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Incarceration to Employment: Re-Entry Essential Element of Workforce March 01, 2022

As featured in Episode 31 of ACT's Ready for Work podcast

Mississippi Examines TABE-WorkKeys Data Relationships February 25, 2022

As featured in Episode 30 of the Ready for Work podcast

University of Nevada Offers Tips with WRC to Engage Employers February 24, 2022

"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match…" Maybe it's because I just saw Fiddler on the Roof or because Valentine's Day has just passed, but I wanted to take a moment to bring together two very special audiences – entrepreneurs and workforce development – to make the case for why this marriage should be a no-brainer and provide ideas for how to make a move.

Ceremony recognizes 54 NCRC earners in Northern New York February 23, 2022

Recently 54 G. Ray Bodley High School students received their ACT WorkKeys career readiness certificates at the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels on Thursday morning in front of family, faculty, and student peers. Principal Donna Parkhurst spoke alongside business teacher Angela Ferlito to kick off the morning ceremony. 

“What WorkKeys does is it takes a look at not only the soft skills, but also the hard skills that occupations at any level are looking at in terms of qualifications. There’s also additional curriculum offered to obtain micro-credentials in certain areas: teamwork, business communication, discipline in the workplace, problem solving, and customer service, critical thinking and financial awareness. Those skills really help build one’s resume,” Ferlito said. “These students had curriculum that they could work through, and then they took all three parts of the assessment, which was a grueling three hours that they sat. It was a lot of work for them and stressful at times, but they did a great job and persevered through that.”

Podcast: WorkKeys Alignment with Adult Standards Spurs Innovation February 21, 2022

A group of nine subject matter experts in Adult Education formed a panel to align the CCRSAE to the benchmarks of WorkKeys. The panelists represent four states across the South, Midwest, and Northeast regions of the U.S. Results of the study help demonstrate a crosswalk with the Educational Functional Levels to help ABE programs optimize performance as working learns meet both career and education goals.

Enhancing the detail of the crosswalk are best practices from the Mississippi Community College Board, Hagerstown Community College in Maryland, and Metropolitan Community College of Omaha, Nebraska. Each guest contributes their perspectives on the importance of the alignment work and how it helps improve ABE programming. The panelists share what they gained in unique insights from the research that also helps demystify Strength of Link. Episode 30 concludes with tips to read and interpret the crosswalk along with a briefing on the new Move Ahead with Adult Ed campaign.

Ouachita County launches their ACT Work Ready Community initiative February 21, 2022

Camden, Arkansas- Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development announced today, they have engaged in the process for Ouachita County to become a certified ACT Work Ready Community. This practice demonstrates their commitment to developing a strong workforce pipeline, desirable to employers, economic developers, and current and future citizens of the county.

Drew County Joins Arkansas Largest Work Ready Region February 18, 2022

Drew County now joins eight other Southeast Arkansas counties to form the largest contiguous ACT Work Ready region in the state of Arkansas, according to Jerry Bayliss, Jr., Drew County's WRC Coordinator. The University of Arkansas at Monticello became actively engaged in the initiative as part of an award to the UAM College of Technology-Crossett from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education Regional Workforce Planning, Implementation and Continuation Grants.

Grant to Texarkana Boosts WRC February 03, 2022

The Texarkana USA Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation has been awarded a $331,988 grant from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation to further their efforts in workforce development in the region. The grant is to be distributed over a three-year period. The goals of the program are for Miller and Bowie County to earn and sustain ACT® Work Ready Communities (ACT® WRC) certification.

Warren HS Celebrates NCRC Achievers February 03, 2022

Warren School District is participating in the ACT WorkKeys assessment, and several students will graduate from Warren High School with the opportunity to receive the National Career Readiness Certification (NCRC.) Act 319 of 2021 prompted the state Board of Education to approve the ACT WorkKeys assessment for all high school students to have the opportunity to earn a nationally-recognized work readiness certificate before they graduate.

Adair WRC Lands 87 New Jobs for Cooperative Response Center February 02, 2022

Cooperative Response Center (CRC), a nationwide contact and alarm monitoring center, announced today it will open a new facility in Kirksville in the Work Ready Community of Adair County. Investing more than $1 million and creating more than 87 new jobs, the new facility will be CRC’s first Missouri location and allow the company to meet increasing demand for its services.