Assessment & Evaluation (A&E)

College and Career Ready Initiative

• College and Career Ready Handout (pdf)

EXPLORE

EXPLORE is a curriculum-based, nationally normed assessment developed by ACT for eighth grade students. The assessment consist of two components, 1) education planning and career interest inventory, and 2) knowledge and skills in the four content areas of English, mathematics, reading and science.

It is designed to measure early academic progress, college readiness and encourages students to explore the wide range of career options. The EXPLORE provides a baseline of academic and career interest information near the entry point into high school. This can be used as an added resource to help students select high school courses that will prepare them for their postsecondary goals.

ACT highlights that the EXPLORE is based on the belief that young people and their parents, teachers, counselors, and school administrators – will make more productive plans and decision if they have organized, relevant information available when they need it most.

Resources

• EXPLORE Information Handout (pdf)

• ACT's EXPLORE Website

  • World-of-Work Map

  • EXPLORE Sample Test Items

EXPLORE Interpretation

• Using Your EXPLORE Results (pdf)

• Interpretation Videos

• EXPLORE - Part 1 (time 5:30)

• EXPLORE - Part 2 (time 5:32)

PLAN

PLAN is a curriculum-based, nationally normed assessment developed by ACT for tenth grade students. The assessment, like the EXPLORE, consist of two components, 1) education planning and career interest inventory, and 2) knowledge and skills in the four content areas of English, mathematics, reading and science.

It is designed as a midpoint review of academic progress in high school while there is still time to make any necessary interventions to keep students on track toward their educational and career goals. Whether students plan to go to college, vocational school or directly into a career, PLAN provides information that will be useful in the selection of courses to be taken in their junior and senior years in preparation for their career of choice.

Resources

• PLAN Information Handout (pdf)

• ACT's PLAN Website

  • World-of-Work Map

  • PLAN Sample Test Items

PLAN Interpretation

• Using Your PLAN Results (pdf)

• Use PLAN to Predict Student Success in College-Level Courses (pdf)

• Interpretation Videos

• PLAN - Part 1 (time 6:23)

• PLAN - Part 2 (time 5:47)

WorkKeys

WorkKeys is a job skills assessment system measuring “real world” skills that employers believe are critical to job success. These skills are valuable for any occupation and at any level of education. It was developed by ACT with input from employees, labor organizations, educators and policymakers. WorkKeys results can help students understand the relationship between their academic studies and their future training and career choices.

Beginning with the school year 2010-2011, all eleventh graders in Alaska’s public schools will be required to take the WorkKeys assessment in the areas of Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information.

WorkKeys scores are given as “levels”; the higher the level, the more complex the skill. These levels are not related to grade levels. Level scores range from 3 to 6 or 7, depending on the test.

ACT awards National Career Readiness Certificates at four levels. Students who score at least 6 on all three WorkKeys assessments receive the Platinum Credential. Those whose lowest score is 5 on any of the three assessments receive the Gold Credential. Students whose lowest score is 4 on any test receive the Silver Credential, and those whose lowest score is 3 on any test receive the Bronze Credential.

Resources

• WorkKeys Brochure for Students and Parents (pdf)

• WorkKeys Applied Math Level Characteristics (pdf)

• WorkKeys Locating Information (pdf)

• WorkKeys Reading for Information (pdf)

• WorkKeys Score Report Sample (pdf)

• WorkKeys Test Taking Tips (pdf)

• WorkKeys Search Jobs by Skill webpage

WorkKeys Interpretation

• WorkKeys Occupational Opportunities (pdf)

• WorkKeys Interpretation Guide (pdf)

• Interpretation Videos

• WorkKeys - Part 1 (time 4:56)

• WorkKeys - Part 2 (time 4:37)