The Creation and Use
of a State-Issued
Certificate Program,
Recognized and Driven
by Business and Industry
The Creation and Use
of a State-Issued
Certificate Program,
Recognized and Driven
by Business and Industry
Presenter: Patricia Bates
WAGE Coordinator at South
Arkansas Community College
Adult Education Section &
Chair of State WAGE Advisory
PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTS
History of the AR WAGE Certificate Program
Formation of a Certificate Program
Certificate Types and Requirements
Forming a Community Alliance
Standard Competencies,
Customized Instruction
Return on Investment
Marketing the Program
Question & Answer Period
History of the Arkansas
WAGE Certificate
Program
History of the AR WAGE Certificate Program
WAGE stands for Workforce Alliance
for
Growth in the EconomyTM
WAGE is a work-based certificate
program in Arkansas
WAGE was not always WAGE, it
evolved
Not surprisingly, WAGE grew out of the
SCANS era in the late 1980’s when
industry strongly noticed the skills
shortage for competing in the new
technological, global economy
History of the AR WAGE Certificate Program
WAGE’s Logo
Employers who value and
reward competent
employees
Educators who respond to
employers’ needs
Employees who understand
the connection between
employment and education
History of the AR WAGE Certificate Program
WAGE’s Motto
“Linking today’s
workforce with
tomorrow’s jobs.”
Formation of a Certificate
Program
Formation of a Certificate Program
$ WAGE in Arkansas has formalized start-up
manual for adult education programs
$ Adult education programs in Arkansas
voluntarily choose to become a certified
WAGE program
$ WAGE is supported out of a program’s
regular budget
Formation of a Certificate Program
The Start-up Steps
To become a WAGE Certified Center, a program must:
 Form an alliance that includes no less than six (6)
businesses from their community
 Visit other WAGE centers
 Take Literacy Task Analysis (LTA) / functional 1
hooks training
 Perform six (6) LTAs on local businesses
 Acquire signed agreements from alliance
members
 Present start-up documentation for approval
before the state committee
2
3
4
5
6
Formation of a Certificate Program
Employers’ Roles
Local employers agree to:
 Give added consideration to job and promotion
candidates with WAGE certificates
 Allow adult educators to perform literacy task
analyses on critical entry level jobs within their
company
 Assist with providing classroom space and
materials when needed
Formation of a Certificate Program
AR State WAGE Advisory Committee
Once certified, the center holds a
voting position on the state WAGE
advisory committee
KEY PLAYERS
• Business & Community Support
• Institutional Support
• Client/Employee Participation
What Will it Take To Start
-Necessary Components-
 Collaboration
 Spirit of Volunteerism
 Resourcefulness
 Fearless Innovation
 Local Customization
 Cheerleading
Certificate Types and
Requirements
Certificate Types and Requirements
Competencies
WAGE students complete standard
competencies determined by businesses
statewide, but taught locally within the
context of local businesses
Certificate Types and Requirements
Certificates
There are three certificates: Industrial, Clerical,
and Employability
The
Industrial and Clerical require all of the
WAGE Competencies, along with some
additional requirements
The
Employability allows for flexibility in
competency selection and additional
requirements
Certificate Types and Requirements
Industrial Certificate
Certificate Types and Requirements
Clerical Certificate
Certificate Types and Requirements
Employability Certificate
Certificate Types and Requirements
Employability Certificate
A la carte
Competencies
Certificate Types and Requirements
Who are the students?
WAGE serves those students whose reading,
language, and mathematics skill levels measure
less than 12.9 by the Test of Adult
Basic Education (TABE).
Certificate Types and Requirements
The WAGE Test
Educators have devised an Arkansasspecific WAGE test that tests all competencies
using work-related scenarios and documents
that came out of Arkansas businesses
Most questions on the WAGE test require an
observable, constructive answer
This test ensures consistency in
competency achievement since competency
lessons are customized to local businesses but
must be verified for a state certificate.
