Advocates Mission Statement – The National CRC Advocates are dedicated to improving employer talent systems, and those public talent systems that serve employers, through the use of the National Career Readiness Certificate and related competency-based credentials and skill assessments.
Advocates Vision – Our vision is that by 2020, a majority of states have implemented comprehensive state-wide strategies to align public and private talent development systems around the NCRC and related industry-recognized competency-based credentials (certificates) and assessments focused on employment readiness. The realization of this vision will be evidenced by progress on our three primary goals of: growing demand via employer commitments, building workplace skills, and growing the talent supply – individuals with certificates.
Advocates Values and Beliefs – The Advocates are driven by the following seven key values and beliefs:
· Close the skills gap. Prosperity in America depends on improving the skill levels of the American workforce at every level of the talent supply chain. We must close the “skills gap” between current levels and those required for a competitive economy.
· Industry-defined. Employers need to take the lead in defining the key competencies required for foundational; industry-wide; and occupation-specific skills within each industry sector.
· Competency-based. Skill credentials and assessments need to be based on the competencies empirically documented as necessary to be successful at work.
· Employer-driven. Employers, through collaboration with talent suppliers, need to build “world class” talent supply chains, similar to the way they have worked to build world class product and service supply chains. They must build a new business practice of “talent supply chain management.”
· Place-based. Within the vision of statewide implementation and alignment, we recognize that individual labor market transactions take place at the level of a labor market (aka “labor shed”), and employer solutions need to be designed and implemented at the scale of regional labor markets, and customized to the needs of each sector within a labor market.
· Alignment. Skill standards need to be integrated and aligned across all levels of talent systems, from K-12, through higher education and adult workforce development. This requires an integrated and comprehensive strategy at the state level, across all stakeholders, including: economic development; adult learning; secondary schools; post-secondary institutions; human services; corrections; and workforce development.
· Inclusive. We embrace all CRC programs as valued partners and all CRC program leaders and staff as valued colleagues. While we look to ACT to provide leadership and product guidance, we value and support all WorkKeys-based certificate programs.
Advocates “Big Goal” – We will align with and support the Lumina “Big Goal” to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by the year 2025. We envision the National Career Readiness Certificate and related competency-based credentials as critical elements to support the nation’s achievement of that goal by accelerating the re-entry of adults into postsecondary education.
Advocates Strategies and Metrics – The Advocates have five key strategies that will lead to the accomplishment of the mission and the vision.
1. Employer Engagement – Grow Demand for Certificates
Employers must aggregate their voices around competency-based credentials to drive improvements in their talent supply chains. We will monitor and report two measures:
· Employer Letters of Commitment – Letters will be collected and viewable on the website by state and county.
· Employer Experiences – Case studies, job postings, and news clips will be collected and viewable on the website by state and county.
2. Skill Building – Grow Workplace Relevant Skills via Focused Learning
Educators must lead the rebuilding and improvement of our adult learning infrastructure so that we address the skills gap – the shortage of individuals with essential workplace relevant skills. We will monitor and report two measures:
· Learning Activity – We will monitor and report activity in learning experiences that have been shown to be effective in building essential skills.
· Learning Results – We will collect learning results (improvements in certificate levels) and report them on the website.
3. Skill Certification – Grow the Talent Supply
Competency-based certificates are a measure of talent. The total number of certificates reported will be based on two sub-measures:
· Registered Certificates – We will monitor and report registered certificates based on data reported on ACT’s website.
· Non-registered Certificates – We will monitor and report non-registered certificates from official CRC program websites. The certificate data must be publicly available with some level of transparency to be included.
4. Advocacy – Citizens Collective Action to Drive System Change
Concerned citizens must aggregate their voices around workplace relevant skills to drive improvements in their regional talent supply chains. We must come together, learn from each other, and support each other so that we maximize the results of our collective efforts. We will monitor and report two measures:
· Advocates – Individual advocates can “sign up” on the website. Public contacts are viewable on the website by state and county.
· Website Activity – We will monitor and report website activity as an indicator of peer to peer learning that is occurring as a result of the Advocates.
5. Support – Assist States and Regions to Design and Lead Change
The Advocates will provide educational opportunities and offer technical assistance to states and regions that want to actively participate in the national certificate movement. The Advocates will engage in three kinds of activities:
· Develop a Leadership Sense of Urgency – Activities designed to build a base of support for integrated employment-readiness systems. We can help states and regions create local chapters of the Advocates.
· Help States Develop Transformation Strategies – Activities to help states design, develop and launch comprehensive strategies to integrate the NCRC and related employment-readiness credentials and assessments into their talent systems. We can help states and regions by facilitating Career Readiness Planning Institutes.
· Support State Implementation – Strategies to organize effective employer demand and link states to systems and program innovations that help them operationalize their state strategies. We can help states and regions organize effective employer councils and workforce development joint working groups in partnership with business and industry councils.
There are not publicly reported measures specific to these support activities. Ultimately, they are designed to help states and regions to improve their performance on the first three strategies.
Working together – we have a national movement. We can aggregate our voices to accelerate our work.
Please direct questions and comments to:
Bill Guest, Executive Director
National CRC Advocates