G lobally P ositioning S tudents for Life in the 21 st Century

1. Globally Positioning Students for Life in the 21st Century KeyTrain and Career Ready 101 are trademarks of Thinking Media. WorkKeys and the National Career Readiness Certificate are trademarks of ACT, Inc.

2. The Accountability Services Mission Promote the academic achievement of all North Carolina public school students and assist stakeholders in understanding and gauging achievement compared to state and national standards Design and development of reliable test instruments Uniform implementation of and access to suitable test instruments for all students Provision of accurate and statistically appropriate reports

3. Career Ready 101 Purpose: To provide a single system that combines all essential aspects of preparing a student or job seeker with the necessary knowledge and skills to identify, locate, obtain, and be trainable for the optimum career and/or job in their area, leading to a recognized national work readiness credential.

4. The Problem: • How do we manage to address all of the common basic skills and workplace readiness issues? • How do we reduce need for remediation of Reading and Math skills at the college level • How do we document progress on these issues? • How do we provide a credential that is useful to business and recognized nationwide?

5. Basic Skills for College and Work Readiness is a Broad Issue Does Not Apply Math Well Difficulty with College Courses Poor in Interviews More math Trial and Error Rigor Struggles with Teamwork Behavioral Coaching Can’t Balance Checkbook Trouble with Workplace Graphics Finance/math ???? Writing Skills are Lacking English Composition Doesn’t Understand What He/She Reads Needs to Show Up on Time English Coaching Lacks Career Direction And Goals Varied Career Exploration

6. The Solution: • Step 1: • Adopt metrics that can measure these skills • Step 2: • Use a system that can manage all aspects of improving these skills • Step 3: • Issue a credential that already has national acceptance and traction

7. Finding a Solution: Metrics STEP 1: Creating Metrics Assessment, Training, Certification Determine measurement system Track performance Define Skills • The ideal metrics would be: • Valid • Reliable • Based upon an agency that has a solid reputation

8. The WorkKeys® Process Research Training Profiling Assessments

9. WorkKeys® Skill Areas Foundational Skills Reading for Information* (Levels 3-7) Applied Mathematics*(Levels 3-7) Locating Information*(Levels 3-6) Applied Technology(Levels 3-6) Teamwork(Levels 3-6) Observation(Levels 3-6) Listening (Levels 1-5) Writing(Levels 1-5) Business Writing(Levels 1-5) Personal Skills Talent - predicts characteristics such as cooperation, discipline, influence, and stability Fit - interests and values to determine the fit between a candidate and occupations in an organization Performance - measures tendency towards unsafe behaviors and attitudes towards work ** 85% of ALL occupations utilize these skills

10. WorkKeys Skill Scale

11. WorkKeysIdentifies Skill Gaps By comparing the job profile and individual assessment results, skills gaps can be identified 6 6 Skills Gap 5 5 5 5 Job Profile Skills Gap 4 4 4 4 4 4 Individual Results KeyTrain 3 3 3 3 3 3 Applied Mathematics Reading for Information Locating Information

12. Finding a Solution: Creating Metrics Solution Step 1 – The ACT WorkKeys Assessment System: Doesn’t Understand What He/She Reads Reading for Information Applied Math Does Not Apply Math Well Locating Information Trouble with Workplace Graphics Business Writing Writing Skills are Lacking Teamwork Struggles with Teamwork Personal Skills - Talent Workplace Soft Skills and coordinating activities: Career Exploration linked to actual job profiles Lacks Career Direction/Goals Poor in Interviews Job Search Skills Financial Awareness/Budgeting Can’t Balance Checkbook WorkKeys is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.

13. Training for College or Workplace? The needs of college and workplace-bound students are merging: “Whether planning to enter college or workforce training programs after graduation, high school students need to be educated to a comparable level of readiness in reading and mathematics.” - Ready for College and Ready for Work: Same or Different?, ACT, Inc. Nationally over half of college freshmen take at least one “remediation” course (usually math or reading) 2006 ACT performed a study that showed a direct correlation between WorkKeys score in Reading & Math level 5 & an ACT score of 21/22 Most US colleges use an ACT score of 18 for the cutoff whether a student takes remediation Implication: K-12 students with a Gold Level CRC much less likely to take remedial studies in college

14. STEP 2 – Creating a Manageable System Career Ready 101™ Manages Curriculum based upon the WorkKeys System

15. Difficulty with College Courses Does Not Apply Math Well Solution Step 2: Career Ready 101 manages all aspects of instruction. Writing Skills are Lacking Struggles with Teamwork Trouble with Workplace Graphics Career Ready 101 Doesn’t Understand What He/She Reads Needs to Show Up on Time Poor in Interviews Can’t Balance Checkbook Lacks Career Direction/Goals

