The Alabama State Department of Education is considering applying for a waiver that would change the way high school students are considered prepared for college and work.
The waiver from the federal Department of Education would ensure career readiness is treated with the same level of importance as college readiness, according to Ann Jackson, chair of the Accountability Work Group, a committee of educators and education representatives across the state who have been meeting to discuss ways to restructure Alabama’s high school accountability measures.
“There seems to be a willingness to look at the current assessments that we are giving nationwide and maybe giving some waivers to some opportunities that may have been on the table before but have not been allowed,” Jackson told state board of education members this month.
Under this new accountability system, all students would still take the ACT, but those who do not show proficiency on the ACT would take the WorkKeys test instead. WorkKeys assesses workforce readiness in applied mathematics, workplace documents and graphic literacy, while the ACT measures college readiness in English, reading science and math.
“Currently, you’re only getting the proficiency piece if they’re ready for college, and we feel like our job is to have them prepared for success, even if that’s going straight into the workforce and that’s what WorkKeys would measure,” said Tony Willis, co-chair of the Accountability Work Group.