La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § LXVII-909

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section LXVII-909 - Scans Workplace Skills

A. The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor in 1990 to determine the skills young people need to succeed in the world of work. Members of the commission were education experts, teachers, executives, and labor officials representing a variety of industries. The commission's purpose was to encourage a high-performance economy characterized by high-skill, high-wage employment.

B. The initial SCANS report, What Work Requires of Schools, was issued in 1991 and defines the five competencies and three-part foundation that compose the SCANS skills. SCANS skills are appropriate for all students, regardless of their high school programs or postsecondary plans. All students will work, and all work requires important common foundation skills. A high-performance workplace requires workers with a solid foundation in basic literacy and computational skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. Equally important are the generic workplace competencies of managing resources, interpersonal relationships, acquiring and using information, managing systems, and working with a variety of technologies. These SCANS workplace skills form the underlying foundation upon which the entire business education curriculum is built.

C. Listed below are the foundation skills and workplace competencies identified by the SCANS commission and published in its first report, What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000, a publication of the U.S. Department of Labor, June 1991. Business educators are encouraged to incorporate the SCANS skills and competencies throughout the curriculum.

D. Three-Part Foundation Skills

1. Basic Skills-reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens, and speaks.

a. Reading-locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules to perform tasks.

b. Writing-communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts.

c. Arithmetic/Mathematics-performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques.

d. Listening-receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues.

e. Speaking-organizes ideas and communicates oral messages appropriate to listeners and situations.

2. Thinking Skills -thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons.

a. Creative Thinking-uses imagination freely, combines ideas or information in new ways, makes connections between seemingly unrelated ideas, and reshapes goals in ways that reveal new possibilities.

b. Decision Making-specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses best alternative.

c. Problem Solving-recognizes problems, devises and implements plan of action, evaluates and monitors progress, and revises plan as indicated by findings.

d. Seeing Things in the Mind's Eye-organizes and processes symbols, pictures, graphs, objects, and other information.

e. Knowing How to Learn-uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills in both familiar and changing situations.

f. Reasoning-discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem.

3. Personal Qualities -displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty.

a. Responsibility-exerts a high level of effort and perseveres toward goal attainment through high standards, attention to details, work, concentration and high standards of attendance, punctuality, enthusiasm, vitality, and optimism.

b. Self-Esteem-believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self.

c. Sociability-demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings.

d. Self-Management-assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control.

e. Integrity/Honesty-can be trusted and chooses an ethical course of action.

E. Five Workplace Competencies

1. Resource- identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources.

a. Time-selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules.

b. Money-uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives.

c. Material and Facilities-acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently.

d. Human Resources-assesses knowledge and skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance, and provides feedback.

2. Interpersonal- works with others.

a. Participates as Member of a Team-works cooperatively with others and contributes to group effort.

b. Teaches Others New Skills-helps others learn.

c. Serves Clients/Customers-works to satisfy customers' expectations.

d. Exercises Leadership-communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, and responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies.

e. Negotiates-works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests.

F. Works with Diversity-works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds.

1. Information- acquires and uses information.

a. Acquires and Evaluates Information-identifies need for data, obtains or creates it, and evaluates its relevance and accuracy.

b. Organizes and Maintains Information-organizes, processes, and maintains written or computerized records and other forms of information in a systematic fashion.

c. Interprets and Communicates Information-selects and analyzes information and communicates the results to others.

d. Uses Computers to Process Information-employs computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.

2. Systems-u nderstands complex interrelationships

a. Understands Systems-knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them.

b. Monitors and Corrects Performance-distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems' performance, and corrects malfunctions.

c. Improves or Designs Systems-suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance.

3. Technology-w orks with a variety of technologies

a. Selects Technology-chooses procedures, tools, or equipment including computers and related technologies to produce the desired results.

b. Applies Technology to Task-understands overall intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment.

c. Maintains and Troubleshoots Equipment-prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § LXVII-909

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 30:1001 (May 2004).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. l7:6.