level of regional labor sheds

Employers report that hiring employees with an NCRC: • Reduced recruitment costs • Improved retention • Reduced training time • Overall increased productivity • More quickly able to contribute to the organization • http: //www. fourstateshomepage. com/news/ certified-work-ready-program-success

Evidence-Based Hiring Process “The National Career Readiness Certificate will make the hiring process smoother and more efficient. It will provide effective measure of the applicant’s fundamental skills, and give the employer an assessment for potential success. Today’s economy demands a tool which ensures job seekers have the right stuff to succeed. ” Daniel P. Mehan, President/CEO, Missouri State Chamber of Commerce

Over 3200 employers statewide recognizing the NCRC

How does Work. Keys /NCRC help students?

Benefits to the student • • • Employers nationwide recognize the value of the NCRC certificate, & prefer candidates have this in their decision process for selecting a site for new business installations. Employers use the NCRC as a tool to evaluate workplace readiness and adaptability because it is a more reliable indicator of abilities than a GPA. Studies show there are work readiness gaps among workers of even the highest educational attainment levels. For higher-level students, the NCRC is one of a number of credentials that demonstrates their abilities. Those earning the Platinum certificate are among the top one-half of one percent of performers nationally, demonstrating their successful ability to apply their knowledge in 99 percent of all positions profiled. The American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended that postsecondary educational institutions award college credit in applied critical thinking to individuals who earn the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC™). ACE recommends that three credit hours be awarded to recipients who earn specific levels of the credential. (Gold or Platinum) Some colleges in the nation are now doing this NCRC is objective evaluation of a students skill level with scores that relate directly to employment requirements

How can educators use the Work. Keys scores? • Counselors play a key role in helping students understand the NCRC and its relationship to their selection of a career path. • Counselors have an opportunity to review the Work. Keys scores and NCRC levels attained by a student, and the careers for which they’d qualify based on their score • Approved as part of MSIP 5. Your school can earn points for your districts performance report • Use Key. Train to helps students remediate

Work Ready Communities. National effort--led by ACT Missouri 1 of 23 states participating

What is Work Ready Communities? • A national effort, led by ACT • Voluntary--led locally by key community leaders: local elected officials, economic development, business leaders, chambers, educators and workforce development • Goal is for the community to work together to strengthen it’s workforce by aligning workforce with education & economic development • Mo Job Center tests job seekers (Transitional) & can also assist with proctoring tests to Students (Emerging) • All partners assist with educating the community on WRC/NCRC & obtaining employer support by signing up on-line as a supporting employer

ACT Certified Work Ready Communities

Missouri CWRC Current stats Started 2013 Now have 36 Fully certified counties (counties are approved at state WDB board meetings on a quarterly basis) 81 of 114 Mo counties engaged in CWRC Nearly 79, 000 NCRCs earned Over 3200 Employers supporting/recommending/preferring NCRC candidates

Partners in CWRC • Educators (secondary & post secondary) • Workforce Development • Economic Developers • Chamber of Commerce • Local & city government officials • Employers Community works together to build a talent pool/skilled workforce!!!!

Community Benefits of being CERTIFIED Ø Economic Growth and Prosperity Ø Support for Existing Businesses Ø Community Collaboration Ø Recognition for local achievements Ø Platform for regional cooperation Ø Attracting New Business to your community (by validating a skilled workforce. which is #1 reason site selectors indicate critical for attracting new business or expansion)

Questions? ? • http: //workreadycommunities. org • https: //ded. mo. gov/getcertified • • Cheri Tune | Director, Certified Work Ready Communities • Missouri Department of Economic Development • Division of Workforce Development 573 -291 -5686 • email: cheri. tune@ded. mo. gov