Skill Frameworks

• Needs minimal supervision to complete tasks.
• Maintains focus on tasks despite internal (e.g., emotional) and/or external distractions.
• Adapts approach in response to new conditions or others’ actions.
• Manages time to complete tasks on schedule.
• Recognizes the consequences of one’s actions.
• Balances own needs with the needs of others.
• Helps team members complete tasks, as needed.
• Identifies alternative ideas/processes that are more effective than the ones previously used/suggested.

1. MHA Labs built a skills database of over 21,000 essential skill competencies from 100’s competency frameworks, assessments and research reports. Each of these sources included academic research findings as well as survey data from 1000’s of practitioners in education, after school, and employment.
2. MHA Labs isolated 300 skills that were deemed most universal across the research dataset.
3. MHA Labs engaged over 125 teachers, after school instructors, workforce developers, researchers, parents, and teens to prioritize 100 that could be important to all learners of all ages and abilities across all contexts.
4. MHA labs partnered with Associate Professor Jonathan Rosa Ph.D whose research “examines how race and language are jointly defined, experienced, and transformed across distinctive historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. He collaborates with schools and communities to understand these phenomena and challenge the forms of vulnerability to which they correspond.” We asked Jonathan to apply his unique expertise to examine each of the 100 proposed skills for their cultural implications. A set of proposed skills were removed on the basis that they were actually norms of white supremacy culture not actually essential skills. Another set removed for their cultural ambiguity which would create inequity across different cultures. Lastly, he recommended edits to convert culturally normed language like “speaks professionally” into an actual skill competency. This narrowed the skills list to 40.
5. MHA partnered with Tara Myers, Ph.D., an accomplished assessment development leader with over 20 years of experience. She has published and presented on job analysis, test development, talent management, and psychometrics. We asked Tara to apply her expertise to examine our list of 40 skills and review each skill for their capacity to be not only taught but also authentically and equitably assessed. She refined the list and definitions into 35 core competencies that could be assessed through an observational assessment.
6. MHA Labs classified the skills into 6 categories that would make the most sense to the practitioner working with youth. Future statistical cluster analysis on assessment results produced slightly different clusters, but the existing system of clustering was effectively producing the desired results so the framework was not changed. Any disruption to existing adoption was also deemed too high a risk.
7. MHA Labs took the list of 35 core competencies and created tools, resources and assessments for use in school, after school, and work-based learning.
8. After multiple cycles of work-based learning internship assessing, MHA analyzed the data to isolate which Building Block skills had the greatest impact on an employer’s perception of a teen’s work readiness “Hirability Status”. These became the Building Block Internship Targets.

How we identified the 8 High School/Teen Internship Hirability Targets+

MHA Labs commissioned a research survey study with 272 participants that closely matched the profile of High School Internship Supervisors. that consisted of 23% front line managers, 4% middle managers, 13% managers of both front line employees and other managers, and 60% individuals (typically small proprietors) who managed no one.

MHA utilized the same statistical modeling used to create its Hirability Framework. The statistical analysis focuses on how well skill survey items predict a youth’s Hirability Status. By calculating the R Squared values for each survey, MHA Labs is able to identify the fraction of the Hirability Status that can be explained by adding together the contributions of (in this case) all the skill-related survey items from a given survey. R Squared is obtained through multiple linear regression. MHA Labs additionally adjusted for the length of the survey.

Hirability Status is the Average of 3 Items:

• If I had a job opening, I would hire this person
• I would recommend this person to a colleague, for a similar position/li>
• I would seek out this person to be on my next project/li>

Results: The final tested version isolated 8 Building Block Skills that had an R Squared Adjusted value of 0.86. This means that 86% of a teen’s Hirability Status can be explained by these 8 skills. This is nearly identical to the Hirability Skill Framework. Therefore both options are viable and powerful predictors of internship readiness.

