News

To ensure the needs of Mississippi’s workforce are being met, directors of the Mississippi Department of Education and Interim State Superintendent Raymond Morgigno participated in an advisory meeting last week with business and workforce development leaders in the Magnolia State. Discussions included ways to expand WorkKeys testing in high schools statewide.

Congratuations to ACT partner, Workbay, as runner-up in the U.S. Department of Education's Future Finder Challenge. The Workbay team will receive an additional $250,000 to support the continued development and deployment of their digital career navigation tools.

Workbay championed new career navigation tools integrated with WorkKeys skill benchmarks. The platforms offer job seekers a community-specific mobile app and web-based platform that connects them to local resources as well as videos, learning content, and job postings. Workbay links recruitment with skill-building programs to help learners identify and successfully pursue local careers of interest. Throughout the Future Finder Challenge, Workbay focused on expanding its platform to support adults currently and formerly incarcerated and worked with people who are incarcerated to test and refine its solution.

An effort by the Education and Industry Alliance 360 Partnership to improve the readiness of the Franklin County workforce has yielded certification as an ACT Work Ready Community. Partners in the initiative include Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus, the Ozark Chamber of Commerce, Ozark High School, the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District and elected officials in Franklin County.

In recent months, Jobs for the Future President Maria Flynn engaged in conversations with ACT about strategies for improving postsecondary education and workforce equity, alignment, and success. In a new ACT blog post, Maria answers questions about how certain populations are underserved by education and workforce systems, why career services and navigational supports need to be modernized, and the importance of intentionality and consistency in education and workforce success efforts. 

In episode 44 of Ready for Work, LeeSa Page, a senior advisor with the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council, discusses the importance of Manufacturing Day and Manufacturing Month in October. She highlights the role of manufacturing in the American economy and the need to inspire various groups to pursue careers in the industry. From the stage of the recent ACT Workforce Summit in Nashville, LeeSa emphasizes the need for partnerships and initiatives to tap into untapped talent pools for a diverse manufacturing workforce. The episode concludes by acknowledging successful programs that have positively impacted manufacturing employment.

Shelby County today announced that it has met all criteria to become a certified ACT® Work Ready Community. This achievement caps an ACT Work Ready Community Boot Camp process and begins a two-year growth and maintenance phase to retain certification. Shelby joins other counties in Southwest Tennessee and explosive growth anticipated for the region.

Change management enables working learners to acquire skills and adopt behaviors that maximize workforce and learning outcomes. On episode 43 of Ready for Work, guest Robert Feeney shares his personal journey that led him to develop Ringorang. Driven by overcoming severe mental health challenges in his family, Robert emphasizes the importance of behavior change in education and career development.

CompTIA and ACT teamed up to align CompTIA A+ Core 1 and Core 2 certifications with ACT's WorkKeys Assessments and the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), as a foundation for CompTIA's A+ program. The study also included WorkKeys Applied Technology and Workplace Observation skills due to their program relevance. WorkKeys' curriculum profiling identifies skills and levels required for training. Combined with other WorkKeys components (assessments, support, reporting), it informs educators about readiness and guides individuals on areas to improve in their education and career pursuits.

Two incredible champions in the field of competency-based education and the skills-first movement: Julian Alssid and Kaitlin Lemoine, join the conversation on Episode 42 of Ready for Work.  Through their pioneering work at College for America, the duo emphasizes the importance of transparently naming and communicating skills to learners, bridging the gap between academic and workplace skills.  Learn more about the challenges posed by legacy systems and the importance of breaking down silos.  They also share insights from their new consultancy work, giving us a preview of What’s Next for the Skills-First Movement.

Rochester and Monroe County leaders continue to build the leadership team and assets for a future WRC effort.  Golisano Institute is a new two-year business and entrepreneurship school and President Ian Mortimer joined the ‘Mornings with Maria’ program to discuss their goals to reduce the time and costs required to prepare for successful startups.