posted by admin on Oct 1

All Performance Measures were not created equal…

During my tenure working with a “workforce board”, I got to know the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) inside and out. This Act was started during Clinton’s second term in 1998 – remember the Job Training Partnership Act? Better known as “JTPA” – WIA replaced that Act.

Anyway, what really surprised me was how little people knew about the WIA programs. WIA has funds for youth and adults that need assistance to find a job, support services like childcare, transportation and training.

After realllllllllllly looking for a job for a certain period of time, and no luck – then it may be possible to get WIA training funds. The training funds are issued to the training providers on your behalf in what’s called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Here is the catch – it has to be training in an occupation where there is a demand – a job – in the local area.

The local workforce boards are the ones who approve the demand occupation list and the training providers. The training providers are held accountable by data submitted by employers that indicates – get this – job placement! The job placement data for the approved training providers in Texas is kept in a website for everybody to see. The workforce boards are held accountable for the funds – trainee’s social security number does not show up on the quarterly employment reports – the workforce board gets dinged and then the dinging has a political domino effect. Job placement is the ultimate performance measure for success in the WIA training programs.

In comparison of performance measures for the K-12 education system, passing the current standardized test is what measures success – right? Correct me, if I am wrong, I admit, I have not studied all the data and thought process that must go into deciding what the K-12 education system should teach, methodologies – “pedagogy”, learning styles… and what performance measures should be used. I just know that 12 years is a long time to be in the system – get a high school diploma and not be channeled toward a job, if college is not in the plan.

After paying for college for two kids…what a minute – will I ever finish paying? Anyhow – job placement is what I am going to use to measure success of both my young’uns – call me crazy!