Career Ready/Work Place Ready

For the most part school assessment is about grades in specific subject areas as it relates to classroom assignments and projects.  However, if you ask business, industry employers, or Human Resource directors, they will say one of the most important skills needed by employees are soft/professional or career ready skills. 

Butler Manufacturing presentation to students

The State Department of Career and Technical Education has adopted 12 Career Ready practices.  ND CTE CareerReady Skills

These practices align with what employers want to see in employees. Attitude, communication, listening well, responsibility, problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking are a few examples. They also align with what we say we want in a graduate from Bismarck Public Schools. 

BPS Mission: "All students will have the academic, social, and personal skills to be college, career, and community ready."

If our mission statement indicates students need to have "...personal skills to be college, career and community ready", then should we be assessing students in their career readiness?  What do we do if they are not career ready?  What does this look like at the elementary level?

I invite you to join me on Twitter Tuesday, October 22 to chat about Career Ready as we explore this topic. 

Twitter Questions:

1. In your opinion what are your two top career/soft skills?  

2. How could students be assessed on career ready or soft skills in the middle and school level? Elementary level?

3. If a student is not proficient on career ready or workplace practices what could be done to help them improve?

4. What career ready practices could/should be assessed in an online course environment?