News

Sneak Peek at the Skill Connect Assessments

More than 150 people joined the SkillsUSA development team for webinars that introduced Skill Connect Assessments and the Work Force Ready System. State CTE Directors, industry partners, local administrators and teachers logged on to hear how SkillsUSA will offer assessments to help serve as a measure of accountability for Perkins IV.

View the presentation and transcript from the meeting.

Hear one of our assessment experts describe and demonstrate multiple question types in this video from our webinar on December 10.

Read the feedback from our participants, and gain deeper insight into the assessments through additional questions and answers

Building America’s Work Force in Vulnerable Communities

The Work Force Ready System was originally supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to help skilled workers find rewarding careers.  In addition to supporting technical assessments and a portable credential, the grant also supports the seeding of the SkillsUSA model in six vulnerable communities through the Champions for Change initiative.  The first two pilot sites began in the fall of 2007 in Chicago and Omaha, and SkillsUSA is currently seeking proposals from qualified to implement a SkillsUSA chapter in four more vulnerable communities.  Refer to the RFP for more details about how you can become the next school district, Job Corps center or WIA youth services provider to be a part of our exciting new initiative.

SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System

The SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System recognizes young people for their achievements in preparing for their careers and helps instructors test and demonstrate their students' entry-level technical proficiency. The system helps instructors prove the benefit of their programs, and most importantly, helps young people find rewarding careers through four components: Skill Point Certificate, Skill Connect Assessments, Skill Connect Portfolio and Skill Connect Excelerator.

“SkillsUSA's new process should be classified as a Gold Standard Assessment.”

- Dale Derrickson, Delaware Department of Education and member of the OVAE’s Technical Skill Assessment Study Group

SkillsUSA Director of Training, Membership and Program Development

We witness the power of SkillsUSA through 13,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations. More than 280,000 students and instructors benefit from SkillsUSA membership annually. Students acquire skills and develop leadership abilities needed to connect to meaningful jobs. Local programs make profound differences in their communities through teamwork and collaboration. And employers recognize the strengths of these students as they become successful in the workplace and in their communities

As our momentum grows through the Work Force Ready System, we also have the opportunity to see the power of SkillsUSA come to life in six new chapters nationwide. We are pleased to partner with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support our American work force in six vulnerable communities. Programs in Chicago and Omaha are already benefitting from the opportunity, and we are looking for our next four programs to serve as pilot sites for our proven program.

We hope you will review the RFP. and consider applying or passing it along to someone you know who would be interested.