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The state is working with the company Wiley to recruit dislocated workers for education and training, rather than waiting for them to show up.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jenna about ACT’s WorkKeys products, National Career Readiness Certificate, and Work Ready Communities program. They discuss the importance of listening to the market and using data and research to truly understand needs and solve real problems. Jenna also shares how the pandemic has created opportunities around credentials, remote work, and an overall emphasis on adapting to future disruptions.

The El Dorado Chamber's Business Education Strategies Team announced a career fair later this month for employers and workforce groups to connect students to opportunities. As all high school juniors in Kansas have the shot at earning the WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate, the event links NCRC-holders with highly-succesful work-based learning opportunities.

Personal journeys through education and career pathways are often filled with challenges and obstacles, making progress difficult and compromise frequent.  Chelsea Williams of Reimagine Talent Co joins us on Episode 33 of Ready for Work. Chelsea helps us discover the role of occupational identify for career pathway success with tips for job counselors, educators, and employers alike.

Four Missouri counties have earned Certified Work Ready Community status. This ACT designation program that recognizes successful efforts by community, education and business leaders to strengthen workforce training and development in order to meet the economic development needs of their communities. Laclede, Morgan, Howard, and Pemiscot counties each recently earned the designation.

Gov. Asa Hutchison certified Texarkana as an Arkansas Competitive Community. Located in the participating Work Ready Community of Miller County, Texarkana is the first in Southwest Arkansas to earn the distinction, and one of only a few statewide.

Ohio's variety of options to encourage high school equivalency now includes WorkKeys for adults age 20 and over. The option calls for a composite score totaling 14 or higher across the three tests along with pursuit of an industry-recognized credential.

Imagine being asked to secure housing, transportation, forms of identification, clothing, food, and employment all within a short period of time. What would be considered an arduous task for most is even more difficult for incarcerated individuals being released. Cleveland Community College in the Work Ready Community of Cleveland, NC hosted a prison-to-community initaitive, a simulation highlighting the challenges incarcerated individuals face on release. The March 30th event included participants from community colleges, resource agencies, local industries, community corrections, judicial districts, and chambers of commerce.

The Green Hills Education Association in Iowa shared the success of WorkKeys for two students in the Council Bluffs school district. 

I have a Transition Alliance Program student who took the NCRC this semester and he earned a platinum.  Being in a therapeutic environment throughout high school, this young man has been setting his sights at entry level jobs with little opportunity for advancement such as a fast food worker or grocery store clerk.  The platinum score on the NCRC has motivated him to consider careers that require more skills as well as exploring post-secondary educational opportunities. The NCRC has been instrumental in showing him that he can perform academically at a significantly higher level than he has estimated. Because he doesn't have practice with rigorous coursework, he is concerned about taking 12-15 college credits, but trying one or two classes is a possibility.  He is participating in the Reverse Job Fair in May and is including the NCRC on his resume. 

I had a student who took the NCRC before she graduated. She earned a silver rating which qualifies her to be a paraprofessional with CBCSD.  Unfortunately, she moved to Kansas City, Kansas in January and we were exploring Kansas Community Colleges for her to earn an associate's degree to become a para.  However, I recently learned that Kansas recognizes the NCRC as an approved assessment for paraprofessionals and I am assisting her in getting her NCRC certificate number so that she can apply for paraprofessional positions in Kansas. 

Governor Mike Parson, Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, Senator Jason Bean, Representative Don Rone, Representative Andrew McDaniel, city and county officials, business leaders and the community at large gathered at an event in Caruthersville, MO, yesterday in which Governor Parson declared Pemiscot County a Certified Work Ready Community.