ACT Newsroom

The Growing Potential Of Free Market Education-Forbes Magazine

watsonk — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:11:48 +0000

While the United States should be pushing alternatives to the traditional four-year college, it also should be pushing alternatives to the way we gauge preparedness for the workplace. The market can provide that as well. A good example is the five-year-old National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) program, developed by ACT, Inc. – the nonprofit organization that created the American College Testing Program, the primary alternative to the SAT.The idea behind NCRC, which has been endorsed by the American Association of Community Colleges, is to make it easier for employers to assess the skills of potential employees. As Mac Macllroy, past president of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, observed, “Predictability, uniformity, and certainty are universal goals of executives. The NCRC does this for the hiring process.”

Advanced Systems, Inc. to begin job-profiling program-Brandon Valley Challenger

watsonk — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:49:10 +0000

Advanced Systems, Inc. has announced their intention to partner with the Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) in their National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) job-profiling program...“We see this program as a very positive move for our company and the community,” said ASI Human Resources Director Mary Drumm. “We are excited to move forward.”

Employers hear how job applicant assessments can cut costs-Quincy Herald Whig

watsonk — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:50:03 +0000

Knapheide Manufacturing Company hosted the program on WorkKeys assessments and the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC). Vice President Jim Rubottom said assessment programs are appealing to employers who want to avoid high employee turnover among new hires...Berner Foods Inc. of Dakota, Ill., reported that in 2009 a single department there had 13 terminations that cost the company $215,000. In 2010 there were 12 terminations in the same department at a cost of $188,000. After adding NCRC and WorkKeys assessments to the hiring system, the company had only one termination in 2011, with minimal costs.

Showing our leaders what manufacturing is-Plastics Today

watsonk — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:49:18 +0000

Hoffer Plastics is one of the U.S. plastics industry's oldest family-owned molding businesses, having been founded in 1953 by Robert Hoffer. ...Sen. Durbin participated in a roundtable discussion with Hoffer executives and representatives from local business and educational organizations about the innovative ACT WorkKeys assessment program. WorkKeys administers a battery of tests which measures an individual's proficiency and suitability for various jobs. During 2011, Hoffer added 18 employees whose reading skills and qualifications were certified by the WorkKeys assessment process, which Hoffer executives said helped them streamline the screening, interviewing and hiring process.

A National Career Readiness Certificate Has Emerged to Connect Minnesota Businesses With a Skilled Workforce – Park Rapids Enterprise

mediarelations — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:20:46 +0000

A National Career Readiness Certificate has emerged to connect Minnesota businesses with a skilled workforce, the initiative stemming from the challenge employers face in finding qualified applicants. The test not only demonstrates job seekers’ abilities, but helps employers hire and promote skilled employees.

Aligning the Common Core and the National Career Readiness Certificate-The Center for Energy Workforce Development

watsonk — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:14:12 +0000

One of the many stackable credentials now being used by those in the energy and other industries to determine work readiness is the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), which measures foundational skills (such as problem-solving and critical thinking) needed for success in the workplace. Recently, ACT, Inc. undertook an analysis of how this new credential aligns with the Common Core State Standards for education, which define the knowledge and skills students should learn from kindergarten through the end of high school. What it found was that there are many areas where the two overlap, and some in which they do not.

Removing hurdles-Salt Lake City Tribune

watsonk — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:13:54 +0000

For some high school students nearing graduation, the fee they must pay to take the ACT is the first financial hurdle standing in their path toward college. For these teenagers from low-income homes, the $34 minimum cost to take the test one time is hard to come by. Still, it’s in their interests and the best interest of the state for all high school students to take the ACT. That’s why the Legislature should pass Sen. Margaret Dayton’s bill to make the ACT the required standardized test for high school juniors, at state expense.

Nebraska schools experimenting with ACT-KTIV Television

watsonk — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:13:53 +0000

As part of a multi-year project set up by the Nebraska legislature some students will take the ACT test during their junior year. It could become the new standard for testing for students."It will expose all of our students to the ACT and it will also give us really good information about where our kids are and then how can we improve as a system to ensure that we're providing those experiences," said Vernon Fisher, superintendent at South Sioux City high school.

Handling the learning curve: Career readiness certificate puts workers at the “head of the line”-VTDigger.org

watsonk — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:13:55 +0000

The significant challenge for businesses is finding enough qualified people and helping them to develop necessary new skills. Many Vermont workers meanwhile struggle to keep a job or prepare for something better. And for those who are under- or unemployed, adds Bill Morison, a former New Hampshire businessman who coordinates workforce development initiatives for the Community College of Vermont, the problem can be anything from learning how to succeed in an interview, developing more confidence, dealing with stress, or obtaining a credential that will provide an edge. In response, the Labor Department and CCV have been building and refining a collaborative approach to workforce education and development in recent years, highlighted by an employee credentialing program that leads to a National Career Readiness Certificate.

Inaugural National Workforce Solutions Advisory Board Convenes in Washington

wackerk — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:04 +0000

WASHINGTON—January 23, 2012—Today in the nation’s capital, a group of leaders from economic development, education, industry, nonprofit, public policy and workforce development assembled to discuss the state of the U.S. workforce and solutions for economic growth and competitiveness in the 21st Century. This leadership group, called the National Workforce Solutions Advisory Board, is sponsored by [...]