demographics & workforce group vactea september 2010 weldon cooper center university of virginia...

Demographics & Workforce Group

VACTEASeptember 2010

Weldon Cooper CenterUniversity of Virginia

Virginia’s New

Workplace Readiness

Skills

DEMOGRAPHICS & WORKFORCE GROUP, WELDON COOPER CENTER University of Virginia

Workplace Readiness: A Moving Target

CTE aims to give students the skills to succeed in the workplace, but this is a moving target.

A 1950s education won’t prepare students for a 21st century occupation.


Research Keeps CTE Up to Date

1997

Led to the creationof Virginia’s first Workplace Readiness Skills List

New national research inspired this revision


The Most Important National Research

•What skills are necessary for success in the workplace of the 21st century?

Are They Really Ready to Work

(commissioned by thePartnership for 21st Century

Skills)


Academic &Applied Skills

While the “three Rs” are fundamental to any new workforce entrant’s ability to do the job, employers emphasize that applied skills like Teamwork/Collaboration and Critical Thinking are “very important” to success at work.


“Very Important Skills” for HS Graduates

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

Source: Are They Really Ready for Work, 2006


Most CTE graduates go to college

What skills do they need?

Source: CTE Completer Follow-Up Survey


“Very Important Skills” for College Graduates

Percent Rating Skills as “Very Important” for College Graduates



Most Valuable Applied Skills

Percent of Employers Rating Skills as “Very Important.”

0%

24%

48%

71%

95%

119%

Professionalism/Work Ethic

OralCommunicatio

CriticalThinking

WrittenCommunicatio

LifelongLearning

Leadership

High School Graduates

Two-Year College Grads.

Four-Year College Graduates

Source: Are They Really Ready to Work?


Where Students are Deficient

High School Graduates

0%

50%

100%

150%

WrittenCommuni

CriticalThinking

OralCommuni

Diversity

2 Year College Graduates

0% 50% 100%

150%

4 Year College Graduates

0% 50% 100% 150%

Deficient Adequate Excellent

Source: Are They Really Ready to Work?


Why Do Academic Skills Have Lower Ratings?

Because they are usually job specific


Most Applied Skills Are Universally Needed

Integrity Critical Thinking

Work ethic

Time management

Health &Safety

Conflict Resolution


Employers Want Schools to Teach WRS

Who Should Be Responsible for Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills?



Why teach these skills in school?

Opportunities for work experience are decreasing.

•The recession has cut job opportunities for youth.

•Structural change in the labor market means a tough teen job market is here to stay.


Teen Employment is Now the Lowest Since WWII

Source: Andrew Sum, Collapse of the Nation’s Labor Market for Teens, 2009


Low-Income Teens Have Less Work Experience

Source: Andrew Sum, Collapse of the Nation’s Labor Market for Teens, 2009


How Virginia is Addressing WRS

1997 WRS1. Reading2. Mathematics3. Writing4. Speaking & Listening5. Computer Literacy6. Reasoning, Problem Solving, Decision Making7. Understanding the Big Picture8. Work Ethic9. Positive Attitude10. Independence and Initiative11. Self-presentation12. Satisfactory Attendance13. Teamwork

•Virginia’s first list of WRS was introduced in 1997.

•Research began in 2008 on the new list, introduced in 2010.


Revision Was a Team Effort

Demographics & Workforce


Building a New Skills List, Step by Step

1. Review national research;

2. Review other state and national WRS initiatives;

3. Crosswalk & compare existing WRS list to list from other states and other research initiatives;

4. Develop a draft list of 21 skills for review by Virginia employers.


Essential, Useful, Optional

•More than 300 Employers:

•Rated each draft skill;

•Offered open-ended comments on the skills they need.

Percent of Employers Rating Skills as “Essential”

1 Positive Work Ethic 96%

2 Speaking & Listening 96%

3 Professional Ethics 95%

4 Participates As A Team Member 89%

5 Reading & Writing 89%

6 Diversity Awareness 82%

7Reasoning, Problem-Solving, & Decision-Making

76%

8 Technology Applications 68%

9 Understanding Health, Wellness, & Safety 67%

10 Understands The Big Picture 64%

11 Lifelong Learning 63%

12 Job Acquisition & Advancement 60%

13 Telecommunications 58%

14 Internet Use & Safety 58%

15 Creativity, Innovation, & Adaptability 57%

16 Leadership & Resource Management 54%

17 Research & Synthesis 53%

18 Applying & Understanding Mathematics 51%

19 Data & File-Management 50%

20 Computer Hardware Basics 34%

21 Employment-Related Financial Literacy 34%

Virginia employers participated in an online comment process


Professional Knowledge & SkillsPersonal Qualities & People Skills•Positive Work Ethic

