“Going for the Gold” WorkKeys Testing Best Practices
Presented by: Marchelle Horner, NCDPI CTE Support Services Consultant
Camille L. Goins, M.P.A., Ed.S.
CTE Coordinator, Scotland County Schools
Developing Partnerships
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Begin with developing partnerships with your area community college, business/industry, workforce development board, and media.
Communication
• Community Contacts (September) • Local Workforce Development Agency • Community College CRC Coordinator • Local Business/Industry who accept the CRC • Utilize local media (i.e. radio, newspaper, Internet) to
communicate with parents and public regarding WorkKeys
Utilize Futures for Kids Messaging System to communicate with students, staff and parents. If parents have been given an access code to their child’s account they also can log in to F4K and access the messaging system or if they included an e-mail address this message will be sent to their e-mail accounts. A great way to communicate with parents, students, and the community.
Futures for Kids Messaging
Filtering the message will allow you to
select students by grade levels
Futures for Kids Messaging
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An example of a message that was sent to seniors and parents regarding the upcoming Senior Assembly to discuss the WorkKeys Assessment.
Future for Kids Messaging
Information for Staff E-mail Communication
Information Regarding WorkKeys • The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently
informed districts that WorkKeys will be given free of charge to all North Carolina 12th graders who are Career and Technical Education (CTE) completers (i.e., students who have completed four sequential CTE courses). Effective the 2012–13 school year, the WorkKeys is part of North Carolina’s school accountability program.
• The WorkKeys system from ACT is being used in high schools across
the state and throughout the country to help ensure that students have the skills they need to be college and career ready. WorkKeys provides important information no matter what type of skilled or professional career a student plans to pursue after high school. They are awarded at four levels—Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum—based on the scores an individual achieves on three WorkKeys tests: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information.
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An e-mail that was sent to the entire staff of the high school to communicate the WorkKeys test.
WorkKeys Senior Assembly October 2012
AGENDA
• Welcome Ms. Beth Ammons Principal
• Introduction of Guest Speakers Ms. Camille L. Goins
• Career Readiness Certification and Job Placement Mr. Harvey Godwin Two Hawk Employment Services, Owner
• Career Readiness Certification in the Workplace Ms. Cathy Poole
Human Resources Generalist
Online Resources
Staff and Student Resources
Scotland CTE Blog Page
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Provide resources on the CTE Webpage that links WorkKeys with other CTE certifications, ACT Website, and community college
Scotland CTE Webpage
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Provide resources on the CTE Webpage that links WorkKeys with other CTE certifications, ACT Website, and community college
Staff and Student Resources
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Adding online resources to the school website for easy access.
WIN Career Readiness Courseware
• Provided to school by local workforce development board
• WIN • Online Tutorial Program that provides
developmental resources to teach employability and social skills in a career context to help learners successfully transition to a career path
• Math & Literacy is designed around the Common Core State Standards
• Project Based Learning activities that connects to the Career Clusters
WIN Learning System Mission
To ensure all learners have the foundational skills to be career and college ready and that all administrators are equipped with tools that allow systemic change for students and teachers. .
Career Readiness: Foundational Skills Support
Students and staff have easy log-in access
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All students can be enrolled in the system so students and staff can begin using the program as early as middle school.
Career Readiness Courseware
• Applied Mathematics • Reading for Information • Locating Information
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While the WorkKeys focusing on Math, Reading, and Locating Information, there are other features in the system that students can use to help prepare them for the workforce such as teamwork, listening, and work habits. These soft skills are needed within the workforce.
Administrator’s Page
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All students can be enrolled in the system so students and staff can begin using the program as early as middle school. Student can be enrolled in a batch upload. Teachers can set up individual classes.
Printable PDFs
Lessons
Mathematics Level 6 Reading for Information Level 4
WIN Tutorials Self-guided
Making the Connection
Careers
College
Academics
CTE
Making the Connection through 4-Year Plans
Source: Scotland County Schools CTE
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Programs of Study helps to align middle and high school courses with post-secondary opportunities to include certifications, colleges, careers, salary and job-outlook. When each school system creates their Programs of Study, they align the career opportunities and post-secondary opportunities with their individual communities. Create posters to display in various classrooms. Students have the opportunity to take up to 32 credits. Core classes are 20 credits which leaves 12 credits for CTE, General Electives, WBL, AP and CCP courses. Students have the opportunity to complete more than one cluster area and should be encouraged to do so. Students who are interested in the military should also explore a career cluster because they will need to have a job in the military.
Individualized Career Plans
Source: Scotland County Schools CTE
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Students can then develop individualized career plans based on their individual career goals and plans of study to include middle, high, postsecondary, and career opportunities. Allow students to compare colleges such as 2-year vs 4-year universities. For example on this plan, the student compared UNC-Chapel Hill with Fayetteville Technical Community College for a degree in Dental Hygiene. You will notice that the average pay for a Dental Hygienist is about the same, but there is an increase in tuition cost of up to $60,000 for a 4-year degree vs a 2-year degree. This is information that should be shared with parents to illustrate the long-term cost effects to their child's education and career goals.
