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Unlocking the Door to Employment

Unlocking the Door to Employment. Co-Presenters: Dr. Sharon Mullen, Principal Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Jale Ramsey, Education Support Services Coordinator Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center. We Believe.

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Unlocking the Door to Employment

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  1. Unlocking the Door to Employment Co-Presenters: Dr. Sharon Mullen, Principal Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Jale Ramsey, Education Support Services Coordinator Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center

  2. We Believe There is no issue more important to Virginians with Disabilities than having the right to work, earn a good wage and live in the community with other citizens

  3. It’s A Fact In recent months the Labor Department reported that the nation’s unemployment rate was at 9.3% but for people with disabilities the rate was 16.9%

  4. Beating the Odds • Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center is continuously seeking strategies to give our clients an edge in today’s competitive job market • One strategy that we believe does this is giving our clients the opportunity to achieve at least the Bronze Level Career Readiness Certificate while they are at WWRC

  5. Show of Hands • How many are familiar with the following terms: • WorkKeys? • Career Readiness Certificate? • Aztec Learning System?

  6. WorkKeys

  7. WorkKeys • WorkKeys is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop and retain a high-performance workforce Http://www.act.org/workeys/

  8. WorkKeys Components • Job Profiling: Identifies the skills required for a job • Assessment: Shows the current skill levels of students or job applicants • Training: Helps individuals and employers correct skill gaps Http://www.act.org/workeys/

  9. Job Profiling

  10. More than 18,000 job titles, ranging from white-collar professional to blue-collar technical positions have been profiled by WorkKeys-authorized job profilers. Extensive research has been done on these jobs to identify the essential skills and skill levels for employee selection, hiring, and training. • Assist employers in knowing and understanding the qualifications needed for the jobs they have available and matching applicant skills to those jobs. • Assist employees in helping them to attain jobs that match their skills.

  11. Making the Connection - Skills to Jobs

  12. Assessments

  13. In order to determine if a career seeker possesses those profiled skills at the desired levels, a set of valid and reliable assessments were developed • Assessments are 100% compliant with: Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) • The assessments test workplace skills by using situations and scenarios that occur in the workplace • Questions are less academic and more problem-solving situations that occur everyday in the workplace With the job profile in hand, the employer now knows what skills are needed for a certain position Http://www.crc.virginia.gov/Home/About

  14. The are several assessments in the WorkKeys Testing Program, but the ones we will be talking about today are: Career Readiness Certificate Assessments • Reading for Information • Locating Information • Applied Math

  15. Training

  16. Training The key to talent development • KeyTrain Curriculum • Career Ready 101 • Aztec Learning System We are all after the same solution: Identify skills needed for the job, assess a career seeker’s skill level and provide the training needed to close any gaps

  17. WorkKeys Provides • Employers – A complete solution for employee selection and development • Career Seekers – The first step to prepare for education, training, or a career • Educators– Helps to ensure that individuals are ready for work – and for life Http://www.act.org/workeys/

  18. Employers

  19. WorkKeys Helps Employers • To hire qualifiedworkers • Tocompareworker’s skill level with job requirements • Toreduceturnover rates • Tolowerthe cost of remedial training and lost efficiency • Toincreasereturn on investment for training dollars • TostrengthenAmerica’s overall workforce

  20. Employers in Virginia

  21. Employer Comments... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri9gI7_dKJg&feature=related

  22. Career Seekers

  23. WorkKeys Helps Employees • By verifying to employers that the career seeker has the basic job skills to fill that position even if they possess only a high school diploma or GED • By verifying that the career seeker can handle tasks that are common and vital in today’s workplaces such as finding information, reading instructions and directions, and working with figures

  24. Educators

  25. WorkKeys Helps Educators • Toidentify and address any gaps that may exist between skills required in today’s workplace and those exhibited by students • Toaddressthe basics of reading, applied mathematics and locating information that are essential to living independently and securing employment

  26. Career Readiness Certificate

  27. Career Readiness Certificate • An assessment based credential that is: • A component of Governor Warner’s (D) Education for a Lifetime Initiative • Endorsed by Governors Kaine (D) and McDonnell (R) • A national standard based upon 21st Century Job Skills • A portable credential that validates employment skills for employers • Aligns with the Virginia Workforce Council Initiative

  28. Why do we Need a Career Readiness Certificate? • Virginia businesses now compete in a global marketplace • To do this, they must hire the most capable and productive employees • Businesses must be sure that their hiring criteria are valid instruments for assessing workplace skills • Individuals who seek employment must effectively communicate to employers the skills they have to offer • The CRC serves both the needs of the employer and career seekers Http://www.crc.virginia.gov/Home/About

  29. Governor McDonnell’s Statement http://www.crc.virginia.gov/

  30. Levels of Career Readiness Certificates • Bronze Level • Silver Level • Gold Level • Platinum Level

  31. Aztec Learning System

  32. What Were We Looking For • WorkKeys provides good training programs such as KeyTrain, however, we were looking for a more flexible format to customize learning and assessment, based on the individual needs of our diverse population • The Aztec Learning System proved to do just that for us

  33. Aztec Learning System • An educational software program designed to teach real life academic and workforce skills • Interactive • Age appropriate • Pre-tests, provides remediation, and post-tests • Keeps data on individual students for educational decision making. • Addresses diverse learning styles and literacy levels

  34. Series Aligned to WorkKeys Assessments • This product helps our students build the fundamental competencies for certification through WorkKeys

  35. To Date • WWRC has tested 516 students since September 25, 2008!! • 436 WWRC students have earned a Career Readiness Certificate. 85% Pass Rate!

  36. Outcomes for WWRC Students • 75% rehabilitation rate for WWRC students who have a Career Readiness certificate!!! 26

  37. What does the Career Readiness Certification Process look like at WWRC?

  38. The CRC process is available to our students in the Life Skills Transitional Program (LSTP) and Vocational Training Services.

  39. Each student’s achievement level is tested using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)  Students utilize the Aztec Learning System to pre-test, remediate, and post-test work force related academic skills.  Students are selected to sit for the WorkKeys test based upon TABE results, results from the Aztec pre-test and post-tests, performance on paper and pencil WorkKeys test preparation, and CRC Lab Coordinator’s observation of student focus and ability to perform independently within specified time frames.  WorkKeys test  Further Remediation as needed  Re-tested as needed  Career Readiness Certification

  40. WWRC has recently added additional resources to give our students additional preparation and confidence in taking WorkKeys tests (paper and pencil prep)

  41. Now is the Time to Ask……

  42. Are You Smarter Than … …a Jobseeker Who Has Not Earned a Career Readiness Certificate?

  43. Bronze LevelVolunteers (2)

  44. Bronze  Reading for Information Workplace Skills: Reading for Inforation (Career Readiness Preparation). McGaw rHill Publishing Contemporary, 2011. Print.

  45. Workplace Skills: Reading for Information (Career Readiness Preparation) . McGraw Hill Contemporary, 2011. Print.

  46. Workplace Skills Applied Mathematics (Career Readiness Preparation, correlated to Workplace Skills). McGraw Hill Contemporary, 2011. Print. Bronze  Applied Math

  47. Workplace Skills Applied Mathematics (Career Readiness Preparation, correlated to Workplace Skills). McGraw Hill Contemporary, 2011. Print.

  48. What skill sets did the our volunteers use?

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