Performance based assessment is currently receiving renewed attention as an alternative to conventional testing. We argue that performance based assessment, supported by a microcredentialing system, is particularly well suited to corporate environments that stress strategic development of their workforce capacities. There are important…

In this report, ACT presents a definition of "work readiness" along with empirically driven ACT Work Readiness Standards and Benchmarks. The introduction of standards and benchmarks for workplace success provides a more complete picture of the factors that are important in establishing readiness for success throughout a lifetime. While…

This article argues for the need to differentiate between "professional" and "support" careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), the article identifies important differences in the nature of the work and responsibility that…

This study investigates the economic outcomes of education for wage earners in Pakistan. This is done by analysing the relationship between schooling, cognitive skills and ability, on the one hand, and economic activity, occupation, sectoral choice and earnings, on the other. In Pakistan, an important question remains largely unaddressed: what…

School counselors (n = 1,704) nationwide were surveyed to determine if the duties performed by them were aligned with the duties prescribed by the school counseling profession since the inception of the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model in 2003. Differences were found based on participants having received ASCA National…

Offers recommendations for the conduct of practice analysis (i.e., job analysis) concerning these issues: (1) selecting a method of practice analysis; (2) developing rating scales; (3) determining the content of test plans; (4) using multi-variate procedures for structuring test plans; and (5) determining topic weights for test plans. (SLD)

Argues that the master's degree in librarianship from a program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) is a valid minimum educational requirement for library practice at the professional level. It is further maintained that employers and the ALA must defend that qualification when challenged by local, state, or federal action. (14…

The author challenges National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) criteria for professional certification and outlines basic competencies on which qualifications should be based for all financial aid professionals and for directors and assistant directors. (JT)

Job relevance and adverse impact are major validity concerns relative to credentializing examinations. This article recommends that examination blueprints utilize a competency model based on: (1) job functions assigned; (2) level of expertise expected given the content and resources available; and (3) specific context and situation in which the…

The May, 1974, bulletin issued by the Civil Service Commission deals with job restructuring, the process of realigning job duties to develop technician-type or "bridge" jobs in Federal agencies, as a means to provide upward mobility for employees. Besides being highly beneficial to employees in dead end jobs at low grade levels, job restructuring…

This paper reviews and evaluates methods for conducting job analysis. The paper begins with a discussion of the purpose of licensure and certification and the dimensions of job analysis. The following four dimensions along which job analysis methods vary are discussed: types of job descriptors; sources of information; data collection methods; and…

The purpose of this study was to explore and discover whether there are any differences in credentials required or preferred for academic library positions which offer faculty status, compared with those which do not include this designation. A content analysis was done using announcements for 451 nationally publicized openings. In the area of…

Analysis of the search for selecting a president and a dean for a small women's college in the midwest showed how affirmative action goals, coupled with standard career expectations, damage female candidates. Reasons for failure to select a woman for either post included: (1) the tendency to compare women with women and men with men in the early…