Dr. Barbara Bolin

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Dr. Barbara Bolin President www.nationalocc.org 8
04-310-2552 bolinb_at_earthlink.net Career Readiness
Certificate Consortium www.crcconsortium.org
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• Best (Promising) Practices
• . . . by-products of a successful end-result
• Definitions
• Activities or procedures that have produced 1)
  outstanding
• results and 2) that might be adapted to improve
  effectiveness,
• efficiency, and/or innovation in another
  situation
• Winning strategies, approaches, and processes
  that
• produce superior performance
• Accumulation and application of knowledge about
  what is
• working and NOT working in different situations
  and
• contexts

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• In other words . . .
• The concept of best practices includes both
• The lessons learned, and
• b) The continuing process of learning, feedback,
• reflection, and analysis
• (i.e. what works, how, and why, etc.)

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• Best practices are usually documented by example,
  
• resulting in only limited transfer of knowledge
  and ideas,
• and a tendency to reinvent the wheel.
• To maximize the benefit of sharing results,
  develop
• criteria to help you to evaluate whether an
  idea/experience
• is indeed successful,
• is transferable to another situation,
• and whether the community/organization on the
  receiving
• end has
• c) the capacity to implement the practice

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TRANSFERANCE
Transferring best practices is about knowledge
transfer --transferring ideas, skills, and
lessons learned.

• Transference may involve adaptation because
• one size does not fit all
• Are there necessary pre-conditions to
  implementation?
• (e.g. capacity, management, HR issues, etc)?
• What challenges will have to be overcome?
• Are there contextual issues to deal with?

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CONTEXTUAL FACTORS --may help or hinder

• Politics
• Will
• Personalities
• Culture
• Timing
• Geography
• Physical environment
• Leadership

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1. Politics Is the climate conducive to
implementation? (Creation of the Michigan
Department of Career Development)
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Workforce Development programs initiatives
Postsecondary Services
Michigan Department of Career Development
Secondary Career Technical Education
WDBs, EAGs, One-stop system
Rehabilitation Services
Adult Education
Employment Services LMI
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2. Will Group will/culture may be stronger
than you are, especially if you are proposing
CHANGE. Take care to build the WIIFM case.
3. Personalities Egos can get in the way!
Are you a threat to a powerful colleague?
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4. Culture Ideas do not always
translate to other countries, regions, or
states (No person left behind workforce
development in Europe)
5. Timing The idea may be ahead of its
time. (Confluence of education, workforce,
and economic development, and the CRC)
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The Michigan Career Development System
Career Preparation System (Emerging
Workers)
Worker Enhancement System(Incumbent
Entrepreneurial Workers)
Workforce Development System (Transitioning
Workers)
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Michigan Career Development System
Career Preparation System

• K-12, community colleges, universities,
• proprietary schools

• Applied

.
learning

• High academic standards

• Apprenticeships

• Career awareness

• Integrated curricula

• CTE

• Internships

• Skills upgrades

WDBs EAGs

• Career planning

• Credentialing

One-Stop Service Centers Adult Education WorkFirst
WIA WIIA
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No Virginian Left Behind System
Worker Pipeline (P-20)

• Perkins
• CTE
• AE

Worker Improvement

• Perkins
• AE
• State-funded
• job training

Workers with Barriers

• WIA
• AE
• TANF
• Wagner-Peyser
• WtW

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No Virginian Left Behind System

• Worker Pipeline, P-20
• Perkins
• CTE

• Worker
• Improvement
• Perkins
• AE
• State-funded job
• training

WIBs YCs

• Workers with
• Barriers
• WIA
• TANF
• AE
• Wagner-Peyser
• WtW

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No Virginian Left Behind System
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6. Geography Local, state, and national
social/political mores must be respected
(Messaging must use acceptable language and
images)
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7. Physical environment Career Centers in
Appalachia
8. Leadership Kalamazoo Promise Career
Readiness Certificate
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Changes in Workforce Skills Needs Across Fifty
Years
Unskilled 12
Skilled 20
Professional 20
Skilled 68
Unskilled 60
Professional 20
1955
2005
ACT, Inc. 2005
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Work Skills Progression
Industry Sector
OS
OS
OS
OS
FT
CRC
FT Foundational Technical
Skills OS Occupationally Specific
Skills
C Career Readiness Certificate
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Employers have TWO major concerns with
potential and incumbent employees

• Poor work ethic

How do you legally assess and train to overcome
deficiencies?
2. Lack of basic learning skills, i.e.
TRAINABILITY for rapidly changing technologies
and careers Employers are as interested in what
a person can DO, not only what they KNOW!!
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Career Readiness Certificate ConsortiumJanuary
2004

• To design, develop, implement and advocate a
  tiered model of portable career readiness
  certificate based on WorkKeys
• Fully recognized across all consortium states
• Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky,
  Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and
  West Virginia
• Link with individual consortium states
  initiatives, WorkKeys products and services, and
  similar initiatives in other parts of the country

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Consortium definition of the CRC
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Career Readiness Certificate Consortium January
2004
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August 2005
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CRC Consortium April 2006
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CRC Consortium October 2007
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National Situation
Employers, workforce development professionals
and governments in at least 40 states agree on
the following

• There is a need for a portable skills credential
  based on a
• common language, easily understood by employers,
  educators,
• and residents

2) This common language should be WorkKeys
3) The three WorkKeys assessments that should
form the basis of the credential are
Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and
Reading For Information
4) The credential should be multi-level
5) The scores for each level should be 3's for
Bronze, 4's for Silver, and 5's for Gold.
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• CAUTIONS in Adapting Best Practices
• Never underestimate the power of the bureaucracy
• Watch out for the B-people
• Beware of Group Think
• Try to anticipate unintended consequences

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Recommendations
If you havent done so yet, read Friedmans The
World Is Flat. Then move on to The Emerging
Markets Century by Antoine Van Agtmael, and The
Elephant and the Dragon by Robyn Shepherd.
Just for fun and a new perspective, try China
Road by Rob Gifford Read The Wall Street
Journal, Business Week, Fast Company, Inc, and
Fortune every now and then to expand your
conversations and ideas. Take notes as you
read!!
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Dr. Barbara Bolin President www.nationalocc.org 8
04-310-2552 bolinb_at_earthlink.net Career Readiness
Certificate Consortium www.crcconsortium.org