Jacksonville High School scholars have the opportunity to earn a nationally-recognized work readiness certificate before they graduate. The passage of Senate Bill 31, which became Act 319 of 2021, prompted the State Board of Education to approve the ACT WorkKeys assessment for this purpose on May 13, 2021.
The WorkKeys assessment measures the essential work skills needed for success in jobs across industries and occupations and represents work readiness through the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC®). The primary purpose of the NCRC is to provide scholars with a workplace certification that represents their knowledge and skills in Applied Math, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace Documents.
Benefits of WorkKeys and the NCRC for Scholars
● The WorkKeys curriculum develops proficiency in skills that employers seek
● Students can be job-ready upon graduation from high school.
● The NCRC is a portable credential with no expiration date; it verifies to employers that a student possesses the workplace skills needed to be successful.
o Bronze - indicates the skills required for 17% of ACT-profiled jobs
o Silver - indicates the skills required for 69% of ACT-profiled jobs
o Gold - indicates the skills required for 93% of ACT-profiled jobs
o Platinum - indicates the skills required for 99% of ACT-profiled jobs
● All scholars, college or career bound, benefit from the WorkKeys curriculum and outcomes, including the
connection to the ACT exam.
Preparing Scholars for the Assessment
● ACT WorkKeys provides an online curriculum designed to prepare scholars for the assessment in the
following areas:
● Applied Math
● Graphic Literacy
● Workplace Documents
I’m interested in signing up my scholar to take ACT WorkKeys; now what?
● Enroll in the ACT WorkKeys Curriculum to practice specific skills before testing.
○ This curriculum is a study guide that helps you work through specific problem types you will be
tested over on the WorkKeys Assessments. You can work through this at your own pace, and it
will give you indicators on how ready you may be for each test.
● The WorkKeys test is available at your school on February 16, 2022.
○ By the way, this is all free! You get free, unlimited access to the curriculum and one paid-for
assessment (each subtest is paid for one time).
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at tmiller@jnpsd.org or 501-982-2128 EXT.
4212. Thank you for your cooperation and interest in your scholar's education.