The Missing Link Project

1
The Missing Link Project

• Hiwot Berhane and James Loiselle
• Texas Workforce Commission
• TAIR 2007

2
The World of Higher Education

• Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP)
• Taxonomic coding scheme
• Developed by the National Center for Education
  Statistics in 1980
• Revised in 1985 and 1990
• Current standard (CIP 2000)
• Replaced the HEGIS coding system

3
The World of Higher Education

• The CIP system is designed to
• Standardize record-keeping
• Supports the tracking, assessment, and reporting
  of fields of study and program completions
  activity
• Establish standard terminology
• Improves communication
• Facilitates exchange of information

4
The World of Higher Education

• Intended users of the CIP system
• Federal, State, and local governments
• Educational institutions
• Education research organizations
• Accrediting agencies
• Professional associations

5
The World of Work

• Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Coding
• Taxonomic scheme that classifies workers into
  occupational categories
• 23 major groups (i.e. 15-0000 Computer and
  Mathematical Occupations)
• 96 minor groups (i.e. 15-1030 Computer Software
  Engineers)
• Over 820 occupations (i.e. 15-1031 Computer
  Software Engineers, Applications)

6
The World of Work

• Occupational Information Network (ONET) System
• ONET Database
• ONET OnLine
• ONET Career Exploration Tools
• Database of occupational requirements and worker
  attributes
• Replaced the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

7
The World of Work

• The ONET Content Model

8
The World of Work

• ONET Content Model
• Hierarchical model
• Defines the information structure for a single
  occupation
• Six domains
• Expands to 277 descriptors

9
The World of Work

• The ONET-SOC Taxonomy
• Defines the set of occupations across the world
  of work
• Based on the SOC
• Currently contains 812 occupations
• 8-digit coding system (i.e. 11-1011.00 Chief
  Executives)

10
The World of Work

• ONET originally contained two sets of
  descriptors
• Generalized Work Activities (GWA)
• Broad information regarding the behavior of
  workers performing a task
• Occupation-specific tasks
• Useful in differentiating nuances within and
  between occupations

11
The World of Work

• Labor Exchange Skills Project
• Completed in June 2002
• Addressed a need to describe work content/skills
  at a level more detailed than GWAs and less
  detailed than occupation-specific tasks
• Based on a database of skill statements developed
  by the State of Oregon
• Resulted in the Labor Exchange Skills and Work
  Content Statements database

12
The World of Work

• Detailed Work Activity Statements (DWAs)
• Developed by the National Center of ONET
  Development completed in March 2003
• Replaced the Work Content Statements
• Linked to the GWAs in the ONET Content Model
• Sought to eliminate duplication and redundancies

13
The World of Work

• Benefits of DWAs
• They provide succinct yet detailed information
  about about occupational work activities
• Facilitate cross-occupational correspondence and
  help with analysis of transferable skills and
  skills gaps
• Promote the use of a common language for
  describing the activities that occur within
  occupations

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The Missing Link

• Connecting the World of Higher Education with the
  World of Work through DWAs
• A link between the CIP and ONET already exists
• Developed jointly by the NCES and the United
  States Department of Labor (DOL)
• Crosswalk produces a list of related occupations
  by ONET code for each CIP code

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Bridging the Gap Between Programs and Work
Activities
Employer
Training Provider
CIP
ONET
Unable to determine detailed work activity
Unable to determine how to relate to work place
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Bridging the Gap Between Programs and Work
Activities
Program/Courses (CIP)
CIP ONet Crosswalk
CIP 11.0701 (Computer Science)
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Bridging the Gap Between Programs and Work
Activities
TASK / DWA
ONet /SOC

• ONET/SOC 15-1032
• Computer Software Engineers, Systems Software
• Partial Task Listing
• Advise customer about, or perform, maintenance of
  software system.
• Analyze information to determine, recommend and
  plan installation of a new system or modification
  of an existing system.
• Confer with data processing and project managers
  to obtain information on limitations and
  capabilities for data processing projects.
• Consult with engineering staff to evaluate
  interface between hardware and software, develop
  specifications and performance requirements and
  resolve customer problems.

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Bridging the Gap Between Programs and Work
Activities
ONet /SOC
TASK / DWA
ONET/SOC 15-1032 Computer Software
Engineers, Systems Software
Partial DWA Listing
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Bridging the Gap Between Programs and Work
Activities
Need Somebody who can do X, Y, Z ?
Person taking P, Q, or R courses has those
abilities.
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Project Validation
Potential Quality Issues in Version 1 of DWA to
CIP Database
CIP Code
Related ONET Occupations
11.0701
DWA 1 DWA 2 DWA 3 DWA 4
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Project Validation
Illustration of DWA to CIP Database After
Internal Review
CIP Code
Related ONET Occupations
11.0701
DWA 1 DWA 2
DWA 4 DWA 18
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Project Validation
Illustration of DWA to CIP Database After
Regional Meetings
CIP Code
Related ONET Occupations
11.0701
DWA 1 DWA 2 DWA 3 DWA 4
23
Project Validation
Illustration of DWA to CIP Database After
Regional Meetings
CIP Code
Related ONET Occupations
11.0701
DWA 1 DWA 2
DWA 4 DWA 18
24
Project Validation
Illustration of DWA to Course Linkage Activity
CIP Code
Related ONET Occupations
Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4
DWA 1 DWA 2
DWA 4 DWA 18
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Project Validation
Example 5-Point Likert Scale to Determine
Strength of Linkages
To what degree does Course 1 train DWA 1? 1.
Course does not train student to perform DWA in
any way. 2. Course introduces DWA components
but does not train student to perform. 3.
Course begins to train student to perform
DWA. 4. Course mostly trains student to perform
DWA. 5. Course fully trains student to perform
DWA.
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Benefits of the Project

• Institutions and Employers will now have a set of
  previously missing information as a standard,
  integrated resource
• The statements will be organized into a taxonomy
  that allows integration with other taxonomies and
  systems
• The taxonomy structure provides a common national
  skill vocabulary, a shared information structure,
  and hierarchical relationships

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Benefits of the Project

• For Institutions
• Core list of workplace tasks that can be updated
  as needed
• Enhanced marketing for short-term workforce
  education (WECM)
• Stronger ability to provide educational
  preparation students need for success

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Benefits of the Project

• For Students
• DWAs are useful in developing a Skills Portfolio
• Enhanced ability to make decisions about careers
  and training needed to enter those fields
• The statements directly support the writing of
  résumés in consort with occupations

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Benefits of the Project

• For Institutional Research
• Provides IR the ability to develop
  criterion-referenced instruments designed to
  assess specific skill sets

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Helpful Links/References

• National Center for Education Statistics
• http//nces.ed.gov
• CIP 2000 ONET Crosswalk
• http//nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/cip2000/occupationallo
  okup.asp
• United States Department of Labor ONET
• http//www.doleta.gov/programs/onet
• ONET Code Connector Detailed Work Activities
• http//www.onetcodeconnector.org/help/ccreport/wor
  k