PROFFESIONAL EMPLOYABILTY SKILLS
One of the most important outcomes of a student’s education by the time they graduate from high school is the mastery of Professional Employability Skills.
Professional Employability skills, while helpful in gaining employment of all types, are critical to continued employment. Professional Employability skills include communication skills that add to organizational productivity, integrating technical knowledge and skills with thinking strategies to create, innovate, and devise solutions. Interacting effectively with different cultures and acting in a professional manner appropriate for the organization are also included in the competency content areas. Professional Employability skills tend to be the primary expectation of all types of employers, followed by technical competence, regardless of whether the employee is a research scientist, carpenter, or automotive technician. In many instances, jobs are not lost due to a lack of academic or technical skills, but weaknesses in the aforementioned employability skills.
SOURCE OF COMPETENCIES/STANDARDS – The Arizona Workplace Professional Employability Skills Standards are those adopted by the Arizona Skill Standards Commission on July 17, 2011. The Standards were developed through a project of the Arizona Department of Education Career and Technical Education in partnership with the University of Arizona Workforce Education Development Office and Corporate Education Consulting, Inc.
ARIZONA PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS STANDARDS
ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES - The Professional Employability competencies will be assessed using the rubrics and related assessments developed by ADE and local educational entities.
LEVEL OF COMPETENCY ATTAINMENT
Local Education Agencies will determine the level of proficiency that students will be required to demonstrate. Through technical assistance and development of assessment tools, the objective is to standardize the level of competence students will be required to demonstrate.