Where can I read the official document?

Iowa Core 21st Century Skills - Employability Skills

K–12 Standards

Employability Skills: Grades 3, 4, 5
Other Iowa 21st Century Skills sets
Employability Skills: Grades K, 1, 2
Financial Literacy: Grades K, 1, 2
Health Literacy: Grades K, 1, 2
Technology Literacy: Grades K, 1, 2
Financial Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
Health Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
Technology Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
Employability Skills: Grades 6, 7, 8
Financial Literacy: Grades 6, 7, 8
Health Literacy: Grades 6, 7, 8
Technology Literacy: Grades 6, 7, 8
Employability Skills: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
Financial Literacy: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
Health Literacy: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
Technology Literacy: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

Communicate and work productively with others emphasizing collaboration and cultural awareness to produce quality work.

Work appropriately and productively with others.
1. •
  Set appropriate goals.
2. •
  Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly in writing and speaking.
3. •
  Demonstrate respectful behavior to group members.
4. •
  Exhibit appropriate behavior when faced with conflict.
5. •
  Identify strengths and weaknesses.
6. •
  Interact positively as a team member.
7. •
  Respect other's ideas.
8. •
  Cooperate with others in a group setting.
9. •
  Acknowledge quality efforts of self and others.
Use different perspectives to increase innovation and the quality of work.
1. •
  Generate ideas with group members.
2. •
  Recognize the opinions and feelings of others.
3. •
  Appropriately accept constructive feedback.
Use appropriate principles of communication effectively.
1. •
  Are active listeners.
2. •
  Use information to make decisions.
3. •
  Ask appropriate questions.
4. •
  Read, understand and create information in a variety of forms.
5. •
  Follow directions.
6. •
  Use technology to communicate.
7. •
  Use various channels of communication.
8. •
  Express ideas.

Adjust to various roles and responsibilities and understand the need to be flexible to change.

Adapt to varied roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
1. •
  Work well independently and with others.
2. •
  Understand and accept mistakes as a natural part of learning.
3. •
  Complete tasks and projects.
4. •
  Identify the stages needed to complete a project or task.
5. •
  Develop an awareness of effective strategies to improve project or task completion.
6. •
  Listen with an open mind.
7. •
  Accept and appreciate diversity.
Works effectively in a climate of ambiguity and changing priorities.
1. •
  Understand that change occurs frequently.
2. •
  Demonstrate flexibility in adapting to change.
3. •
  Recognize different levels of structure.
4. •
  Work under pressure.
5. •
  Understand the need to adapt to changing requirements and information.
6. •
  Are open to change.
7. •
  Understand how to approach handling conflict using a win-win perspective.
Demonstrate appropriate risk-taking.
1. •
  Consider alternative or new ways to complete tasks.
2. •
  Identify alternative ways to achieve goals.
3. •
  Understand when to ask 'What if?'
4. •
  Approach brainstorming with an open mind.
5. •
  Determine pros and cons of others' suggestions.

Practice leadership skills, and demonstrate integrity, ethical behavior, and social responsibility in all activities.

Use interpersonal skills to influence and guide others toward a goal.
1. •
  Provide positive encouragement to others on their work.
2. •
  Relate positively to others.
3. •
  Understand methods to influence others towards goals.
4. •
  Understand how to listen to others and to share own ideas.
5. •
  Accept and offer constructive comments.
Leverage the strengths of others to accomplish a common goal.
1. •
  Demonstrate listening, speaking and questioning skills.
2. •
  Work as a member of a team to complete tasks.
3. •
  Acknowledge views and ideas of others.
4. •
  Understand the value of compromise.
Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior.
1. •
  Take responsibility for own actions.
2. •
  Demonstrate trustworthiness and honesty.
3. •
  Identify important core values.
Demonstrate mental, physical, and emotional preparedness to accomplish the task.
1. •
  Identify and organizes materials required for the task.
2. •
  Show willingness to prepare and stays focused on task.

Demonstrate initiative, creativity, self-direction, and entrepreneurial thinking to produce successful outcomes.

Perform work without oversight.
1. •
  Assess the task and identify actions that must be taken.
2. •
  Understand cause-effect relationship in completing sequential steps.
3. •
  Understand that incomplete work is not acceptable.
4. •
  Understand the importance of self-confidence.
5. •
  Know how to access resources.
6. •
  Formulate solutions.
7. •
  Demonstrate commitment to self/group/society.
Use time efficiently to manage workload
1. •
  Segment task into steps.
2. •
  With guidance, create timelines to facilitate completion of tasks.
3. •
  With guidance, prioritize steps in proper order.
Assess mastery of skills.
1. •
  Understand the task.
2. •
  Identify skills needed to be successful at the task.
3. •
  Know when to share knowledge appropriately.
Set and achieve high standards and goals.
1. •
  Understand and write incremental steps toward accomplishing goals.
2. •
  Set short-term goals.
3. •
  Engage in activities to improve skills that are relative to goals.
4. •
  Explore core values of personal importance.
5. •
  Evaluate progress toward accomplishing goals.
Engage in effective problem solving process.
1. •
  With assistance, transfer and make connections learning from one content area to another.
2. •
  Understand the importance of key partners and resources in solving problems.
3. •
  Evaluate the resources in context of the problem.
4. •
  Apply problem solving techniques to various situations.
5. •
  Identify a course of action in order to solve the problem.
6. •
  Implement solution with follow-up.

Demonstrate productivity and accountability by producing quality work.

Deliver quality job performance on time.
1. •
  Produce quality work in a timely manner.
2. •
  Make revisions in work based on self-analysis and/or recommendations.
3. •
  Work with commitment to produce a quality product.
4. •
  Demonstrate ethical behavior and responsibility.
Demonstrate accountability for individual performance.
1. •
  Come to activities/work consistently and on time.
2. •
  Are prepared for all activities/work.
3. •
  Stay actively engaged when completing work.
4. •
  Are able to edit their work.
5. •
  Learn from mistakes.
6. •
  Are reliable co-workers in a group setting.

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?: Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5
When were these standards adopted?: 2010
Where can I read the official document?: Iowa Core 21st Century Skills - Employability Skills

Keep exploring

Sibling grade bands, other subjects in this jurisdiction, and the same subject across other states.

More Iowa 21st Century Skills sets

21st Century Skills

Other Iowa subjects

Iowa