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Employability profile tracks 21st Century skills growth
Technical know-how and "soft skills" a formula for college
and workplace success
 SEPT.
27, 2011 - Colleges and potential employers can get a
better sense of HFM BOCES Career & Technical Education students’
21st century skills thanks to a new employability profile.
Developed by a team of HFM BOCES teachers, the profile assesses
important “soft skills” – communication, productivity and
accountability, leadership and responsibility, and information
literacy – that a student needs to succeed in college and the
workplace.
“The employability profile has been around forever,” said
curriculum specialist Mark Tanner. However, in the past the
focus was primarily on technical skills. “In construction, it
was how good can you pound a nail? In cosmetology, it was how
good a hairdresser are you?” said Mr. Tanner.
The decision to recreate the employability profile to encompass
a wide range of skills was triggered by a combination of
factors, including teacher dissatisfaction with the old profile,
requests from businesses to provide a more comprehensive picture
of students and a need to more clearly articulate overall student
educational and career readiness growth.
“We wanted to develop a cover page consistent across programs
that elaborated on certain soft skills,” said Mr. Tanner.
“First, what was their attendance like? Their leadership skills?
How well did they work as part of a team?”
A standardized plan with built-in flexibility
The revision process began in July 2010 when Mr. Tanner asked
for staff volunteers to help recreate the employability profile.
“We consistently had five program instructors who were really
excited about this and really interested,” said Tanner.
Carol Pifko, a retired nursing assistant instructor; as well as
instructors Julie Mead, cosmetology; Ben Conte, environmental
conservation; Everett “Cubby” Faville, foundations of food; and
Thomas Davis, auto technology, met on a regular basis to hammer
out the details.
Mr. Tanner said the group had to reach consensus first on which
skills to focus on.
“Everyone knew what they wanted, but wording it became a
challenge,” said Mr. Tanner. “Once we reviewed the national 21st
Century Skills initiative document and saw the obvious alignment
with what we wanted to do, it became a simple matter of
identifying those 21st century
skills we thought were important. We then determined that we needed an assessment tool
that was standardized for everyone.”
The result is a rubric that defines parameters for acceptable
activities for student assessment – for example, the activity
must have relevance to “real world” experiences. Teachers assess
students on a scale of 1 to 4 in each defined area, from
ineffective to highly effective.
For example, the communication skills rubric evaluates written,
oral and visual skills based on activities appropriate for a
particular program.
“As far as activities go, we’re not necessarily talking about an
essay graded by a teacher, although that may be a possibility in
some programs. We’re talking about communication a
student does in connection with their career path,” said Tanner.
“We try to mimic the job place as much as possible,” said
Environmental Conservation teacher Ben Conte. In his class, an
activity might involve a student presenting a job assignment to
classmates, much like a foreman would do for his crew. Conte
then has the ability to assess the student’s communication
skills. “Sometimes we give the student the opportunity to make a
mistake so we can see how they handle it. We try to teach them
how to handle different situations and work with people.”
Conte said students are given the communications rubric in
advance. “They know what they’re getting graded on. There’s no
guessing,” he said.
Construction teacher Mike McGillicuddy said he uses the
communication rubric to assess students’ phone skills. He calls
each student’s cell phone while classmates listen in. How
professional a student sounds – or doesn’t sound – can be “huge
for a potential employer,” he said.
“I put it on speaker phone and we compare everyone’s voicemail
recordings. It’s a great activity, because when they go on their
internship, it’s not unusual for an employer to call a kid at
night,” said McGillicuddy.
Career & Technical Education Director Jay DeTraglia said the new
employability profile was introduced to students at the
beginning of the school year. “We met with the kids and focused
on the significance of the areas outlined in the employability
profile.” The message to students, he said, was that not only in
the classroom, but “people are assessing you in these areas
everywhere.”
The employability profile provides businesses with a clearer
picture of a job applicant, and Tanner said he has received
positive feedback from HFM BOCES component district
administrators as well as colleges. “They’re very supportive,”
he said.
For Mr. Tanner, there is real satisfaction in seeing the
assessment rubric take on a life of its own.
“The staff sees the value in using it as a measurement tool,” he
said. “One of the unintended results of this process is that
we’re seeing more and more rubrics being used for all sorts of
project-based learning activities.”
Mrs. Mead is one of those teachers who has taken the rubric to
the next level by creating one in various cosmetology
instruction areas, such as a braiding rubric. “The students can
see my expectations and what they can do to meet them. The
employability profile is an awesome tool.”
Mr. DeTraglia said he was proud that the staff embraced the
process. “They did it, they did it well, improved upon it and
took it to a level that is way beyond our original expectation,”
he said. “It’s rewarding when that happens.” |
