A new assessment system to measure career-related content was unveiled today by the
National Academy Foundation, a network of 500 career-themed high school academies, and
WestEd, the San Francisco-based educational research nonprofit.
The NAF Student Certification Assessment System has been piloted in
select schools over the past two years and will be rolled out this fall
to about one-third of the 60,000 students at NAF academies. While the
system will be built on the NAF network, the hope is that it will become
a model that other high schools would adopt, says Andrew Rothstein,
special adviser for education policy with NAF.
Just as a college-admissions officer might look at a student's grade
point average before offering a spot in its freshman class, an employer
could benefit from knowing a graduate's level of job-skill proficiency
before extending a job offer. Also, students who complete career
programs are often strong candidates for college, but it can be
difficult to gauge their readiness with current tools.
There are three parts to the NAF certificate:
1. Project assessments:
Students would be evaluated on
curriculum-based, classroom projects that demonstrate proficiency in
technical content and skills.
2. End-of-course exams: The tests would include a variety of questions to
reflect depth of career knowledge.
3. Work-based learning assessments: Supervisors would give feedback
on
students' ability to apply career and technology knowledge on an
internship.
With the system, all assessments would be done online, and students
would be given a score at the end of each NAF course. The
assessments
were designed with input from industry professionals to reflect what is
needed in the workplace, according to NAF officials.
The NAF academics, which are located in 39 states, currently focus on
five industry areas: finance, hospitality & tourism, information
technology, engineering, and health sciences. NAF was founded 30 years
ago with a focus on closing the achievement gap and serving low-income,
at-risk students.
The NAF system is
intended to complement the assessments being
developed for the Common Core State Standards, says Rothstein. While the
common core emphasizes more college readiness, this system looks at
career- and college-readiness as defined by core academics, career
knowledge, foundational skills, interpersonal skills, and
self-management. (The groups developing common assessments have
wrestled over the definition of career readiness.)
Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary of the office of vocational
and adult education with the U.S. Department of Education, moderated a
panel discussion on the new system at the NAF event in Washington today.
Employers are having difficulty finding qualified workers because too
often they lack the right combination of academic and technical skills.
"We must help business and industry find the workforce they need," said
Dann-Messier, adding that there needs to be an increased emphasis on a
system to assess career readiness—not just college readiness.
On the panel, Stanley Rabinowitz, director of assessment- and
standards-development services for WestEd, said that for too long there
has been an unfortunate distinction between instruction and assessment.
With this system,
part of the evaluation is embedded in the curriculum,
and the cumulative aspect of the students' work is considered. It better
mirrors the workplace and how employees improve through feedback and
peer review, he said.
Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American
Universities, said the NAF Student Certificate could be an extra tool to
help evaluate students in the college-admission process. "It is not
going to replace the current admissions process, but it adds a couple of
elements that helps college and universities make decisions," he said.
The technology makes it easier to assess students' career-readiness,
and the economic imperative creates a perfect time to launch this
career- and college-preparedness measure, said J.D. Hoye, president of
the NAF. The focus should be on lifting both paths, college and careers.
The best reason for assessing college and career readiness is that
then teachers will cover both.
"What you test is what you get," said
Rabinowitz. "It's our responsibility to test responsibly.
If we want
assessment to go a certain way, we better reward teachers who teach that
way."
The assessment will give a full picture to a college or employer about a student's applied career knowledge, said Rabinowitz.
Rawlings said there is a need for instruments that are clear-cut and
simple to help understand basics about students. "I'm finished with the
idea that there is one way to save our schools," he said. "There is not
one great answer."
STUDENTSFIRST
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