Forming a Community
Alliance
Forming a Community Alliance
Starting from scratch can take 12-24 months
Use connections already in place
Ensure each stakeholder has a interest that relates to
the intended outcomes of the program; choose a
focused chairperson
Meeting times should be most conducive to the
consensus of the group, centering it around a
normal meal time (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) tends
to free up most people and has an added lure of food
to ensure attendance
Forming a Community Alliance
WHO MAKES UP THE ALLIANCE?
WAGE works with all community agencies:
service providers (family, human, and employment
services)
local and state government (Workforce Investment
Boards, mayors, city councils)
economic development (Chambers of Commerce,
development boards)
job training programs and job placement agencies
other educational entities
“No Wrong-Door Policy”
Civic
PT & FT Clubs
?
Employment
Agencies
Chamber of
Commerce
Business &
Industry
?
DHS
JTPA
W.A.G.E.
Student
ESD
Adult
City, Green Education
CountyThumb
and
State
Government
Industrial
Coordinator
Business & Industry
Support
Advisory Board - 51%
Business Chair from Business/Industry
Business Must Identify Needs
Business Must Communicate

Standard
Competencies;
Customized
Instruction
Standard Competencies; Customized Instruction
Standard Competencies (handout)
Customized, prioritized, and proportionately
emphasized based on business and industry
findings from the Literacy Task Analysis
Taught
within an actual workplace context,
using “functional hooks” to help students
“learn to learn”
Standard Competencies; Customized Instruction
The Literacy Task Analysis
 Educators work with the participating employers to
determine the community’s workforce educational needs
Educators go to the workplace and analyze the basic
skills needed to perform the job
Educators keep frequency charts for each
competency
Educators make note of which skills impact
production, profit, and safety the most
Standard Competencies; Customized Instruction
Contextual Lessons and Functional Hooks
 Educators build contextual, customized lessons
for skills considered most important and
occurring most frequently
 Educators develop “Functional Hooks” within the
lessons to help students see the basic skills
application with a real work scenario
 Educators have correlated appropriate
supplemental materials to the competencies
What does WAGE Training look like?
Assessment
Intervention/Education
Post Assessment
Referral for Job Placement
ASSESSMENT
 TABE - 7A or 8A, full battery or Survey
 Careerscope Assessment - interest and
aptitude
 WAGE Post Test - test of 112 WAGE
Competencies
 Spatial Relations Test
 Dexterity Test
 Computer Literacy Test
EDUCATION
•GED Instruction &/or Basic Skills •
Certified Adult Ed. Instructors
•Quality Textbooks
•Computer Tutorial ProgramsPLATO, Passkey, SkillsBank
•Computer Literacy Software
•Employability Training
Return on Investment
Return on Investment
THE BUSINESS TAKE ON RETURN ON INVESTMENT
$ Production improves.
$ Quality goes up.
$ Waste is reduced.
$ Profits increase.
$ Safety incidents are reduced.
$ Customer satisfaction improves.
$ Employee retention improves.
$ Recruitment costs are reduced.
$ Employee attitudes improves.
$ Employees show more interest and success at
next level of technical training.
$ Employer competes better in a global
economy; likelihood of longevity improves.
Return on Investment
COMMUNITY RETURN ON INVESTMENT
$ Companies increase profits.
$ Increase profits improve wages.
$ Better wages retain better employees.
$ Better wages increases an individual’s
spending power.
$ Better employees provides increased
likelihood employer will stay in the area.
$ Increased spending power comes back
to improve the community through improved
tax base, tourism, economic growth.
$ Improved communities attract good
business and good employees.
Marketing
the Program
Marketing the Program
On a shoestring with no assigned marketing
dollars:
 Using available web site
 Using PowerPoint and speaking to groups
 Making local Workforce Investment Boards
aware that we already exist and invented the
cooperative, collaborative approach
 Do-it-yourself brochures (handout)
 Newspaper articles on successful completers
 Special project newspaper advertisement
 Volunteer multimedia project
Marketing the Program
Best Cheerleader:
Business and industry themselves
Questions and
Answers
Questions and Answers
Questions
Suggestions
Answers
Contact Information
Patricia Bates
pbates@southark.cc.ar.us
870-862-8131 ext.182
www.aalrc.org/html/we/wage.html