ACT WorkKeys® is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce. It also helps workers better understand their foundational skill levels and may assist them in finding employment or training. The multiple-choice assessments measure foundational domains that are required for success in a wide variety of current jobs. The WorkKeys cognitive assessments are criterion-referenced. Unlike the more commonly used norm-referenced assessments, WorkKeys test scores are not determined by the relationship of an examinee’s score to other examinees within a norm group. In WorkKeys, examinees are measured in terms of their ability to demonstrate competency in identified skill sets. As a result, an individual’s scores indicate the skills an examinee demonstrates in a given area or areas.
The National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) is an assessment-based credential comprised of the Applied Math, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace Documents assessments. Issued at four levels, the NCRC certifies foundational skills relevant across industries and to multiple postsecondary pathways. Trusted by employers, the NCRC assessments are also administered statewide to juniors and seniors in over a dozen states and serve as the basis of state- and county-level workforce and economic development initiatives. Over six million NCRCs have been issued since the credential was introduced in 2006, based on previous assessments.