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Iowa Core 21st Century Skills - Employability Skills

K–12 Standards

Employability Skills: Grades 6, 7, 8
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
Employability Skills: Grades 3, 4, 5
Financial Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
Health Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
Technology Literacy: Grades 3, 4, 5
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

Adopted 2010

Communicate and work productively with others, considering different perspectives, and cultural views to increase the quality of work.

Work appropriately and productively with others.
1. •
  Set and evaluate goals.
2. •
  Effectively communicate with group.
3. •
  Demonstrate respectful behavior to group member ideas and opinions.
4. •
  Manage and resolve conflict as appropriate.
5. •
  Understand roles in group interaction.
6. •
  Identify their own strengths and determines how their strengths will work toward the group goal.
7. •
  Contribute to a team by expressing ideas.
8. •
  Respect other's ideas in a group dynamic.
9. •
  Collaborate with others toward a common goal.
10. •
  Acknowledge own and other's good efforts.
Use different perspectives to increase innovation and the quality of work.
1. •
  Gather input from all group members.
2. •
  Understand the opinions and feelings of others.
3. •
  Accept and provide feedback in a constructive and considerate manner.
Use appropriate principles of communication effectively.
1. •
  Listen to understand and appreciate the points of view of others.
2. •
  Listen to understand the ideas of others
3. •
  Process information in order to make an informed decision.
4. •
  Ask appropriate questions in seeking clarification.
5. •
  Read, understand and create information in a variety of forms.
6. •
  Follow directions.
7. •
  Contribute by expressing ideas.
8. •
  Use appropriate technology to communicate.
9. •
  Use appropriate channels of communication.

Adapt and adjust to various roles and responsibilities in an environment of change.

Adapt to varied roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
1. •
  Work well independently and with a team.
2. •
  Accept and own mistakes as a part of learning.
3. •
  Carry out tasks and projects to completion.
4. •
  Understand that projects or tasks can be broken down into stages and assessed throughout.
5. •
  Identify effective strategies to improve project or task.
6. •
  Listen to other points of view.
7. •
  Accept and appreciate diversity.
Work effectively in a climate of ambiguity and changing priorities.
1. •
  Accept that change occurs frequently.
2. •
  Understand focus may need to change as circumstances in the situation change.
3. •
  Recognize the need for different levels of structure.
4. •
  Identify appropriate responses to stress.
5. •
  Adapt to changing requirements and information.
6. •
  Demonstrate openness and respond constructively to change.
7. •
  Understand conflict resolution from win-win perspective.
Demonstrate appropriate risk-taking.
1. •
  Embrace innovation.
2. •
  Identify and suggest alternative ways to achieve goals.
3. •
  Asks 'What if?'
4. •
  Understand brainstorming as a free exchange of ideas.
5. •
  Weigh pros and cons of others' suggestions.

Demonstrate leadership, integrity, ethical behavior, and social responsibility in all environments.

Use interpersonal skills to influence and guide others toward a goal.
1. •
  Positively support the work of others.
2. •
  Build relationships.
3. •
  Understand roles and responsibilities needed to accomplish goals.
4. •
  Use active listening and speaking skills.
5. •
  Understand the benefits of constructive feedback vs. criticism.
Leverage the strengths of others to accomplish a common goal.
1. •
  Communicate clearly.
2. •
  Collaborate on structured tasks.
3. •
  Show sensitivity to others' views and ideas.
4. •
  Understand how to create consensus.
Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior.
1. •
  Take ownership for actions.
2. •
  Demonstrate trustworthiness and honesty in all environments.
3. •
  Demonstrate the use of core values.
Demonstrate mental, physical, and emotional preparedness to accomplish the task.
1. •
  Keep own materials organized and gathers materials needed for the task.
2. •
  Prepare for and focuses on the task with enthusiastic anticipation.

Demonstrate initiative, self-direction, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking while exploring individual talents and skills necessary to be successful.

Perform work without oversight.
1. •
  Assess the task and identify the priority/necessary actions to be taken.
2. •
  Understand the task's relationship to greater goal.
3. •
  Understand that incomplete work-- even if excellent--is not acceptable.
4. •
  Understand the importance of self-confidence.
5. •
  Find appropriate resources.
6. •
  Implement solutions.
7. •
  Demonstrate commitment to self/group/society.
Use time efficiently to manage workload.
1. •
  Segment task into logical steps.
2. •
  Build a timeline to facilitate completion of the task.
3. •
  Prioritize steps in proper order.
Assess mastery of skills.
1. •
  Analyze the task.
2. •
  Identify the breadth of knowledge to be successful at a task.
3. •
  Effectively share knowledge at appropriate times.
Set and achieve high standards and goals.
1. •
  Identify incremental steps for acquiring goals.
2. •
  Set short-term and long-term goals.
3. •
  Create a written plan toward accomplishing goals.
4. •
  Choose to engage in activities to improve skills that are relative to goals.
5. •
  Demonstrate core values.
6. •
  Evaluate progress and seek assistance to take corrective action when necessary when working toward accomplishing goals.
Engage in effective problem solving process.
1. •
  Transfer learning from one content area to another.
2. •
  Identify key partners and resources relevant to the situation/problem.
3. •
  Evaluate and select the resources in context of the problem.
4. •
  Implement the problem solving process, including identifying potential causes of problem.
5. •
  Identify a course of action in writing with sequence of steps involved in order to solve the problem.
6. •
  Implement solution.

Demonstrate productivity and accountability while aspiring to meet high expectations.

Deliver quality job performance on time.
1. •
  Know that quality means meeting high expectations, including timeliness.
2. •
  Make revisions based on self-analysis.
3. •
  Work with commitment until the expectations are met.
4. •
  Make needed adjustments to prevent problems.
5. •
  Do not compromise ethical behavior and responsibility.
Demonstrate accountability for individual performance.
1. •
  Demonstrate individual responsibility to be present and on time for all activities.
2. •
  Stay productive when completing work.
3. •
  Are willing to help others when own work is completed.
4. •
  Accept responsibility for and correct their errors.
5. •
  Learn from mistakes and creates solutions.
6. •
  Follow through with assigned work within a group.

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?: Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8
When were these standards adopted?: 2010
Where can I read the official document?: Iowa Core 21st Century Skills - Employability Skills

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