New Assessment Resource Available at NCWD/Youth website!

Administrators, youth service practitioners, and policy-makers will find the new guide, Career Planning Begins with Assessment: A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges, useful in their work. The Guide includes information on selecting career-related assessments, determining when to refer youth for additional assessment, accommodations, and legal and ethical issues in testing.

The Guide was developed because adolescents and young adults need guidance and encouragement from caring, supportive adults to successfully transition from school to adult life and the world of work. Transition decisions and choices made by youth need to be based on sound information including appropriate assessments that focus on the talents, knowledge, skills, interests, values, and aptitudes of each individual.

The Guide (in Word and PDF versions) can be accessed here.

What’s in the Guide for Frontline staff?

Part of the Assessment Guide described above is a directory of some 80 of the most commonly used published tests. The Guide covers specific information for each test, including what is measured, target groups, how it is normed, administration and scoring of the test, cost, reliability and validity, and contact information. Click here to view the directory in PDF or download the directory in MS Word.

The Guide also includes a sample release of record form (view the release form in PDF or download the release form in MS Word) and a form to collect information on young people in the career planning process (view transition form in PDF or download transition form in MS Word), both of which can be adapted for local use. A learning needs screening tool (view the screening tool in PDF or download the screening tool in MS Word) for use in referring youth with suspected learning disabilities for additional assessment is also provided.

What’s in the Guide for Administrators and Policymakers?

Administrators and policymakers will find information on developing practical and effective policies, collaboration among programs, and interagency assessment systems in the Assessment Guide described above. You can view the sample Inter-agency Data Sharing Agreement in PDF or download the agreement in MS Word.

NCWD/Youth proposes “states and localities should consider assessment services as part of a common infrastructure across the workforce development system in order to effectively use resources within and among organizations and institutions and to provide quality assessment services.”

Access the Guide electronically at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/resources_&_Publications/assessment.html.

Department of Labor proposes reporting changes

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the US Department of Labor issued a notice in the July 16, 2004 Federal Register asking for comments on the establishment of a single, streamlined reporting and recordkeeping system, formally called the ETA Management Information and Longitudinal Evaluation (EMILE) reporting system, to replace the current data collection and reporting requirements for 12 employment and training programs.

This comprehensive reporting structure is to feature a single quarterly report format and establish common language that will standardize data collection for program participants and employer customers.

The 12 affected programs are Employment Service (ES) program, including reports for the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) program, Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title I-B Adult program, Dislocated Worker program, and Youth program, National Emergency Grant (NEG) program, Trade Adjustment Assistance program, National Farm Worker Jobs Program (NFJP), Indian and Native American program, Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), H-1B Technical Skills Training grant (H-1B) program, and the Responsible Reintegration of Youth Offenders program.

ETA is seeking comment regarding the collection of additional information on the types of disability of people being served in a One-Stop. More specifically, if a person indicates that he/she has a disability, that person would be given the opportunity to voluntarily disclose whether he/she has any one or more of the following types of disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities: specific learning disability, hearing impairment, visual impairment, speech impairment, cognitive impairment, orthopedic impairment, mental/emotional/psychological impairment, drug addiction or alcoholism, or other types of disability.

The other disability related change is around reporting of self-employment, an option for persons with disabilities have used at a higher rate than people without disabilities. It has been changed to a required element under Entered Employment and Job Retention Information, in the EMILE Handbook, which provides detailed reporting specifications and instructions on the reporting system components. It is available at http://www.doleta.gov/performance.

The Federal Register notice can be found at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-16175.htm.

PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE KSA!

Based on the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) background paper, NCWD/Youth has developed a questionnaire to capture both relevance and proficiency of the competencies identified. The KSA Questionnaire focuses on 10 “Competency Areas” compiled from the common emerging competencies across these initiatives. We need your feedback to determine which competencies are most relevant to your work, what professional development opportunities are currently available in your area, and the priority areas for training to be developed.
To respond click here and follow the directions. Results will be posted on the website and listed in this newsletter.
You can read the KSA background paper here.