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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6871
The U.S. Department of Labor, in conjunction with the
National Skill Standards Board (NSSB), has awarded eight grants totaling over
$1.7 million to industry and research groups for projects that will help spur
the development of a new voluntary system of workplace standards.
"Skill standards let workers and employers know exactly
where they stand," said Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich. "Workers have
portable, objective credentials to track their job performance or demonstrate
their aptitude for a new position. Employers use skill standards to state
clearly what is expected of their employees and to evaluate applicants for jobs
they are trying to fill."
The one-year grants, which range from about $125,000 to
$280,000, are being awarded to industry trade groups representing the hotel,
restaurant, chemical, electronics, construction, and agricultural industries,
as well as some research organizations.
"Because of the need to remain competitive, employers want
to help the education and training systems understand what skills are necessary
in the workplace. Students and employees want to know how to improve their
skills so they will be more attractive to employers," said James R. Houghton,
NSSB Chairman and the recently retired Chairman and CEO of Corning
Incorporated. "These projects will serve as living laboratories to help us
better understand the practical process of using skill standards. Their
experiences will inform the Board as we work with stakeholders to develop a
voluntary skill standards system that adds value for employers and
employees."
Created by Congress with bipartisan support and sworn in a
year ago, the National Skill Standards Board is composed of 27 leaders of
business, education, labor, and community affairs. It is charged with
encouraging a business-led effort to develop a voluntary, national system that
spells out skill requirements across broad economic sectors.
The 11 organizations involved in the eight projects have
already done considerable work on skill standards. They are among 22
organizations that were awarded grants by the U.S. Departments of Labor or
Education in 1992 and 1993 for preliminary research projects. The skill
standards efforts to be undertaken with the funding include:
- testing concepts for implementing standards in different types of
workplaces;
- examining methods of assessing and certifying skill levels;
- informing the development of curriculum and guidelines for teaching
workforce skills;
- exploring ways to build strategic partnerships among constituencies;
- sharing information about related initiatives underway by businesses
and states and localities;
- studying issues involved in encouraging more businesses to become
quality-driven work organizations.
"The grantees have proven track records and considerable
expertise that will help NSSB build the essential components of a skill
standards system," said Judy Gray, the Executive Director of NSSB. "They will
ensure that we don't duplicate past efforts, but rather learn from the good
work that is already being done and make the right connections between existing
initiatives."
The legislation that created the private-sector NSSB
specifically requires the Board to conduct research related to workforce skill
standards and authorizes it to fund projects which contribute to that task.
Grantees for Workforce Skill Standards Projects
- 1.
- Human Services Research Institute -- $186,000 HSRI will study how
skill standards can be used in One-Stop Career Centers and other job training
programs and how they can specifically help displaced workers and out-of-school
youth.
- Contact: Marianne Taylor - Project Director, 617-876-0426
- 2.
- Council on Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Education --$238,437
CHRIE will develop possible methods and materials for evaluating attainment of
skill levels, focusing on their use in the workplace.
- Contact: Laura Pfalzer - Project Director, 202-331-5990
- 3.
- American Chemical Society -- $126,504 ACS will develop models of
local partnerships between employers, labor, educators and community groups
that help raise skill levels.
- Contact: Kenneth Chapman - Head of Technical Resources/Education,
202-872-8734
- 4.
- American Electronics Association -- $279,000 Focusing on how
standards will provide value to individual businesses, AEA will develop easily
tailored curricula, show how standards can contribute to high-performance work
organizations, and explore models for measuring performance in the
workplace.
- Contact: Cheryl Fields-Tyler - Vice President, Workforce Policy &
Program, 408-987-4267
- 5.
- Center for Occupational Research and Development -- $162,890 Building
on its work in developing standards in the fields of photonics and electronics,
CORD will work to define standards for a broader range of occupations and
develop accompanying curriculum frameworks and implementation guides. It will
also work with states to explore how national standards can enhance state
school-to-work initiatives.
- Contact: James Johnson - Senior Research Associate/Project Director,
817-772-8756
- 6.
- National Future Farmers of America Foundation and Education
Development Center, Inc. -- $281,207 FFA and EDC will work together to combine
previously developed bioscience and agricultural biotechnology standards and
design implementation guidelines and curriculum frameworks that focus on
preparing students for high-performance workplaces. EDC will also develop a
prototype interactive CD-ROM / Internet-linked tool to assess skill
proficiency.
- Contact: Judith Leff - Senior Project Director, 617-969-7100
- 7.
- Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development --
$260,880 Working with a partnership of trade associations, labor unions,
employers, states and local school districts, FWL will investigate ways to
measure mastery of skills across many industries.
- Contact: Sri Ananda - Project Director, 415-241-2712
- 8.
- Laborers - Association of General Contractors Education and Training
-- $192,200 This partnership will primarily work with 20 national organizations
to demonstrate how standards can be integrated into various kinds of
workplaces, focusing on two regional pilot programs.
- Contact: John Tippie - Assistant Director, 203-974-0800
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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