1. Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills
An Added Value to Virginia’s Career and Technical Education Programs
Virginia Department of Education
Office of Career and Technical Education Services
© 2001

2. Workplace Readiness Skills
• What are they?
• Why are they important?
• What resources are available?
• What documentation is required?

3. What are Workplace Readiness Skills?
• Skills deemed critical for success in the workplace
• “Soft skills,” identified by employers, that contribute to an employee’s value, especially at the entry level
• Skills that complement an employee’s occupational skills in a specific career

4. Virginia’s 13 Workplace Readiness Skills Categories
Reading in context of the workplace
Math in context of the workplace
Writing in context of the workplace
Speaking/listening
Computer literacy
Reasoning/ problem-solving/ decision-making
Understanding of the “big picture”
Strong work ethic
Positive attitude
Independence/
initiative
Self-presentation skills
Satisfactory attendance
Participation as a team member

5. Why are they important?
Virginia’s employers have identified workplace skills that they expect and require of their workers.
The 1997 document, Virginia’s Changing Workplace: Employers Speak, identifies these skills

6. Why are they important?
The Code of Virginia Standards of Quality requires that “the Board of Education shall establish educational objectives to implement the development of the skills that are necessary in school and preparation for life in the years beyond.”

7. Why are they important?
The Perkins Act of 1998 specifies that CTE programs “must prepare students for entry into postsecondary education or into high skill, high wage jobs in current and emerging occupations.”

8. Why are they important? Because of their critical nature . . .
Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills are required to be incorporated in all high school CTE courses.

9. What resources are available?
Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills
(1999)
An overview document that lists the 13 skills and provides a standard and descriptions of each skill
Useful with administrators, advisory councils, and academic faculty

10. Enhancing Workplace Readiness Skills (2001)
Is designed for Virginia teachers
Includes
Instructional activities that support the teaching and learning of Workplace Readiness Skills
Handouts for students
Contains a crosswalk between the activities and Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills
Should be integrated throughout a course

11. Examples of Activities
Keep an observation journal on employee behaviors in local businesses
Analyze the classified ads to see what type of workers employers are seeking
Create a company, with specific attention to the types of employees you would hire

12. How to order these resources
Printed and downloadable copies of
the Workplace Readiness Skills
documents are available from:
CTE Resource Center
2002 Bremo Rd., Lower Level
Richmond, VA 23226
(Fax)

13. V-TECS Workplace Skills
Is a nationally validated product of the V-TECS consortium
Is a special edition of the V-TECS DIRECT 4+ software
Addresses 98 workplace skills deemed critical for every worker
Should be infused throughout a course

14. V-Tecs Workplace Skills
Addresses essential knowledge, skill, and attitudes for these 98 skills
Has performance standards and instructional activities
Includes more than 600 test items from which customized tests can be generated
Have been crosswalked to Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills

15. How to order the V-TECS Workplace Skills CD
Every public high school in Virginia will have a copy of this CD (Windows 98/95)
Additional copies are available from
CTE Resource Center
2002 Bremo Rd., Lower Level
Richmond, VA 23226
(Fax)

16. Web-Based Resources Workplace Readiness Skills Task List
Available on the web at
Student Competency Record
A link to the SCR is available at the top of the task list on the web
Each SCR is downloadable from the web in a Word file with fill-in fields

17. What documentation is required?
In each high school CTE course, there must be evidence that each student has attained these skills
The Student Competency Record is the appropriate record for documenting attainment
The SCR includes the required rating scale and can be easily duplicated for use with each student

18. Questions? Contact: Office of Career and Technical Education Services
Virginia Department of Education