Work Keys assessments are a specialized type of testing that offers a common language for business and schools. The testing process examines reading for information, applied technology, applied math, teamwork and observation skills - those kinds of skills businesses need. Brodersen is spending her summer studying, too. She will attend training in Iowa City to become a Work Keys profiler. Once she's a qualified profiler, she'll be able to go to a business and determine the levels of skills required for a particular position.
Businesses can then advertise the levels of skills required.
An applicant who already has been tested is further ahead in the process of qualifying for a position, Brodersen said. Ninth-graders are being given the battery so they can identify which areas they need to work on.