• Integrity

•Teamwork

•Self Representation

•Diversity awareness

•Professional ethics

•Conflict Resolution

•Creativity & Resourcefulness

Technology Knowledge & Skills

•Speaking & Listening

•Reading & Writing

•Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

•Health & Safety

•Organizations, Systems, & Climates

•Lifelong Learning

• Job Acquisition & Advancement

•Time, Task, & Resource Management

•Mathematics

•Customer Service

• Job Specific Technologies

• Information Technology

• Internet Use & Security

•Telecommunications

Final Workplace Readiness Skills List


Virginia’s CTE Resource Center

The New List Is Finished. Now What? Introduced to the CTE Advisory Committee and CTE

administrators across the state, April 2010 Converted skills list into appropriate format for

Virginia’s CTE curriculum, Spring 2010 (Skills become “tasks” with task definitions

to amplify and describe the skills.) Researched and developed instructional resources to

complement all WRS tasks, Spring 2010 Introduced statewide in a Verso e-mail message, June

1, 2010, for implementation 2010–2011

Implementing the New WRS in the Classroom: What This Means for Teachers The 21 skills now appear as the first 21 tasks in

every CTE course in Verso. These skills are marked “essential” and must be

taught. Just like the course-specific tasks, each WRS has

a task definition and related SOL. Each task number is linked to a variety of

instructional resources that have been combined from many sources.

http://www.cteresource.org/verso2/framework/tasklist/family_and_consumer_sciences/culinary_arts_ii/2010/8276

Use and InfuseCrosswalking course tasks/competencies to the new WRS

Teachers should look for tasks that might already cover a WRS.

For example, teaching a task similar to “Explore career and college options for life-long learning” most likely also addresses WRS # 13 and 14.

When teaching and evaluating a student’s performance on this course-specific task, the teacher may also be able to document his or her performance on these two WRS.

If teachers are not already addressing all of the WRS somewhere in their courses . . . They should use the many WRS resources have provided within the course framework, including

background information instructional activities lesson plans Web sites.

http://www.cteresource.org/verso2/framework/full_tasklist/health_and_medical_sciences/practical_nursing_i/2010/8357

Evaluating Student PerformanceJust as in the task list, the New WRS also appear in the student competency record as the first 21 tasks.

The New WRS will soon have a new industry credential.

They are all marked “essential” and must be taught and rated.

A new Virginia-specific test is being developed now and will be ready for use in the spring semester 2011.

It will stand alone as a certification (the current version has to be combined with another test to count).

http://www.cteresource.org/verso2/framework/scrs/marketing/advanced_global_marketing_and_commerce/2010/8136

In Summary . . .

The New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth are well researched are up to date are reflective of Virginia employer needs are incorporated into all CTE courses come with many teaching resources will have a new industry credential.

Questions?Achsah Carrier

Demographics & Workforce Group

Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

University of Virginia

[email protected]

434-982-5582

Peggy Watson

CTE Resource Center

[email protected]

http://cteresource.org

804-673-3778


References

• Casner-Lotto, Jill and Barrington L. Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers' Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce. Society for Human Resource Management, in collaboration with The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006

• Eisen, Phyllis, Jerry J. Jasinowski, and Richard Kleinert. 2005 Skills Gap Report- A Survey of the American Manufacturing Workforce. Deloitte Development, 2005.

• Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Framework for 21st Century Learning. 2009

• The Society for Human Resource Management and WSJ.com/Careers. Critical Skills Needs and Resources for the Changing Workplace. 2008.

• Sum, Andrew. “The Collapse of the Nation’s Labor Market for Teens and Young Adults (20-24): Designing A Set of Workforce Development Strategies to Improve the Immediate and Long-Term Employment Prospects of the Nation’s Youth.” Center for Labor Market Studies Northeastern University, 2009.

demographics & workforce group vactea september 2010 weldon cooper center university of virginia...

Documents

important skills

academic skills

collegewhat skills

new workforce entrants

work experience

job opportunities

tough teen job market

valuable applied skillssource