Build Skill-Based Pathways to Employment for Adult Learners
Adult education programs use National Reporting System (NRS)-approved ACT® WorkKeys® assessments to measure skill gains, credential adult learners, and connect them to careers.
What is ACT WorkKeys?
WorkKeys is a foundational workplace skills assessment system used by adult education programs and the learners they serve.
Whether your program supports job seekers with a limited work history, individuals reentering the workforce, or those building foundational skills for the first time, WorkKeys gives you the tools to measure where learners are and to document their progress.
Using WorkKeys in your adult education programs also helps your learners earn an ACT® WorkKeys® National Career Readiness Certificate™ (NCRC®), a nationally recognized credential that makes foundational skill gains visible and portable across industries.
Individuals are entering the workforce without the skills employers need. Take the first step toward closing skills gaps and improving workforce quality with ACT WorkKeys.
How Adult Education Programs Use WorkKeys
Skill Building for Unskilled and Underserved Learners
WorkKeys meets learners where they are, skill-wise. ACT® WorkKeys® curriculum delivers targeted instruction aligned directly to the assessments — using real workplace scenarios to build the foundational skills employers expect. Programs can:
- Benchmark foundational workplace skills before and after instruction.
- Support remediation and targeted skill-building at any level.
- Build pathways for learners with no prior workforce credentials.
- Integrate with WIOA and other adult education program requirements.
Employer Alignment and Community Impact
WorkKeys connects your program to the employers in your region, especially in ACT® Work Ready Communities (WRC), which use WorkKeys NCRC data to build regional workforce credentialing systems — linking recipients to employers who recognize and value the credential. Your learners won’t just be career ready; they’ll be prepared for regional jobs that need skilled workers. Adult educators and employers share a common skills language, which builds stronger, lasting partnerships. WRCs contribute to regional workforce certification — demonstrating community-wide commitment to a job-ready workforce.
Credentialing and Career Pathways
The WorkKeys NCRC is a portable credential that travels with adult learners wherever their career takes them. For individuals with limited work histories, employment gaps, or records, the WorkKeys NCRC provides a concrete, verifiable signal of validated, measurable skills that employers understand before coming to the interview table. WorkKeys also supports reentry and resiliency pathways, giving programs serving corrections populations or disaster-affected communities a structured route to sustainable employment and long-term career mobility.
How Does the WorkKeys and NCRC Process for Adult Education Work?
Build.
WorkKeys begins with building real-world skills — the ones employers actually need. Rather than abstract academic content, adult learners develop foundational workplace skills they'll use on the job.
Measure.
Those skills are measured through trusted, validated assessments* designed to help adult learners evaluate and verify foundational career skills.
Certify.
Learners who achieve qualifying scores on the three core assessments earn the WorkKeys NCRC. The certificate is awarded at four levels (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze) with higher levels reflecting stronger foundational skills.
Connect.
The WorkKeys NCRC opens doors to careers, supports apprenticeship pathways, and helps learners transition directly from adult education programs into structured, career-building training, helping to build stronger communities and more competitive economies.
*OCTAE-Approved Assessments
WorkKeys Applied Math and Workplace Documents assessments are approved by U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) for use in the NRS, satisfying WIOA Title II reporting requirements for educational functioning level (EFL) gains.
NRS-Approved Assessments — Built for WIOA Compliance
For adult education programs operating under WIOA Title II, compliance is necessary. WorkKeys Applied Math and Workplace Documents assessments are approved by OCTAE for use in the National Reporting System (NRS), satisfying federal requirements for measuring educational functioning level (EFL) gains and reporting Measurable Skill Gains (MSGs).
- A single tool for instruction, assessment, and compliance reporting.
- Reduces administrative burden without sacrificing rigor.
- Supports program accountability and funding eligibility.
Adult Education Success Stories
When communities come together to build adult learners’ skills, they get an economic boost from an often-overlooked workforce population. Here are some examples.
Reentry Populations
When learners at Southeast Correctional Center in Missouri earned their WorkKeys NCRC, they left with a verified, portable credential that signals job readiness to employers. For adults reentering the workforce after incarceration, that credential can be the difference.
Workforce Agencies
When Ohio's manufacturing sector collapsed, hundreds of adult workers were left with no documentation of the skills they'd spent years building. State workforce agencies and union organizations turned to the WorkKeys NCRC to help displaced learners verify those skills — and get back to work faster.
ACT Work Ready Communities
Two counties in Alabama use the WorkKeys NCRC in every part of their regional workforce system, connecting adult learners to training, employers to qualified candidates, and communities to economic growth. "Employers feel they are getting a better qualified employee with the NCRC." — Tuscaloosa Chamber of Commerce
Resources for Adult Education Professionals
Practical tools to help you build and strengthen your Adult Education program.
FEATURED
Pathways to Success for Communities
Learn how to align education, workforce, and industry partners around learner-centered pathways that lead to valuable credentials, high-wage jobs, and economic mobility.
TOOLKIT
Corrections/Reentry
Explore WorkKeys-based pathways designed to help returning citizens earn credentials, demonstrate job readiness, and connect to meaningful employment.
TOOLKIT
Apprenticeships
Discover how WorkKeys helps learners build the foundational skills needed to enter and succeed in registered apprenticeship programs.
Prepare Your Adult Learners for Successful Careers
See how WorkKeys and the WorkKeys NCRC can support skill development, workforce pathways, and measurable program outcomesfor every learner onevery pathway.