Skills-based hiring
According to research from Harvard University professor Joseph Fuller, between 2017-2019 employers reduced degree requirements for 46% of middle-skill positions.41
46%Trend 7
Goodbye Grades
There was a time when the GPA meant everything. Now, the world is more interested in seeing real evidence you’re suitable for the job.
Less than average
What happens when employers no longer value the most important measurement of student performance? Confidence in GPA as a means for evaluating job talent is waning fast. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers who screen for GPA has dropped from 73% in 2018-19 to 37% in 2022-23. That's a 50% drop in only a few years.38
Employers who screen for GPA
“Employers are increasingly voting ‘no confidence’ in the GPA as an effective means for evaluating talent.”
Source: Forbes³⁹
Parents are losing faith, too. We found that only 20% of parents believe testing effectively evaluates their children’s learning.40
So if GPA isn’t it, how can educators leverage this as an opportunity to provide a better mechanism to represent student ability and align with what employers need?
Proof of work
What employers are telling us is that they want to know how well candidates can do the job, and the best evidence of that is proof of work. Skills-based hiring, microcredentials, and increased investment in apprenticeships are all growing examples of employers wanting to see the actual work a candidate can do in the space to validate their decision to hire.
46%Microcredentials
In a 2021 national survey, 71% of employers responded that online credentials were equal to or better than those earned through traditional means.42
71%
Apprenticeships
In 2020, UK employers had access to £2.5bn in dedicated funds to incentivise the hiring of apprentices.43
£2.5bn
The market is responding by filling the gap between employers and educators. There are 1,076,358 post-secondary credentials available in the US. 65% of the credentials come from non-academic providers like Dell and Aon. These employers and other providers have taken assessment into their own hands to ensure they get the talent to meet the need.44
Just 36.42% of parents agree that grades are an accurate representation of their student’s knowledge or abilities.⁴⁵
Best in class
Schools who are already starting to integrate work experiences into the classroom will have a leg up at providing this sort of proof of work. As students go through these work experiences, they collect a body of work that shows what they can do.
Embark Education’s Pinwheel Coffee
A cafe and real-world learning space for students.
Northeastern University’s co-op model
An educational program that rotates students between study and full-time work.
Goodwill San Antonio’s certificate path
A series of courses that demonstrate mastery in a designated field.
Riipen
An example of new platforms that source projects from companies and plug them into curriculums.
“There is a huge problem with today’s assessments. The way we measure whether or not a student is prepared for life after high school does not reflect their knowledge, skills, and mindsets — their ability to persevere through setbacks and failures, their ability to solve problems and think critically, their ability to manage tasks and deadlines, and their ability to set goals and seek support and resources to achieve them. Colleges paying more attention to mastery based assessment that allows students to demonstrate proficiency of competencies multiple times and multiple ways through a body of work will see improved accuracy in their predictive indicators.”
Sandra MoumoutjisExecutive Director of Building 21 Learning Innovation Network
Our view at Sora
Proof of work as an assessment strategy is exciting because, unlike GPA, it’s difficult to game. It's arguably more authentic too, as it helps educators align better with industry partners, and it allows for more unique expressions of each student’s strengths. Where GPA forces all students to be equally good at the same things, building work-based portfolios celebrates all work and pathways.
We’ve been very intentional about designing the outcomes we want Sora graduates to have. The heart of our learning model is interdisciplinary. All of our learning experiences involve a variety of units, abilities, and mindsets needed to solve a challenge that align with the skills employers are looking for; while our assessments involve students iterating on projects until they become something they’re proud to present to an external audience.
Cat Evans Humanities Expert at Sora Schools“Authentic assessment requires students to apply their abilities and knowledge to real-life situations. Students don’t just receive feedback from me as their teacher & editor. Publishing work in a portfolio enables their audience to organically evaluate their work, which is more valuable and develops the important skill of iteration.”
