ACT, Inc. Announces Recent Success Stories: Work Keys Paving the Way to a Winning Workforce.

IOWA CITY, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 1998--ACT, Inc. (formerly American College Testing) recently announced two new "Reports from the Field" -- examples of successful applications of its Work Keys(R) program in state employment and workforce development offices in California and Iowa. The reports, which emphasize the states' use of Work Keys as a means of achieving a higher quality, winning workforce, were presented at the annual meeting of the International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) held in late June in Chicago. Presenters included Karen Coffee, Chief Personnel Management Division, California Department of the Youth Authority (DYA) and Dr. Helen Palmer of ACT, Inc.

Coffee reported on her agency's use of Work Keys as a tool to screen prospective employees for human resources and budget positions within DYA. DYA and a number of California agencies use Work Keys as part of a three-step process, which also includes a life experience questionnaire and a structured hiring interview process.

Created by Iowa City-based ACT, Inc. Work Keys provides a comprehensive skill assessment system to help companies efficiently and fairly recruit, select, train and promote employees. Work Keys covers a wide range of positions from entry-level, blue-collar to high-skill, high-wage, white-collar positions, and measures skills in eight key areas: Applied Mathematics, Applied Technology, Listening, Locating Information, Observation, Reading for Information, Teamwork and Writing.

The State of California DYA posts job vacancy announcements that include required skill levels in five of the eight Work Keys skill areas. To date, more than 20,000 applicants have been assessed at 55 state-run sites.

According to Coffee, the decision to implement a standardized test was based on a number of criteria. "The system had to be fast and flexible, job-related and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) compliant," stated Coffee. "Other requirements were that it be easily tailored, statistically valid and reliable. Based on these criteria, Work Keys was the clear choice."

Dr. Palmer, presenting on behalf of Craig Immerfall of Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), outlined IWD's successful use of Work Keys in several areas, from setting up skill standards to welfare-to-work implementations.

Formerly known as the Iowa Job Service, IWD became involved with Work Keys in 1995 when it opened Work Keys Service Centers throughout the state. To date, IWD staff members have profiled more than 200 jobs for 174 employers and have administered more than 18,000 assessments for employees and prospective employees.

IWD makes its on-site assessments and express scoring available to many state agencies. The Iowa Software Association has used Work Keys to create and define skill standards for high technology fields, which have been experiencing worker shortages. The Iowa Department of Economic Development uses Work Keys as a means to improve the quality of the state's workforce, to attract new companies to Iowa and to encourage expansion and peak performance in existing companies.

One of the most successful applications of the Work Keys system is IWD's Work Ready Welfare-to-Work project in Des Moines. Welfare recipients are tested to measure their skills against the needs of employers' job openings. Use of Work Keys has been so effective in providing suitable matches and helping to reduce welfare rosters that local community colleges throughout the state have begun using Work Keys' target curriculum to improve individuals' skill levels.

"Work Keys has been extremely beneficial to businesses, individuals and the community in general. The system has helped us address many pervasive problems, and we continue to find new uses for it," said Immerfall.

About ACT's Work Keys

Founded in 1959, ACT, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to measurement and research, primarily in support of educational and career transitions. ACT's Work Keys, is used in a broad range of industries, including high technology, manufacturing, services and retail. With more than 200 service centers in the United States and in Canada, Work Keys provides a common language between education, business and government, and enables the first-ever national effort to develop a "Winning Workforce."

    CONTACT: ACT, Inc.
              Rose Rennekamp, 319/337-1156
              or
              Edelman Public Relations Worldwide
              JoAnne Laffey, 312/240-2706
              [e-mail]