Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 28 - EDUCATION
Part LXIX - Bulletin 107-Health Occupations Content Standards Curriculum Framework
Chapter 1 - General
Section LXIX-109 - The Role of Skill Standards in Education and Workforce Preparation

A. In the face of a thriving global economy, expectations for workforce preparation have shifted over the past decade. At least two factors are influencing the shift. The first is that today's complex workplace demands workers who are more flexible and more highly skilled than ever before. The second is a fear that the U.S. may be losing its competitive edge to nations that are more successful in training their workforce to meet high-level standards.

B. Concerns over workforce preparation have been echoed by worries about educational achievement. An alarm bell sounded in the 1980's when the U.S. Department of Education report, A Nation at Risk, alerted the country to the need to upgrade academic achievement levels and set a broad program for doing so. The response to this and other critical documents was a new national reform effort represented by several reports and pieces of legislation, such as America 2000: An Education Strategy (which set goals for students to acquire "world class" academic and career preparation skills as a means of enhancing national economic well-being) and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (which initiated federal efforts to reshape vocational education). Another closely related reform initiative is represented by the U.S. Department of Labor's 1991 report from its Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). The SCANS report expressed concerns that American students lack basic academic skills, knowledge about the work world, and the ability to adjust to a changing environment. The report set forth standards deemed necessary for success in a high performance workplace: i.e., the modern workplace characterized by teamwork and a goal orientation. SCANS laid much of the groundwork for a national movement promoting the use of voluntary skill standards. The standards developed by the National Health Care Skills Standards Project overlap with SCANS, but they are specific to the health services industry (Table 1).

C. Concern about the effectiveness of schools in preparing students for the workplace led to increasing calls for greater accountability. In turn, this concern also led to an emphasis on the development of skill standards, which have become the focus of numerous national and state initiatives. For example, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act called for states to develop challenging standards systems. It further established a National Skills Board to oversee the development and use of national skill standards. In summary, well articulated skill standards are key to the national strategy to upgrade worker skills and increase American economic competitiveness. With the utilization of skill standards, educators and industry can work together to produce work-ready, entry-level employees whose efficiency, productivity, and flexibility will compete favorably in the global market.

D. Table1. Summary of SCANS Employability Skills and the National Health Care Core Skill Standards SCANS Foundation Skills SCANS Competencies: Ability to Use.

*Indicates areas where NHCSSP core standards overlap with SCANS, but are specific to the health services industry.