Workforce Readiness

Current economic difficulties and the challenge of competing in the world market have necessitated a rethinking of American approaches to the utilization of people in organizations. Management now recognizes a need to have workers take on more responsibility at the points of production, of sale, and of service rendered if the United States is to compete in rapidly changing world markets. This development means that much more is expected of even entry-level members of the American workforce. Thus, even more is expected of our high schools and colleges to provide this type of workforce.

The need of American management for workers with greater skills and who can take on greater responsibility has spawned many commissions, task forces, and studies. All of them have contributed to the vast evidence documenting the need for a more highly skilled workforce. These studies are summarized and synthesized in this book. However, what remains largely undone is the development of methods to assess the necessary skills that have been identified. A major portion of this book deals with assessment issues.

Workforce Readiness: Competencies and Assessment explores the state-of-the-art in the specification of competencies (skills) and their assessment for students entering the world of work from both high school and college. Both individual and team competencies are examined via data that has been reported and collected in various settings--schools, laboratories, and industrial facilities.

Contents: Preface. Part I: Specifications of Workforce Competencies.H.F. O'Neil, Jr., K. Allred, E.L. Baker, Review of Workforce Readiness Theoretical Frameworks. T. Bailey, Changes in the Nature of Work: Implications for Skills and Assessment. K.M. Oliver, C. Russell, L.M. Gilli, R.A. Hughes, T. Schuder, J.L. Brown, W. Towers, Skills for Success in Maryland: Beyond Workplace Readiness. B.E. Nash, R.C. Korte, Validation of SCANS Competencies by a National Job Analysis Study. K.E. Sinclair, Workforce Competencies of College Graduates. K.J. Eltis, Workforce Competencies of Teachers. J.A. Cannon-Bowers, E. Salas, Teamwork Competencies: The Interaction of Team Member Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. Part II: Assessment of Competencies.H.F. O'Neil, Jr., K. Allred, E.L. Baker, Design of Teacher-Scored Measures for Workforce Readiness Competencies. H.F. O'Neil, Jr., K. Allred, R.A. Dennis, Use of Computer Simulation for Assessing the Interpersonal Skill of Negotiation. H.F. O'Neil, Jr., K. Allred, R.A. Dennis, Validation of a Computer Simulation for Assessment of Interpersonal Skills. T.G. Sticht, Assessing Foundation Skills for Work. J.R. McLarty, T.R. Vansickle, Assessing Employability Skills: The Work Keys(TM) System. S.N. Rabinowitz, A Comprehensive Performance-Based System to Address Work Readiness. J. Troper, C. Smith, Workplace Readiness Portfolios. P.T.H. Grummon, Assessing Teamwork Skills for Workforce Readiness. H.F. O'Neil, Jr., G.K.W.K. Chung, R.S. Brown, Use of Networked Simulations as a Context to Measure Team Competencies.