Direct from Washington, January 2009

Preparedness Skills

The "nation’s report card," otherwise known as reports from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), probably will include evidence on preparedness for the workplace among 12th graders within two years.

The NAEP governing board, however, doesn’t know exactly how to do it. At its December quarterly meeting, it accepted a report recommending the kinds of studies that will be needed to determine academic readiness in math and reading by high school seniors, whether they are going to college or the workplace.

The technical panel that prepared the report called for an overall research strategy with several major themes. It would use several types of study designs for each postsecondary area to create a comprehensive foundation for NAEP preparedness reporting; emphasize that NAEP focuses on academic skills and not readiness, which involves nonacademic skills such as time management; and ensure that future NAEP Report Cards explain how NAEP preparedness reports relate to other measures of preparedness and state policy initiatives.

Workforce "preparedness" will refer to the reading and math skills needed to qualify for placement in a job-training program including apprenticeships, on-the-job training, vocational institutes, and certification programs. College preparedness would refer to the reading and math skills needed to qualify for entry-level credit courses at a four-year campus.

According to an article in Education Week, the studies that the governing board might support would compare the content of NAEP with workplace placement exams such as WorkKeys or look at data from CTE programs on their standards for placing students in regular and not remedial courses.

While NAEP is testing the assessment waters for soon-to-be high school graduates, others groups that are focusing on state policies for high school reform are getting more specific in addressing assessment of career-related skills.

Achieve, Inc., and The Education Trust insist that work-ready skills for jobs with a family-supporting wage are the same as college-ready skills. While employers may find it hard to articulate the knowledge and skills needed for success in the workplace, they "know it when they see it," according to their joint report, Making College and Career Readiness the Mission for High Schools: A Guide for State Policymakers. When including employers in conversations about readiness for the workplace, Achieve and Education Trust staffs begin with core standards from colleges. Surveys by ACT confirm that the standards are close. "While it appears that employers care a little bit more about geometry and basic statistics," the guide says, "and colleges care a little more about algebra, the distinctions should not obscure the larger truth: In the end, ready for college and ready for careers require the same core academic skills."

Lauding efforts in higher education to use technology and applied learning to enhance achievement, this report says that some contend CTE in high schools does just that. But so far, it says, "what we see is mostly courses that teach part, but not all, of the core academic course they are intended to replace. That’s just not enough." State policy makers should ensure that CTE has the high level of rigor and alignment provided by the "Program of Study" in the Perkins Act, which is focused on academic and career courses that progress into postsecondary education. This may mean eliminating some old CTE programs and upgrading others, it says.

In a separate report, Achieve, Inc., advises against encouraging high school students to earn industry certifications. First, it says, there are thousands of certifications and most are not connected to mainstream high school teaching and learning. Second, states face problems in extending certifications beyond CTE students. Third, "it may be impractical for the state to encourage, require, or even pay for all high school students to earn industry certifications."

The Achieve, Inc., report, Transforming Statewide High School Assessment Systems: A Guide for Policymakers, further says states should not substitute industry certifications for assessments of academic preparation for college and the workforce. "Such a policy," it says, "could leave students without the broad foundational skills in reading, writing, and mathematics that they need in a wide variety of careers—in exchange for narrower skills relevant only to a handful of jobs." Achieve, Inc., it should be noted, considers career-ready preparation to extend beyond high school to an associate degree.