OC highly ranked in National Career Readiness Certificates

Oconee County is one of the highest ranked micropolitan counties in the number of National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRC), which is a test administered to high school students nation-wide used to measure broad foundational employability skills. A recent article by Site Selection Magazine shows Oconee County having over 4,000 certificates, ranking it sixth in the nation. With an estimated workforce of 34,400, this shows that 12% of workers in Oconee County have achieved this certification. The School District of Oconee County recently released a statement that 88.5% of all 11th graders received the NCRC last spring. Oconee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland said this means students are ready to go to work when they leave high school. “It is based on the WorkKeys assessment. Some of our industries here in the county use WorkKeys but that is an assessment designed to determine whether or not a student is ready for certain jobs. So, performance on that exam is very important to us because it does measure the readiness of Oconee County students and their ability to leave high school and go out into the workplace and contribute to the economy of Oconee County. So, that is very important and we are proud any time our students are above their counterparts throughout the state. So, we are certainly proud of those results.” Dr. Thorsland said that the goal remains for all SDOC students to obtain the credential.