1. National Career Readiness Certificate
INTRODUCTION TO
ACT WORKKEYS
National Career Readiness Certificate
Mo School Counselors Association Conference
November
Cheri Tune
Missouri Department of Economic Development

2. National Career Readiness Certificate
Certify Your Workforce
The National Career Readiness Certificate, issued by ACT, is a portable, evidence-based credential that certifies essential skills needed for workplace success.

3. What does the NCRC do?
Validates skill level – what workers know and are able to do
Take some of the guesswork out of hiring and promotion
Reduce costs and minimize risk
Reduce training time

4. National Career Readiness Certificate
Certify Your Workforce
The NCRC™ is
Used to document essential skills linked to workplace success
Evidence-based
Industry-recognized
Portable
Contextualized for the workplace
Awarded at four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum

5. National Career Readiness Certificate
Certify Your Workforce
The NCRC is a credential that is used across all sectors of the economy and certifies the following cognitive skills:
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Reading and using work-related text
Applying information from workplace documents to solve problems
Applying mathematical reasoning to work-related problems
Setting up and performing work-related mathematical calculations
Locating, synthesizing, and applying information that is presented graphically
Comparing, summarizing, and analyzing information presented in multiple, related graphics

6. Assessments Assess Your Workforce
WorkKeys assessments measure “real world” workplace skills critical to job success. These skills are valuable for any occupation—skilled or professional—at any level of education, and in any industry.
Approximately 15 million WorkKeys assessments have been administered.

7. 77% of profiled jobs utilize all of these skills*
National Career Readiness Certificate
Certify Your Workforce
Individuals can earn the NCRC by taking three WorkKeys® assessments:
Applied Mathematics
Locating Information
Reading for Information
77% of profiled jobs utilize all of these skills*
*Numbers are based on analysis of 5,618 jobs profiled from 2006 to 2010 in the ACT JobPro database.

8. NCRC LEVELS
Bronze: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 3 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 35 percent of the jobs listed on ACT database of profiled positions.
Silver: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 4 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 65 percent of the jobs listed in the database.
Gold: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 5 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 90 percent of the jobs in the database.
Platinum: indicates a worker has scored at least a Level 6 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary skills for 99 percent of the jobs in the database.

9. National Career Readiness Certificate
Benefits
Career Seekers
Provide employers with verifiable evidence of their job skills
Employers
Screen applicants and find the right workers for jobs at all levels, as well as make decisions about training and advancement of current employees
Educators
Ensure that their students are ready for meaningful careers
Industry Associations
Adopt the NCRC as the foundational credential of their skills certification systems
Workforce Developers
Help to supply employers with workers possessing the necessary skills to meet demand
Economic Developers
Inform businesses’ decisions about where to locate or expand by demonstrating the skill level of regional labor sheds

10. Employers report that hiring employees with an NCRC:
Reduced recruitment costs
Improved retention
Reduced training time
Overall increased productivity
More quickly able to contribute to the organization

11. Evidence-Based Hiring Process
“The National Career Readiness Certificate will make the hiring process smoother and more efficient. It will provide effective measure of the applicant’s fundamental skills, and give the employer an assessment for potential success. Today’s economy demands a tool which ensures job seekers have the right stuff to succeed.”
Daniel P. Mehan,
President/CEO, Missouri State Chamber of Commerce

12. Over 3200 employers statewide recognizing the NCRC

13. How does WorkKeys /NCRC help students?

18. Benefits to the student
Employers nationwide recognize the value of the NCRC certificate, & prefer candidates have this in their decision process for selecting a site for new business installations. 
Employers use the NCRC as a tool to evaluate workplace readiness and adaptability because it is a more reliable indicator of abilities than a GPA.  Studies show there are work readiness gaps among workers of even the highest educational attainment levels.
For higher-level students, the NCRC is one of a number of credentials that demonstrates their abilities.  Those earning the Platinum certificate are among the top one-half of one percent of performers nationally, demonstrating their successful ability to apply their knowledge in 99 percent of all positions profiled.
The American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended that postsecondary educational institutions award college credit in applied critical thinking to individuals who earn the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC™). ACE recommends that three credit hours be awarded to recipients who earn specific levels of the credential. (Gold or Platinum) Some colleges in the nation are now doing this
NCRC is objective evaluation of a students skill level with scores that relate directly to employment requirements

19. How can educators use the WorkKeys scores?
Counselors play a key role in helping students understand the NCRC and its relationship to their selection of a career path. 
Counselors have an opportunity to review the WorkKeys scores and NCRC levels attained by a student, and the careers for which they’d qualify based on their score
Approved as part of MSIP5. Your school can earn points for your districts performance report
Use KeyTrain to helps students remediate

20. Work Ready Communities- National effort--led by ACT Missouri 1 of 23 states participating

21. What is Work Ready Communities?
A national effort, led by ACT
Voluntary--led locally by key community leaders:
local elected officials, economic development, business leaders, chambers, educators and workforce development
Goal is for the community to work together to strengthen it’s workforce by aligning workforce with education & economic development
Mo Job Center tests job seekers (Transitional) & can also assist with proctoring tests to Students (Emerging)
All partners assist with educating the community on WRC/NCRC & obtaining employer support by signing up on-line as a supporting employer

22. ACT Certified Work Ready Communities

23. Missouri CWRC Current stats
Started 2013
Now have 36 Fully certified counties
(counties are approved at state WDB board meetings on a quarterly basis)
81 of 114 Mo counties engaged in CWRC
Nearly 79,000 NCRCs earned
Over 3200
Employers supporting/recommending/preferring NCRC candidates
Our 7 certified communities (counties) have completed their task and are now working towards recertification . Last November, almost 1,400 Missourians obtained an NCRC. Nearly doubling the numbers in October. WE have over 1900 Missouri employers who have signed a Partnership letter agreeing to prefer, recognize or use the NCRC in their hiring practices.

24. Partners in CWRC Educators (secondary & post secondary)
Workforce Development
Economic Developers
Chamber of Commerce
Local & city government officials
Employers
Community works together to build a talent pool/skilled workforce!!!!

25. Community Benefits of being CERTIFIED
Economic Growth and Prosperity
Support for Existing Businesses
Community Collaboration
Recognition for local achievements
Platform for regional cooperation
Attracting New Business to your community
(by validating a skilled workforce. which is #1 reason site selectors indicate critical for attracting new business or expansion)

26. Questions?? http://workreadycommunities.org
Cheri Tune | Director, Certified Work Ready Communities
Missouri Department of Economic Development
Division of Workforce Development