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No more WorkKeys!

5/23/2019

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Did you get the news?  You can take one test out of the schedule next year-- no more WorkKeys!
Here's the message that was sent to superintendents this week: 
In April of this year, DPI conducted a survey of District Administrators on the value and usage of the WorkKeys assessment for grade 11 students. We received extensive feedback - thank you for taking time to respond.
Results of the survey show that 90 percent of responding school districts found limited value in the WorkKeys assessment for high school students. We are listening to the results of the survey in addition to feedback from many stakeholders over the past few years and will be discontinuing the WorkKeys as a mandatory grade 11 assessment in Wisconsin. Starting in the 2019-20 academic year, grade 11 students are only required to take the ACT with writing. ACT Aspire for grades 9 and 10 and the grade 10 Forward Social Studies assessment remain mandatory as well.
A predicted National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) level will continue to be included on students’ ACT score reports as it has for the past few years. In addition, for students who complete the student profile and interest inventory sections of the ACT, individual student reports will continue to include a variety of college and career planning information including interest-major fit and examples of related occupations. The predicted NCRC level is also included on the grades 9 and 10 Aspire score report.
DPI will continue to explore options for the optional administration of the WorkKeys assessment through other sources. We will share this information if it becomes a viable option for districts.
​

Thank you Carolyn Stanford-Taylor and DPI for listening and making this change. 
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Employee Assistance Programs... you probably have one

5/21/2019

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There's something called an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)-- a confidential workplace service that employers (districts) pay for, a benefit like health or dental insurance. An EAP helps employees deal with work-life stressors, family issues, financial concerns, relationship problems, and even drug or legal concerns.

"Helps employees deal with work-life stressors"? Those potential mental health concerns? Yes! These are the steps in how it works in our district:
  • Contact your HR person (the bookkeeper at my school, we're small). That person will get you in touch with the district's EAP. 
  • The EAP makes contact with the employee, finds out the concern (i.e. going through an ugly separation, really affecting energy and interest in work), the EAP connects the employee with a mental health counselor in the area. 
  • In our district it's limited to three visits to a mental health professional per year. 
  • It's totally free for employees (you, your co-workers) and it's confidential.

If you're saying, "how did I not know about this," well neither did I until just recently and I've been working in my district for 25 years. The stigma concerning mental health is around getting treatment as well as talking about the concern. That's got to change.  We can start that change by sharing information about EAPs with our colleagues.  We'd let them know if there were free donuts in the lounge, this is even better!
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