MHA labs is profoundly grateful for the contributions of Associate Professor Jonathan Rosa Ph.D, Associate Professor of Education and, by courtesy, of Linguistics, of Anthropology and of Comparative Literature, Stanford Graduate School of Education

Professor Rosa’s research “examines how race and language are jointly defined, experienced, and transformed across distinctive historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. He collaborates with schools and communities to understand these phenomena and challenge the forms of vulnerability to which they correspond.” We asked Professor Rosa to apply his unique care and expertise to examine the cultural implications of 21st century skills and aid us in developing a culturally ethical skills framework.

Listen to Lunch and Learn with Associate Professor Jonathan Rosa Ph.D on the The Racial Implications of 21st Century Skills Assessment »

While 21st century skills research appears no-nonsense, MHA Labs is conscious that 21st century skills are socially constructed and subject to wide interpretation. Unfortunately, many research efforts do not explore cultural determination and mistakenly promote cultural norms as universal skills. To mitigate cultural bias, MHA Labs engaged a cultural anthropologist and linguist to analyze and debate each skill proposed for the framework…

• SKILLS REDEFINED: Certain skills were either rewritten more technically to reduce ambiguity or were explicitly rewritten to reduce bias. For example, many skill frameworks list “articulate” as a verbal communication skill. Whether or not someone is considered articulate will be depend on the giver and receiver’s language proficiency and perceptions. Therefore MHA Labs rewrote this skill as “Uses and adjusts communication strategies as needed based on the purpose of the message, context, and audience”. Being articulate can now be taught as a communication strategy needed for certain social and professional contexts that demand it.
• SKILLS REFRAMED: Certain skills were deemed entirely determined by culture and context and could not be written objectively. These skills were not eliminated but reframed as a new social awareness skill. “Develops and implements strategies for navigating in different cultures/contexts (i.e., manages different patterns of behavior, rules, and norms)”. MHA Labs does not minimize the importance of teaching youth cultural norms that may be relevant to their college and career path. MHA Labs simply recommends that they be taught explicitly as cultural attributes rather than skills. If not, practitioners and policymakers perpetuate the dangerous prejudice that youth from the dominant culture are inherently more skilled that youth who are not.

The following are common examples of attributes determined by culture or context. Organizations and employers should provide explicit guidelines for how they define these in their own context.

• Active Listening
• Appearance
• Appreciative
• Attire
• Attitude
• Ethical
• Healthy Relationship
• Honesty
• Hygiene
• Initiative
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respectful
• Responsible
• Self Awareness
• Self Efficacy
• Self Image
• Sharing Emotions
• Social Responsibility
• Trustworthy
• Work Ethic

MHA Labs Hirability Skills research was conducted to isolate the smallest number of skills that produce the greatest impact on internship performance. MHA Labs skills survey research was conducted over a 7 year period beginning with a 4,000 item work readiness skill database. MHA Labs collaborated with research analysts, subject matter experts, and practitioners to isolate and test 102 different items on 7 unique intern performance review designs. In total, the MHA research database included over 12,000 internship supervisor performance reviews. Note, performance reviews are conducted on each individual youth intern.

MHA utilized the same statistical modeling used to create its Building Block Hirability Targets. The statistical analysis focuses on how well skill survey items predict a youth’s Hirability Status. By calculating the R Squared values for each survey, MHA Labs is able to identify the fraction of the Hirability Status that can be explained by adding together the contributions of (in this case) all the skill-related survey items from a given survey. R Squared is obtained through multiple linear regression. MHA Labs additionally adjusted for the length of the survey.

Hirability Status is the Average of 3 Items:

• If I had a job opening, I would hire this person
• I would recommend this person to a colleague, for a similar position
• I would seek out this person to be on my next project

Results: The final tested version with only 12 items had an R Squared Adjusted value of 0.83. This means that 83% of a teen’s Hirability Status can be explained by these 12 skills. This is nearly identical to the Building Block High School/Teen Internship Targets. Therefore both options are viable and powerful predictors of internship readiness.