16. Career Ready 101 Design Wizard • Easily creates customized class calendar meeting classroom needs: • Time per week, Time per semester • Facilities – computer lab access, etc • Component priorities given time and physical constraints Prioritize Components Choose Facility Variables Choose Time Variables Edit Career Ready 101 My Course My Classes My Account My Reports

17. Instructor’s Class Dashboard

18. Career Ready 101 Library

19. Career Ready 101 Library

20. Career Ready 101 Library

21. Career Ready 101 Library

22. Instructor’s Teaching Menu

23. Instructor’s Calendar View

24. Viewing a Lesson and Topic: Interactive Lessons or Classroom Presentations and Exercises

25. Instructor-Led Lessons include lecture guides, presentations, handouts and printable quizzes.

26. Career Ready 101 Class Reports

27. Career Ready 101 Student Reports

28. Career Ready 101 Organization Reports

29. Sample KeyTrain Results Georgia High School Graduation Test GHSGT Math GHSGT English/Language Arts

30. Results Chicago Public Schools - PSAE KeyTrain was implemented in over 100 high schools. Students who completed at least one level in KeyTrain = One full level higher on WorkKeys Applied Mathematics on average. One half level higher on WorkKeys Reading for Information on average. (Sample size > 1100 per group, less than 5 hours KeyTrain use per skill.) More than 130,000 students have been enrolled in KeyTrain at CPS, and over 430,000 contact hours have been logged. The effect of KeyTrain is significant at a confidence level of over 99%.

31. Tidewater CC and Norfolk PS – Best Key Program KeyTrain is the primary tool for helping students prepare the GED First attempt success rate on the GED has been 89 - 94%. Nearly 400 students completed their GED and have been placed in jobs, the military or college. A 100% success and placement rate was recorded in a recent class of more than 100 students. Results GED Programs

32. Career/Tech Education - Oklahoma With some usage of KeyTrain remediation 78% increased at least one level For all three tests: 6.3% at Level 3 40% at Level 4 30% at Level 5 20% at Level 6 3.8% at Level 7 94% at Level 4 or above 50% at Level 5 or above Results

33. Central New Mexico Community College Retention English 98 + KeyTrain: 81% course retention English 98 alone: 60% course retention WorkKeys Reading for Information English 98 + KeyTrain: 78% scored Level 4 or higher English 98 alone: 57% scored Level 4 or higher Pre vs. Post Accuplacer Scores English 98 + KeyTrain: 46% increased Accuplacer performance English 98 alone: 35% increased Accuplacer performance Results

34. Difficulty with College Courses Solution Step 3: Certify basic and workplace skills using the National Career Readiness Certificate Does Not Apply Math Well Writing Skills are Lacking Struggles with Teamwork National Career Readiness Certificate Trouble with Workplace Graphics Doesn’t Understand What He/She Reads Needs to Show Up on Time Poor in Interviews Can’t Balance Checkbook Diploma and NCRC demonstrates Ready for College/Ready for Work Lacks Career Direction/Goals The National Career Readiness Certificate is a trademark of ACT, Inc.

35. Important Elements of the System WorkKeys – Assessments from ACT, Inc. Foundational Skills Personal Skills KeyTrain – Online Curriculum from Thinking Media Demonstrated improvement of Foundational Skills Complete coverage of Personal Skills National Career Readiness Certificate™ (NCRC) Credential certifying 3 most common foundational skills Issued by ACT; many states issue comparable state CRC’s Career Ready 101™ KeyTrain curriculum plus new career readiness curriculum, classroom management tools, and course calendaring

36. Skill Areas of The Career Readiness Certificates Reading for Information Applied Mathematics Locating Information Three Certificate levels: Bronze – Minimum of Level 3 in all Skill Areas Qualified for 30% of Jobs Silver – Minimum of Level 4 Qualified for 65% of Jobs Gold – Minimum of Level 5 Qualified for 85% of Jobs

37. NCRC Provides Information on Skills

38. The NCRC is Nationally Accepted

39. Benefits of an NCRC Portable credential for basic workplace skills Business: Easy way to measure skills Individuals: Easy way to demonstrate skills Economic Development: Document the quality of workforce Education, Workforce Development, Training Organizations, and Business: Speak a common language

40. KeyTrain • What sets us apart: • A clear roadmap for implementing a complete career readiness strategy • Don’t have to be an expert in career readiness to deliver an effective solution • Single sign-on that combines previously separate information obtained from a wide variety of web sites and sources • Flexible delivery – self-paced study, classroom learning, or a blend of the two. • Intelligent class setup helps instructors recommends best combination of resources • Multiple views for classroom presentation, grading or accountability reporting • Creates a single point of accountability and ease of management.

41. A Comprehensive System

42. A course for life