Great Things Happening in Lane County

Lane Workforce Partnership is proud to share the great things that are happening in our area because of the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC).

This past spring, Lane Workforce Partnership connected with over 100 seniors in high school who were not going to graduate as a result of failing the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) test in math and reading.  These students were provided the opportunity to take the NCRC.  Over 90% of these students passed the test in math and reading; enabling them to graduate from high school and walk with their class!  These students graduated with a high school diploma and a National Career Readiness Certificate, which is recognized by over 180 employers in Lane County and nearly 1,500 employers throughout the State of Oregon.

The NCRC test questions are contextualized in a work setting that is familiar to most test takers.  Therefore, rather than being presented with an abstract math equation, test takers are often asked to solve a problem regarding profit margins, percentages and square footage based on a real life scenario.

Schools who participated this last spring include: Sheldon, North Eugene, Churchill, Pleasant Hill, Springfield and 4J’s Early College and Career Options (ECCO) School at the Lane Community College campus.  More schools in Lane County are signed up to participate in the 2014/15 school year.  As a result of the demonstrated success achieved in Lane County, schools across Oregon are taking a serious look at offering this opportunity to their seniors.

Recently, Northwest Christian University began the process to recognize the NCRC for prior learning college credit for their students in the Adult Degree Completion Program.

The Oregon Employment Department featured the ECCO School in a recent video.  Please click here to view the video (http://tinyurl.com/oko3gfc) and learn more about the NCRC.