In 2020 the State Board of Education added the ACT WorkKeys assessment to its accountability system as part of its goal to prepare students for college and careers. WorkKeys measures foundational skills needed in the workplace.

This came as communities across the state got their local schools to offer WorkKeys assessments so they could become ACT Work Ready Communities, a designation ACT says demonstrates they have aligned workforce development with economic development.

As used, WorkKeys assesses three areas – workplace documents (reading), applied math, and graphic literacy (locating information). WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRCs) are issued at four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Simplified, the lower bronze level indicates readiness for entry level jobs, silver readiness for blue/pink collar jobs, and gold readiness for white-collar jobs. The platinum level indicates a rare combination of cognitive skills.

Many industries have come to recognize WorkKeys as a useful screening tool for new hires. A number now require at least a silver level NCRC. Lex Taylor, chairman of the Taylor Group of Companies called the NCRC, “essential to our hiring process.”

So, how are Mississippi high school students doing on the WorkKeys assessment?

Statewide results were not available. However, The Montgomery Institute worked with economic developers in Choctaw, Kemper, Webster, and Winston Counties from 2018 to 2021 to get WorkKeys assessments in their schools (all four counties are now certified Work Ready Communities).

Results showed 696 high school seniors and a few juniors tested. Of these 13.5% did not score well enough to receive a bronze level NCRC; 35.4% achieved the bronze level; 32% achieved the silver level; 11.7% achieved the gold level; and 5.8% achieved the platinum level.

The Mississippi page at the ACT Work Ready Communities web site shows 174,571 NCRCs awarded in Mississippi from 2006 to 2022. This includes adults (working and out of work) as well as students. ACT did not publish the percentage that failed to achieve the bronze level; 31.7% achieved bronze; 48.2% achieved silver; 15.7% achieved gold; and 4.4% achieved platinum.

What this suggests is that 67% to 80% of students and adults are likely ready for entry-level and pink/blue collar jobs. But only 18% to 20% are likely ready for white collar and higher level jobs.

Further, employers will tell you the assessments do not really show job readiness, they show readiness to be trained for certain jobs.

As industries and businesses continue to integrate more and more automation and technology into their processes, higher and higher readiness-to-be-trained scores will be required to attract those jobs to Mississippi.

As you consider recently released school performance grades, realize that Mississippi has a good ways to go to offer modern industries and businesses a highly skilled workforce.

Then there is what to do with those who can’t score at the bronze level.

Only good to great schools, not adequate or lower, can assure a positive future for Mississippi.

“On with it, then, and finish the job!” – 2 Corinthians 8:11.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.