Career Ready Practices

Career Ready Practices and Work-based Learning

North Dakota has selected Work-based Learning as the measurement of quality for our secondary programs. This is an opportunity for students to have direct interaction with employers or be able to practice the skills they learned in a simulated environment. The state has taken the Perkins V definition and developed options that meet the intent of the law.

The options are:

• Option 1: Sustained interactions (as in Co-operative Experiences, etc.) should strive for a minimum of 40 hours of one supervised experience on the worksite. Although the student may spend more than 40 hours on the worksite, 40 hours should be the minimum goal.
• Option 2: Simulated environments in an educational setting (which means any CTE funded course) should strive for a minimum of 40 hours throughout a series of in-class projects/lab work, with each project/lab taking no less than 1 week or 5 successive hours of class time to complete. The entire of series of projects should have a goal of equaling 40 hours or more total during enrollment in the program.

The student will be assessed on their Work-based Learning experience using five of the 12 Career Ready Practices in and prior to 2024-2025.

The Career Ready Practices selected were:

• Responsible Employee
• Technical Skills
• Communication
• Problem Solving
• Teamwork

2025-2026 Year,

Work-based Learning will be using the new rubrics, of which seven practices of the 12 will be used. They are #1,2,3,4,7, & 12 or:

• Leader
• Communicator
• Critical Thinker
• Collaborator
• Timely Manger
• Skilled Employee

Shortened Rubric for the Work-based Learning Practices 2025-2026

Career Ready Practice Rubrics

Career Ready skills, or “soft skills”, are important to assess.  The documents below were developed to help teachers/mentors/business partners assess the student/worker in those skills and provide everyone with common terminology and a common definition of what is meant by "Career Readiness."

NEW 2025-2026 and going forward:

• Defines, describes, and establishes which skills are important.
  • Original 12 Career Ready Practice Document
• Main document of ND state assessment for career readiness and the rubric in its entirety.
  • Entire Career Ready Practice Rubric
• Each of the 12 Practices broken down into separate PDF rubric documents, for ease of printing.
  1. Lead as a Contributing & Professional Employee
  2. Communicate Clearly, Effectively and with Reason
  3. Think Critically to Make Sense of Problems & Preserve in Solving Them
  4. Collaborate Productively While Using Cultural & Global Competencies
  5. Use Digital Skills & Technologies to Enhance Productivity & Make Data-Informed Decisions
  6. Remain Resilient in a Changing Workplace & World of Work
  7. Manage Time & Space Effectively
  8. Demonstrate a Creative & Innovative Mindset
  9. Model Integrity, Ethical Leadership and Effective Management
  10. Navigate an Education & Career Path Aligned to Strengths, Work Styles, Interests & Goals
  11. Consider the Enviromental & Social Impacts of Decisions
  12. Apply Appropriate Academic and Technical Skills
• Shortened version of the rubric, which may also be used as an end of course certificate or student folder insert, used after consulting the main document for grading ease.
  • Shortened Grading Rubric

For further information, contact Michael Netzloff, mnetzloff@nd.gov or 701-328-3187.

For a copy of any of the older document used in 2024-2025 and prior, please contact Michael Netzloff as well.