NC Top 50 Occupations with the Most Openings by Education Level
Source: Careeronestop
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Utilize Careeronestop to research careers within your state that have the most openings.
NC Top 50 Occupations with the Most Openings by Education Level
Source: Careeronestop
NC Top 25 Highest-Paying Occupations by Education Level
Source: Careeronestop
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Utilize Careeronestop to research careers within your state that are the top-paying careers along with what education level is required.
NC Top 25 Highest-Paying Occupations by Education Level
Source: Careeronestop
Connecting with Employers
Natio
nal P
artic
ipat
ion
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There are over 2000 employers across the United States that accept the CRC. Sharing this information with students can help align their career cluster with an organization.
NC CRC Employer Participation
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Share with students the employers within NC and your community that accept the CRC.
WIN Careers
Career Exploration
Career Alignment
Career Alignment - Qualifications
Career Alignment by Occupation
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Students can research their career choices in WIN and identify what is the necessary skills required for this career based on the WorkKeys Assessment.
Career Alignment by Job Title
Career Planning
Career Openings and Opportunities
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Students can research career opportunities, the current job market, and other information within WIN based on their WorkKeys scores and career goals.
Continue
Organizing Your Testing
Student Orientation
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Provide an orientation session prior to the test that explains to students and parents the process of the WorkKeys test. Also, provide information regarding tutorials, trainings, and study guides.
Student Orientation
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Orientation should include testing times and dates so students are well aware of their testing time and locations.
Testing Slips
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Providing testing slips to students prior to the test is another way to communicate information regarding the testing date and time along with study guides.
WorkKeys Testing Online Schedule
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Ensure that staff receive a copy of the testing schedule in detail at least a month before the scheduled testing date. Separating your test groups into sessions can help in the process.
Wor
kKey
s Tra
nscr
ipt Student Name
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Develop a WorkKeys transcript specific to your school and for each student. Indicate what level of certification they earned. This information can be merged from the spreadsheet that is generated from the ACT testing portal after online testing is completed for easy creation. Provide information to students on how to use their scores.
Student Recognitions • Seniors received a CTE Honor Cord for being completers • CTE Completer status was included on their transcript • WorkKeys Scores and Career Readiness Certifications were
included on student transcripts
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Recognize, celebrate, and reward. Ensure that students understand the importance of earning a CRC. Reward CTE completers with special recognition, honor cords, and recognition on graduation program.
Congratulations “Platinum Status”
Congratulations to Miss Hailey Smith, Drafting CTE Concentrator, who achieved Platinum status on the WorkKeys Assessment. She was recognized at the March 11, 2013 SCS School Board Meeting.
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Platinum Status students were recognized at the School Board meeting.
Senior Graduation
Students received “Teal” Honor Cords for being CTE Completers
Student Transcripts
CTE Completer Status, Certifications, and Articulation
WorkKeys Scores
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How many times do our students leave high school only to find out later they need their test scores? Include test scores, certifications/credentials, and articulation on transcripts.
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This is a clip from an actual senior transcript that included CTE completer information, certification information, and articulation credit.
Results
Scotland High School WorkKeys Data “Unofficial Results”
23.8%
54.6%
8.6%
0.0%
13.0%
87.0%
54.1%
18.7%
48.2%
22.3%
0.7%
10.1%
89.9%
72.1%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Bronze Silver Gold Platinum Did not receive Earned aCertificate
Share your unofficial results with your administration team to show how focusing on the WorkKeys assessment can improve proficiency. Share your results with your local workforce development board.
Benefits
Clusters
ACT
Career Ready
WorkKeys
College
Ready
C
T
E PBL
CRC
Benefits for Learners Enhances academics by
providing real-world relevance
Provides opportunities to explore multiple pathways and relates high profile careers to real life situations
Relationships among educational requirements and the workforce
Sets them apart from the “pack”
Benefits for Teachers/Faculty Curriculum can be
tailored to the needs of the community and workforce
Opportunity to integrate CTE and traditional academics
Opportunity to enhance academic achievement for all students and increase college and career readiness skills for all learners
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There are also many benefits to teachers
Benefits for Postsecondary Learners who have an
established career path Learners with better
academic skills and career readiness skills that are in need of less remediation
Avenue to connect with high school
Benefits for the Workforce Provides a well qualified workforce which can quickly adapt to changing needs Opportunity for input in school curriculum Framework for cross-training or re-tooling the workforce Credentialing and Certifications for students
Workforce development
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In all of the career clusters there is a strong business connection.
Help Students to Become “College and Career Ready”
Questions?
"Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."