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Have you heard about the Skill Connect Assessments, but you haven't had the chance to try them yet? The SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System team is hosting a demonstration center at booth 505 of the SkillsUSA TECHSPO in Kansas City, June 23-25.

We welcome you to stop by for a hands-on test drive of the assessment specific to your area. You'll be at the keyboard. Educators who complete the demonstration and provide feedback in the short survey will be eligible to win an Apple iTouch! One iTouch will be given away each of the three days of the TECHSPO.

Click here to purchase online, technical assessments in these areas:

  • Automated Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
  • Advertising Design
  • Computer Maintenance Technology
  • Cosmetology
  • Employability
  • Internetworking
  • Photography
  • Welding

These areas are also available through the National Automotive Student Skills Standard Assessment:

  • Automobile Repair
  • Collision Repair
  • Auto Refinishing

Are you still waiting for a Skill Connect Assessment in your technical area? Review the complete list of assessments to find out when you can be a field test site, purchase assessments, or learn more about the content by reviewing our complete blueprints.

The same W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant that initiated the Work Force Ready System and Skill Connect Assessments also funded the development of six new SkillsUSA chapters in vulnerable communities. Recent successes include:

  • Nicholas Carbon, a Miami Job Corps student, was recently elected to serve as a postsecondary state officer for Florida SkillsUSA.
  • Students from the Austin Polytechnical Academy in Chicago competed in four contests (Job Interview, Promotional Bulletin Board, Prepared Speech and Extemporaneous Speaking) at the Illinois SkillsUSA state championships, April 23-25. This is a significant accomplishment, especially considering that the school was formed in 2007.
  • ASTRACOR received a Sed de Sbar learning system through the Lowe's grant

Our Champions for Change and Work Force Ready System initiatives support the SkillsUSA mission of making champions at work.

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"The Skill Connect Assessment is much easier than the assessment we've been using. Students related to it better than any other assessment they have taken. It was so nice to have the results in the same day! This seems like the way to go with assessments in the future."

-Dave Owens
Barry Tech, NY


Bruce Potter, Program Specialist

More than 1,000 students have taken a Skill Connect Assessment this spring, most commonly as a post-assessment. Some, however, are finding the Skill Connect Assessments useful as an "on-ramp" to other professional certifications. Using Skill Connect Assessments in this way may help your students perform better on industry certification exams.

A study from Washington University in St. Louis found that students performed better on a test when they had taken a "practice test" the previous day. This was true even for topics that were related to test topics, but had not been tested explicitly on the practice test. The study suggested that students who took a practice test scored higher on a test than those who had extra study time. Because the high levels of interactivity and rich media make Skill Connect Assessments more realistic than typical paper-pencil exams, we are confident they will help students demonstrate the same skills required for industry certification exams and full-time jobs in technical fields.

We're excited to see how Skill Connect Assessments will continue to raise up our future American work force, and we would love to hear about your experiences. E-mail me today, and please stop by our TECHSPO booth at the National SkillsUSA Conference in June to talk with us.