Instructions: Instructions: You have been asked to help design a career assessment program for your students. What are one or two assessments [formal or informal] you would use with your students? Make one original post and then respond to one classmate’s post. You will make a total of two posts.
29 thoughts on “Michigan Works! Association – Assessment Forum”
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I will use the formal assessment, the reading and Math level example, tabe or casas test.
this will be a good first step to see the education level the client is at.
I agree, that it really is beneficial to see what educational level the client is at. By giving the TABE test this helps us understand their may be some barriers we need to look at removing before the client can reach their goal.
Zturk,
Those are very good choices, especially if you’re working with youth. We administer the CASAS test to our youth at registration as well.
In designing our Career Assessment Program, I would continue to use the CASAS exam for our youth to use at registration to find out their math and reading levels. Then after our first meeting with them, I would have them complete the O*Net Interest Profiler, to help them with career exploration, and to determine if they are on track for college, vocational, armed services, or career training.
I keep seeing the CASAS exam come up, I have not yet used this but I would like to use it on my next possible program enrollment.
I agree, these are both great tools and we use them daily. We can see what their strengths and weaknesses are and help guide them to a satisfying career.
When working with PATH participants it is a requirement that we have them take the TABE. I also follow up with the O’Net Interest Profiler. I use both of these regularly for registration and enrollment purposes.
I just recently started using the O’Net Interest Profile. I find it interesting that participants are surprised at what the outcome of the assessment is. I even had a couple of my coworkers take it. Of course, I knew their personality and told them what their Holland Code would most likely be. However, if I were to try that on my participants I highly doubt I would be successful.
In practice now, the assessments I use depend on the need of the participant. Standard practice in workforce development requires at least one formal assessment whether it be CASAS, TABE, WorkKeys or Accuplacer. While this may be sufficient for some participants, others may need additional assessments. For instance, someone who is looking to find a job but is not sure what they really want to do and needs a little guidance would benefit from the Onet Interest Profiler. I did find some of the links in the Chapter 4 tasks very helpful and I bookmarked them for future use. I think these may offer a little more clarity and provide more information to the student/job seeker/ client. I included the links to my two favorite websites below.
https://www.cacareerzone.org/wip/
https://www.myskillsmyfuture.org/
Like other workforce programs, we use CASAS as well. I also believe an additional assessment is sometimes necessary for some people who are unsure or can be influenced by outside sources. I also agree that they provided resources are certainly helpful and see myself possibly inputting them into practice one day
I do agree with Kuriatak that for some clients at least one formal assessment will be sufficient while other may need to be assessed through informal assessment besides the formal one. For instance, a refugee with language barrier and knowledge about jobs availability may not be comfortable to go through formal assessment. H/She may feel comfortable answering questions during interview or providing information the checklist and other informal
When working with someone who is going to be doing an ITA (Individualized Training Account) I always have them complete an Occupational Research Form. The Occupational Research Form shows that they have put the time, effort, and research in for Michigan Works to pay for the training. In addition, they have to write a summary why this training will benefit and help them meet their goals for employment.
What is an occupational research form? That intrigues me. I am curious to know if that is something we could adopt as well as it sounds like it could add value to the “buy in” from the participant.
I would use an abilities test (CASAS) and an Interest inventory (ONET profiler). The CASAS test is useful for us to see where a client’s reading and math grade level are placed. If we are sending them for training, it’s a great tool to see if they need refresher courses so they can succeed. The ONET profiler is great to see what their interests are and to see if it matches their training goal and to help guide them to a satisfying career.
I totally agree with you janna the ONET profiler is a great way to see what interests are and matching them with their goals in a career.
I would use a Individual Strategy Standard assessment along with CASAS assessments. The ISS will provide the youth goals and career for life after high school. CASAS will provide/support the basic skills deficient skills in math and reading.
I do not know why the ISS was never even on my radar. That is such a useful tool for us to get to know our participant and get our participant thinking about their situation and/or potential situation. Thank you for bringing this up.
