Building foundation skills
Skills are behaviors that a person can learn and improve through practice. Every day, students are learning and practicing skills as they also increase their knowledge in the subjects they study.
Skills can be categorized by how they are used and by whom. Some skills are very specific to a particular activity, job, or industry. Others are needed by all workers, regardless of job, work setting, or industry. These latter skills are often called employability skills. Young people need to be developing these employability skills, and you as a parent can help.
In 1992, the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) produced a national report that identified the skills employers need in today's workplace. These Competencies and Foundation skills are useful in thinking about how school and other activities help your child prepare for the future. You will see that the 3-R's (Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic) are but one part of the picture.
Competencies
Effective workers can productively use:
- Resources - allocating time, money, materials, space, staff.
- Interpersonal Skills - working on teams, teaching others, serving customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
- Information - acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information.
- Systems - understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving systems.
- Technology - selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining, and troubleshooting technologies.
The Foundation
Competence requires:
- Basic Skills - reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking, and listening.
- Thinking Skills - thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the mind's eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning.
- Personal Qualities - individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity.
In Oregon, the Employment Department also surveys employers throughout the state. Employers report that work ethic and other soft skills remain in short supply. According to its 2002 Employer Survey, employers in Oregon are looking for these skills:
| Percent of Employers | SKILL |
|
| 99% | Work Ethic | Employers want honest, dependable, and productive workers |
| 96% | English Language | Most jobs require oral and written communication in English. |
| 95% | Reading and Writing | Most jobs require workers to read and write. |
| 94% | Problem Solving and Critical Thinking | Employers want workers who can understand and find answers to problems. |
| 94% | Interpersonal | Businesses - and their employees - thrive when people work well together. |
| 90% | Math | Nearly every job requires some math skills. |
| 68% | Computer Software | Employers need technology-savvy workers. |
| 68% | Leadership | Employers need skilled staff to guide lower-level workers. |
| 58% | Manual Labor | Technology will never completely replace the need for hands-on work. |
| 44% | Tools and Machine | Many employers need workers who can operate certain equipment. |
| 40% | Spanish Language | Employers' need for Spanish-speaking workers has risen with the Hispanic population. |
As you can see, in addition to the communication and math skills we typically associate with school, young people need to be learning and practicing a number of other skills. Everyday activities provide opportunities to learn about these skills, think about how we use them, and work on improving them. You may also want to do these activities with your children:
Helping Hands (Elementary School or Younger)
Things Employers Expect (Middle School)
Skills at Work and School (Middle School)
Employability Skills and Me (High School)
For more information on SCANS, go to http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/.