Assessing Basic Skills In The Workplace

Adult educators working in workplace literacy & workforce preparation programs need to be aware of the many efforts to define standards for the knowledge, skills, & abilities needed for successful performance in the workplace. This report describes the various efforts related to skill standards & other policy initiatives for those who may not be directly involved in these ongoing efforts. Includes skill descriptions as the framework for workplace literacy skill standards. Contents: background to the occupational skill standards efforts; occupational skill standards; framework for skill standards; discussion & conclusions.

Addressing the growing concerns about reading, math, and writing skills of freshman-level students, this volume provides different perspectives and approaches to the assessment of basic academic skills in higher education. The book provides an in-depth investigation into the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP). More generally, the book provides insights into the construction of testing programs and their evaluations. The development and implementation of testing programs is discussed by outstanding educators involved and will be of great value to program administrators, policymakers, deans and faculty members of colleges, state legislators, and educational professionals working directly with institutions of higher learning.

This report, OECD Skills Strategy Poland: Assessment and Recommendations, identifies opportunities and recommends actions to make the education system more reponsive to labour market needs, foster participation in adult learning, increase the use of skills in workplaces and strengthen the governance of the skills system in Poland.

The routine jobs of yesterday are being replaced by technology and/or shipped off-shore. In their place, job categories that require knowledge management, abstract reasoning, and personal services seem to be growing. The modern workplace requires workers to have broad cognitive and affective skills. Often referred to as "21st century skills," these skills include being able to solve complex problems, to think critically about tasks, to effectively communicate with people from a variety of different cultures and using a variety of different techniques, to work in collaboration with others, to adapt to rapidly changing environments and conditions for performing tasks, to effectively manage one's work, and to acquire new skills and information on one's own. The National Research Council (NRC) has convened two prior workshops on the topic of 21st century skills. The first, held in 2007, was designed to examine research on the skills required for the 21st century workplace and the extent to which they are meaningfully different from earlier eras and require corresponding changes in educational experiences. The second workshop, held in 2009, was designed to explore demand for these types of skills, consider intersections between science education reform goals and 21st century skills, examine models of high-quality science instruction that may develop the skills, and consider science teacher readiness for 21st century skills. The third workshop was intended to delve more deeply into the topic of assessment. The goal for this workshop was to capitalize on the prior efforts and explore strategies for assessing the five skills identified earlier. The Committee on the Assessment of 21st Century Skills was asked to organize a workshop that reviewed the assessments and related research for each of the five skills identified at the previous workshops, with special attention to recent developments in technology-enabled assessment of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In designing the workshop, the committee collapsed the five skills into three broad clusters as shown below: Cognitive skills: nonroutine problem solving, critical thinking, systems thinking Interpersonal skills: complex communication, social skills, team-work, cultural sensitivity, dealing with diversity Intrapersonal skills: self-management, time management, self-development, self-regulation, adaptability, executive functioning Assessing 21st Century Skills provides an integrated summary of the presentations and discussions from both parts of the third workshop.

This material provides an initial assessment procedure to help identify the level of basic skills competence of people entering education or training. It is based on Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit Standards that describe how and to what level of performance adults should be able to use communication and number skills. The material can be used in basic skills programs, further education, prisons, voluntary organizations, workplace training, and government-funded training programs. Notes for assessors describe the material and steps to take before, during, and after the assessment. Instruction sheets provide a set of instructions for carrying out a series of assessment tasks. Eleven series of tasks are provided: foundation level and stages 1 and 2 reading, foundation level and stages 1 and 2 oral, foundation level and stages 1 and 2 writing, and foundation level and stages 1 and 2 numeracy. The instruction sheets provide performance criteria, assessment guidelines, time allowance for completion of a task, script to use in conducting the assessment, and Next Steps which give suggested routes through the material. Linked to each assessment task is a task sheet to be completed by the student or trainee. Individual assessment charts to be completed during the assessment show how the students/trainee performed each individual task. A summary assessment chart allows the assessor to aggregate assessment results. (YLB)