The ISS is a great example of an assessment tool that we all use. Sadly, it can almost become an obligation that we have to meet.
I would most likely use Career Scope and O’Net Interest Profiler. Career Scope due to the assessment being more in-depth. This assessment will help the participant to figure out if they are on the right path as far as career choices. The O’Net Interest Profiler because it is a short assessment and can be used to determine the personality traits. I think that when participants see these two together they see a a connection with what they like to do and what they can do.
I would go with an informal career assessment. The example that appealed to me most was a (type of) Card Sort. Atleast 75% of my consumers may not know what it is that they are good at or know what they want to do. When they make choices based upon their personal interests (rather than what their parents want or be influenced by what their friends are doing) they will be able to get a clear vision of what it is they are actually good at and pursue it.
I completely agree with you. When youth can make the best choices for themselves instead of what their parents think would be best, they can find a career that is meaningful to them.
Nice job! I agree this would be great for our youth and even some of us adults who are still discovering!
So far I use the O*Net Interest Profiler when customers come in unsure of what they should do next when wanting to change careers. It is great for career exploration and to figure out different professions that relate to their interests.
In my work with employed individuals a major source of instability in their employment stems from mismanagement of money. I’ve learned however that mismanagement of money is often a two part problem where people don’t prioritize how to spend and also lack the skills to spend proactively, meeting their personal needs and their financial obligations. I also often need to find things about their job that they do like. With that in mind, i’d use two assessments with a client I was trying to understand. The first would be a simple interest assessment, such as the one found on o-net based on the Holland codes, and the other would be a budget used to begin a structured interview (informal assessment) i.e. hmm your car payment seems quite high, do you make monthly or weekly payments? After understanding how they’re spending and their workplace interests i’d be better able to help them reach their goals within their current employer.
My program is a little different; we do not use the standard skill-based assessments. I spend more time with clients helping them identify future goals and expanding their current worldview. I use an assessment tool called the “reality check.” Clients answer questions to see if you can afford your dream life. Many of my clients do not have a realistic calculation of what it financially takes to attain the lifestyle they want. The clients also answer questions about their current lifestyle. The results will indicate a ballpark relationship between your expenses and the income you will need to support your dream lifestyle. If you would like to check it out, you can find a similar version at http://www.jumpstart.org/realitycheck. We use this assessment to learn their wants and needs. This test helps me open the door for deeper discussions about where they want to go with career exploration.
For an informal assessment, I would utilize something simple for my youth such as a simple essay listing their strengths and weaknesses. This will allow me to see where they are when it comes to knowing what their strengths are and what they are good at, and also depicting whether or not they can follow directions well. This can also show you reading and spelling skills in which, once working in MIWorks with the adult population, I discovered a lot of the barriers for most on my case load were they could not read or had 3rd grade reading level at the most. Since literacy is still a big issue that many are still terrified to disclose, this is something that can be caught early and they can gain assistance with now before its too late. CASAS assessments are really good too.
I would ask them to write their dreams and what they want to achieve in their current stage; also to write what barrier they are facing. This will allow me to know how can I help them and also have them think loud and realize what things and possibilities could word work for them
I receive customers whose first job is not their choice; they have to accept it as this is required by their resettlement agency. Most of these New Americans are sent to the jobs that they have no experience in and also they are not interested doing it Therefore, most of these customers seek assistance from CAMW! to find a job where they can utilize their skills gained over the years in their home country. I found the Skill Scan Drive as an effective tool that will assist the customer help them feature their transferable skills and preferences. This tool could be used for variety of ages and backgrounds. The drive is simple and user friendly.
We often administer WorkKeys to our students to determine how their knowledge synchs up with the jobs that have been profiled by ACT. Our students undergo the Holland assessment to determine their aptitudes so that we can work with them to gear them towards a specific career that aligns to what they are naturally good at.