Our Keys2Work program was born in 1999. This summer, ACT discontinued their support of the KeyTrain pretests and curriculum that drive MEASURE and IMPROVE in Keys2Work. That ended a 20 year legacy of an amazing program. Thank you to all of you who have supported Keys2Work over the years.
Fortunately, SmartFutures.org already had plans to upgrade the program to meet the needs of both Future Ready PA and the needs of the teachers that use Keys2Work as a key transition planning component for students.
We are happy to report have now launched the new SmartFutures.org SKILLS Section, a micro-credentialing and badging resource for students grades K-adult. The new SKILLS section offers your students the opportunity to earn Future Ready skills badges in topics that are critical for career success.
We are putting the finishing touches on the 2019-20 SKILLS center and have added some amazing resources (you can log in and preview them now):
- Future Ready Math -- An easy to use diagnostic badging system for the applied math needed for careers. Students can earn badge levels for 1-5, can upgrade their as they progress through school, and can access remediation through Khan Academy. Note: we are in the process of planning a Future Ready Reading component and will keep you us to date on progress.
- Digital Literacy -- Smart Futures has partnered with NorthStar Digital Literacy to seamlessly integrate their career-ready badges into classrooms throughout Pennsylvania. Available badges include:
- BASIC COMPUTER SKILLS
- INTERNET BASICS
- USING EMAIL
- WINDOWS 10
- MAC OS
- MICROSOFT WORD
- MICROSOFT EXCEL
- MICROSOFT POWERPOINT
- SOCIAL MEDIA
- INFORMATION LITERACY
- CAREER SEARCH SKILLS
- YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
Given the tech-savvy students we have today, the assessments are appropriate for students as early as grade 3!