Beyond Academics: A Holistic Framework for Enhancing Education and Workplace Success. ACT Research Report Series. 2015 (4)
Author: Camara, Wayne, Ed.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Holistic Approach,Career Readiness,College Readiness,Academic Standards,Developmental Continuity,Academic Ability,Academic Achievement,Behavior Development,Career Development,Interdisciplinary Approach

Colleges have long recognized the importance of multiple domains. Admissions officers look to high school grades as indicators of persistence and achievement; student statements and letters of recommendation as indicators of character, behavior, and adaptability; the rigor of courses completed in high school as evidence of effort, motivation, and challenge; and activities and extracurricular involvement as indicators of leadership, teamwork, and collaboration. Research summarized in this report and an earlier report (Mattern et al., 2014) calls attention to the research basis for examining multiple domains and the importance of nonacademic domains for predicting outcomes such as retention, persistence, and engagement in college as well as graduation from college. These reports also summarize similar findings for employment, where employers use a wide range of practices to make inferences about individuals' likely adaptation, persistence, and contribution to the job, organization, and society. Most know of academically talented students who did not persist in college and highly skilled workers who failed in their jobs. Building on research conducted at ACT over the last fifty years, this report describes the development of a holistic framework that can provide a more complete description of education and work readiness. The framework is organized into four broad domains: core academic skills, cross-cutting capabilities, behavioral skills, and education and career navigation skills. To take full advantage of emerging knowledge in this area, development of this framework is based on a comprehensive review of relevant theory, education and work standards, empirical research, input from experts in the field, and a variety of other sources for each of the four broad domains. The report also begins to build an integrated view of education and work readiness, acknowledging that constructs across the four broad domains are not independent, that their combined effects provide a more holistic understanding, and that different constructs are often more or less important for different outcomes associated with education and work success. To illustrate the multidimensional nature of readiness for education and workplace success, examples are provided that focus on two key transitions: the transition from high school to college and the transition from college to work. For each of these two transitions, a holistic model of success, specifying factors from each of the broad domains that are important for success is provided. Similar models can and should be developed for different outcomes, since the same constructs are not equally important across all outcomes. The hope is that the reader will take away a few central findings and ideas from this report and other research conducted by ACT on college and career readiness. The table of contents provides the following: (1) ACT Holistic Framework of Education and Work Readiness (Krista D. Mattern, Mary Ann Hanson); (2) Core Academic Skills (Ryan O'Connor, James Gambrell, and Robert Pulvermacher); (3) Cross-Cutting Capabilities (Ryan O'Connor, James Gambrell, and Robert Pulvermacher); (4) Behavioral Skills (Alex Casillas, Jason Way, and Jeremy Burrus); (5) Education and Career Navigation (Becky Bobek and Ran Zhao); and (6) Toward an Integrated Framework of Education and Work Readiness (Jeremy Burrus and Krista Mattern). Domain-Specific Framework Development Methodology is contained in the appendix.