| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration |
| Research Partner: | Planmatics, Inc. |
| Project Duration: | June 2006 – March 2007 |
| Description: | Industry competency models, which specify the knowledge, skills and performance needed by high performing workers, are key to guiding education and training institutions in developing curricula to meet the demands of businesses. The Department of Labor‘s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has identified two key roles in promoting industry developed competency models that drive curricula, assessments and certifications:
To fulfill the information-brokering role, ETA is developing an electronic clearinghouse of existing industry recognized skill standards, competency models, and competency-based curriculum. This competency clearinghouse is intended to link to and be used in conjunction with two existing electronic resources in America’s Career InfoNet where users currently can search for skill certifications by occupation and industry and State occupational license requirements. The goal is to create an Internet site that will provide industry a means to publicize their emerging skill needs and where businesses, both small and large, educators, and individuals can go to ascertain the emerging skill demands in the U.S. workplace. It will be a tool for businesses and human resource professionals to develop job requirements; for educational institutions to use in curriculum development; and for career exploration and guidance. Planmatics, Inc., working with its subcontractor the Ray Marshall Center, will support ETA’s efforts in this arena by carrying out a scan of selected industries that are part of the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative in order to identify and catalogue the major competency models in use within these sectors. While our focus will be on industry-wide technical competencies, we also will report on competencies we find that address other levels in ETA’s building-block framework, for example, industry-specific and occupation-specific competencies. This task will review existing national, state, and industry skills standards and competency models for 4 to 5 individual industry groups. Summary descriptions, commonalities and gap analyses will be forwarded to ETA as they are completed during this time. |
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