Updated 08/08/00
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- Identifies gaps in employability skills that allow students to focus on closing the gaps in future education, training and work activities
- Provides another credential for students to use when seeking employment as a student or as an employee entering the workforce
- Answers the question for the school district, "How are we doing at developing employability skills in our students?"
- Provides insights into skill levels of prospective employees
Assessing Employability Skills is a January, 1997 review and listing of tests and/or assessment systems available for measuring employability skills. Contact Al Flieder for a copy.
Work Keys is ACT's comprehensive assessment system for improving the workforce:
- Employers can identify and develop workers for a wide range of skilled jobs;
- Students and workers can document and advance their employability skills; and
- Educators can tailor instructional programs to help students
acquire the skills employers need.
Last school year, 173 of Iowa's school districts (11 of them in Area 10) received funds appropriated by the Iowa Legislature to assess employability skills of over 22,000 high school students. Nearly all these districts used ACT Work Keys as their assessment instrument of choice, measuring students' levels of transferable work skills in reading, math, listening, technology, teamwork, etc. against known levels of these skills among entry level employees. These funds are one source of support available to meet expectations of the career education component of Chapter 12.5(7), a part of comprehensive school improvement. Schools using this money are expected to report results as part of their annual progress report.
