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CTECS Workplace Readiness Skills Assessment www.ctecs.org/va-wrs-assessment.htm

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CTECS Workplace Readiness Skills Assessment

www.ctecs.org/va-wrs-assessment.htm

1

CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Employers are adamant about the need to better prepare students for the workplace. The skills gap is widening. States and organizations have begun to respond by creating curriculum and resources to ensure that students are provided with the tools to be successful as they enter the workplace. To validate learning and award student success with a meaningful workplace readiness credential, CTECS is proud to offer an inexpensive, rigorous, and challenging assessment solution.

100-item Multiple-Choice•

60-Minute Timed Test•

Standard of Mastery: 75•

Pricing

WRS Assessment: $9.00•

WRS Retake: $7.00•

WRS Pretest: $6.00•

Web Page: www.ctecs.org/va-wrs-assessment.htm

About the Assessment

Contents

Introduction - pg. 1•

About the Assessment - pg. 1•

Stakeholders - pg. 1•

CTECS Role - pg. 2•

Revision Timeline - pg. 3•

Research - pg. 4•

Teaching WRS - pg. 5•

Virginia Department of Education • Superintendent’s Announcement - pg. 6

E-SESS Standards Performance • Summary Report - pg. 7

Certifi cate of Achievement - pg. 8•

Virginia Workplace Readiness Skills • List - pg. 9

Stakeholders

University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center—Validated research and fi nal skills list; conducted employer survey; produced research reports and promotion (www.coopercenter.org/demographics)

CTECS—Assisted research on IT area; created test items; set cut score; implemented testing as test administrator (www.ctecs.org/va-wrs-assessment.htm)

CTE Resource Center—Conducted initial research/literature review; edited skills list; brought the list into Verso and made WRS a part of every CTE course task list; provided instructional resources; conducted inservices

Virginia Department of Education--The Virginia Department of Education--Provided the vision and administration for WRS skills revision and credential development and implementation.

Introduction

2

CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

The role of CTECS in the development and implementation of the WRS assessment is as follows:

1. Work with the Weldon Cooper Center at UVA to research and validate the Workplace Readiness Skills.

2. Work with the Virginia Curriculum and Resource Center to seat a committee made up of business, industry, education and guidance personnel to either link existing items to standards or develop them where they do not exist.

3. Create a blueprint for the assessment and create a 100 item test for use in the initial pilot.

4. Work with the Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Curriculum and Resource Center to select a cross section of schools to conduct a pilot test of the assessment and a fi eld test of the E-SESS™ on line delivery system.

CTECS Role

CTECS Role in Technical Assistance: Training, Facilitation, Development

Validate the assessment processes to ensure face • and content validity and reliability

Deliver the assessments online•

Provide technical assistance and professional • development to implement and maintain online testing

5. Coordinate and conduct the pilot test with the pilot site test administrators; analyze the results and feedback in order to improve the assessment and the delivery system.

6. Notify school divisions through their test site administrators in Virginia regarding assessment availability costs and the registration process.

7. Deliver the assessment to those who sign up during a window of opportunity beginning April 1, 2011 through the end of June 2011 school semesters; and continue offering the WRS assessment on a rolling basis to any Virginia school who wishes to administer the assessment.

8. Continue to administer and improve the assessment in years to come.

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

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Revision Timeline

4

CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Continuous research helps to keep the CTE • curriculum up to date.

This research led Virginia to revise its 13 • WRS from 1997.

These reports, along with others, were • reviewed and analyzed as part of the revision process.

National research inspired Virginia’s revision of its 1997 Workplace Readiness Skills.

Critical Thinking

Work Ethic

Time Management Health &

Safety

Conflict Resolution

Integrity Workplace readiness skills are essential in almost every occupation. That is why, here 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.

These skills are also critical as students move into the postsecondary environment.

Research

Percent Ranking Skills as “Very Important” for High School Graduates

Source: Are They Really Ready for Work, 2006

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Teaching Workplace Readiness Skills

Infused course

Instructional unit

Technical tasks

WRS

WRS Technical tasks

Full course

Teachers may wish to cover the WRS in the fi rst few weeks of school or as an instructional unit.

The CTE Resource Center supports career and technical and occupational-technical preparation programs by providing resources for curriculum development and program design and implementation in response to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

Through its online curriculum management system, Verso, new Workplace Readiness Skills have been included in every Virginia CTE course. Teachers may teach these skills in the context of their standard technical tasks. A wide variety of resources have

been provided for each new Workplace Readiness Skill, including informational Web sites, discussion topics, background information, lesson plans, project ideas, activities, handouts, and worksheets. Further, skills are detailed with exact defi nitions that allow teachers to better understand state expectations and correlated to Virginia Standards of Learning. If they cannot fi nd a place for each Workplace Readiness Skill to compliment technical tasks within their courses, a wealth of curriculum resources enables instructors to teach them as stand-alone items or within a unit.

Or, instructors can look for course content that might already cover a WRS and teach them together.

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Superintendent's Memo #088 11

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA Department of Education

April 1, 2011

TO: Division Superintendents

FROM: Patricia I. Wright, Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT: Assessment for Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth

The Office of Career and Technical Education (CTE), in collaboration with the Career and Technical Education Consortium of States (CTECS), is pleased to announce the release of a new assessment, Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth Examination. The Board of Education approved this credential as a “stand-alone” examination towards a student-selected verified credit at its February 17, 2011, meeting. This online examination is designed to measure current workplace readiness skills that are a required component of each Career and Technical Education course.

Students may earn a student-selected verified credit by passing this new examination while earning a standard credit in a related career and technical education course. Priority testing should be directed toward students who are graduating CTE completers. Teachers are not allowed to take this examination.

The Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth Examination is an optional test that can be administered with any CTE course. However, provisions in the Code of Virginia and federal legislation (Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006), governing technical skills attainment require local school boards and the Virginia Department of Education to report pass/fail data annually. Consequently, this data will be shown as a new category item on the Virginia School Report Card.

Specific information for ordering and administering the Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth Examination can be found at a special CTECS Web site at: http://www.ctecs.org/va-wrs-assessment.htm.

If you have any questions, please contact Gordon Creasy, specialist for industry certification and licensure, via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (804) 225-2057.

PIW/GC/LBH/sgj

Virginia Superintendent's Memo

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

1) Workplace Readiness Skills (WRS) for the CommonwealthA) Personal Qualities and People Skills

1) Positive Work Ethic: Comes to work every day on time, is willing to take direction, and is motivated to accomplish the task at hand 2) Integrity: Abides by workplace policies and laws and demonstrates honesty and reliability3) Teamwork: Contributes to the success of the team, assists others, and requests help when needed4) Self-representation: Dresses appropriately and uses language and manners suitable for the workplace5) Diversity Awareness: Works well with all customers and coworkers6) Conflict Resolution: Negotiates diplomatic solutions to interpersonal and workplace issues7) Creativity and Resourcefulness: Contributes new ideas and works with initiative

B) Professional Knowledge and Skills 8) Speaking And Listening: Follows directions and communicateseffectively with customers and fellow employees9) Reading And Writing: Reads and interprets workplace documents and writes clearly 10) Critical Thinking And Problem Solving: Analyzes and resolvesproblems that arise in completing assigned tasks11) Health And Safety: Follows safety guidelines and manages personal health 12) Organizations, Systems, And Climates: Identifies big picture issues and his or her role in fulfilling the mission of the workplace13) Lifelong Learning: Continually acquires new industry-relatedinformation and improves professional skills14) Job Acquisition And Advancement: Prepares to apply for a job and to seek promotion 15) Time, Task, And Resource Management: Organizes and implements a productive plan of work16) Mathematics: Uses mathematical reasoning to accomplish tasks17) Customer Service: Identifies and addresses the needs of all customers, providing helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable service

C) Technology Knowledge and Skills 18) Job-Specific Technologies: Selects and safely uses technological resources to accomplish work responsibilities in a productive manner 19) Information Technology: Uses computers, file management techniques, and software/programs effectively20) Internet Use And Security: Uses the Internet appropriately for work 21) Telecommunications: Selects and uses appropriate devices, services, and applications

77.13 %85.28 %

85.16 %

88.28 %

83.59 %

84.38 %

93.13 %

88.13 %

71.88 %

72.08 %

81.25 %

55.63 %

69.53 %

86.72 %

62.5 %

71.09 %

61.25 %

61.72 %

86.98 %

83.59 %

76.22 %

89.29 %

74.55 %

76.56 %

60 %

E-SESS™ Testing System Standards Performance Report

Standards Performance Summary Report

Workplace Readiness Skills

The Standards Performance Summary with Graph report is both a formative and summative tool that gives teachers an inside look at how well their

students are performing on each of the 21 WRS. With such data, teachers are able to adjust curriculum and instructional time on each skill that needs improvement.

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Certificate of Achievement

Certificate of Achievement

Virginia Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth Examination

Awarded to

forSuccessful completion of the

Student’s Name

Awarded

Ronald D. McCage, President, CTECS

Students who meet the standard of mastery in the assessment, receive a certifi cate of passing that can be used as a wonderful career portfolio item.

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CTECS | 1866 Southern Lane | Decatur, Georgia 30033 | 800.248.7701 x. 3543 | www.ctecs.org

Personal Qualities and People Skills

1. POSITIVE WORK ETHIC: Comes to work every day on time, is willing to take direction, and is motivated to accomplish the task at hand

2. INTEGRITY: Abides by workplace policies and laws and demonstrates honesty and reliability

3. TEAMWORK: Contributes to the success of the team, assists others, and requests help when needed

4. SELF-REPRESENTATION: Dresses appropriately and uses language and manners suitable for the workplace

5. DIVERSITY AWARENESS: Works well with all customers and coworkers

6. CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Negotiates diplomatic solutions to interpersonal and workplace issues

7. CREATIVITY AND RESOURCEFULNESS: Contributes new ideas and works with initiative

Professional Knowledge and Skills

8. SPEAKING AND LISTENING: Follows directions and communicates effectively with customers and fellow employees

9. READING AND WRITING: Reads and interprets workplace documents and writes clearly

10. CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING: Analyzes and resolves problems that arise in completing assigned tasks

11. HEALTH AND SAFETY: Follows safety guidelines and manages personal health

12. ORGANIZATIONS, SYSTEMS, AND CLIMATES: Identifi es “big picture” issues and his or her role in fulfi lling the mission of the workplace

13. LIFELONG LEARNING: Continually acquires new industry-related information and improves professional skills

14. JOB ACQUISITION AND ADVANCEMENT: Prepares to apply for a job and to seek promotion

15. TIME, TASK, AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Organizes and implements a productive plan of work

16. MATHEMATICS: Uses mathematical reasoning to accomplish tasks

17. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Identifi es and addresses the needs of all customers, providing helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable service

Technology Knowledge and Skills

18. JOB-SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGIES: Selects and safely uses technological resources to accomplish work responsibilities in a productive manner

19. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Uses computers, fi le management techniques, and software/programs effectively

20. INTERNET USE AND SECURITY: Uses the Internet appropriately for work

21. TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Selects and uses appropriate devices, services, and applications

The New Workplace Readiness Skills for the CommonwealthNeeds Identified by Virginia Employer's Adopted April 2010